Count your many blessings!!

Today was one of the happiest days of my life. I cannot begin to express to you the happiness and joy and RELIEF that I feel. I am on my way to getting out of credit card debt. I won't go into the specifics but let's just say by next month, I will be completely out of credit card debt (not education debt but that is an acceptable debt) thanks to the following people...My Heavenly Father. He has blessed me with truly wonderful people in my life and I thank him everyday for my family and all their help and support.

My grandfather. I miss him a lot. He passed away last September at the young age of 90. He was the most amazing man. He was so loving and would always take time to play with me or talk to me about growing up on a farm in the depression. He also had the funniest little sayings and was such a great example of how all men should be. He was an amazing father to my dad and because of that, I truly have the best dad. My grandfather worked extremely hard to provide for his family and was blessed to have a good income to support his family. Every year, we were fortunate as a family to go on vacations and through him and my own dad, I learned to fish and really appreciate the outdoors. He was the so giving, caring and loving towards his family. In his declining years, he still kept his sense of humor and showed the most amazing love for his family. I think of him often and wish that my children would have been able to know him. Luckily for our family, his temple work has been done and in June, when my grandmother's work is done, they will be sealed and I am so excited that I will be part of his eternal unit. My grandmother died last June and she, too, was a wonderful woman. Although, the last 10 years of her life was spent living with Alzeheimer's and forgetting who I was, I know that she was an wonderful woman who loved her family and really loved to play cards.

My mom and dad are the reason today was such a wonderful day!!! They have been a HUGE help with getting this debt and feeling of bondage off my chest. My dad is seriously the best dad ever. I always wanted to marry someone like my dad (which I think I did). He is one of the smartest men I know, he is witty, funny, compassionate, a great husband, a great father, an amazing grandfather, loving, giving and such a great example. He has has been there to help me with life issues or school problems. He is a self sacrificing man. I remember when I was 15, his car was stolen and he got a settlement from the insurance company. Instead of buying himself a nice car, he took some of that money, bought me a car and bought himself a old truck. He has worked hard his whole life to support our family and I believe he did an amazing job at raising 2 girls and one son. He will drop whatever he is doing to help his family out and takes such amazing care of my mom. He is constantly suprising her and spoiling her, even after 43 years of marriage. A couple of years ago, he suprised my mom with a trip to Hawaii, a place my mom had always wanted to go. He shows love to his family and is such a wonderful man!

My mom has such a beautiful soul. She hardly ever gets mad and so easily just lets things go. She is extremely forgiving and so funny in her own way, which at times as caused her to be the butt of some jokes in our family. She has such a good sense of humor, she kind of has to to live with our crazy family. She is such an amazing mom. She is an amazing listener and she loves to talk. I love that she loves family history because that means I don't have to do it all. Because her and my dad are different, she has brought so much to our family. She has this strength that is so amazing. Yes, she cries at the blowing of the wind but when she needs to be strong, it is like her inner wonder woman comes out. She took care of my grandma when she was dying and I never heard her complain and she exhibited this peace and strength I don't think I had ever seen. When my mother lost her leg, she handled it so well. I rarely saw her cry about it and I never once saw her get defeated by her disability. She is an amazing woman! I am so lucky to have these two as my parents!

And this man is the blessing of a lifetime. My husband is the most understanding and caring mand EVER! He gets me (most of the time) and he never gets mad when I make stupid mistakes (like credit card debt). He is patient and is such a wonderful patriarch of our home. He allows me to be myself and loves me no matter how lame I get. I don't want to get sappy but let's just say, I couldn't have asked for a better spouse, father to my children and eternal companion!

Today has really made me realize how wonderful my family is and how grateful I have the opportunity to be with them for all eternity. I can take them for granted a lot of times but today has really made me take a look at my life and realize how truly blessed I am. Sometimes I can get a case of the "woe is me" but I know that even though I might not own a home or have the finer things in life, I have what i need to survive and I have a great family to have fun with.

The prophets have said that being is debt feels like being in bondage and I have felt bogged down with this weight. They have also said that getting out of debt takes a great weight off your shoulders. I literally feel lighter. I feel like I can walk taller and know that this weight has been lifted. I will thank my Heavenly Father for getting me through this trial in life and now learn from my experience and hopefully inspire others NOT to get a credit card!!!!

LIFE IS GOOD!!!