i am too blessed

My heart is full. I have innumerable amounts of things that I am thankful for. Today I have just felt like my heart will burst, I will never understand why God has blessed me with as much as I have but all I know is I sure am forever in his debt. Here are 8 things that have been on my mind lately that are total blessings in my life. 

1. My whole family. 

WOW! I cant even begin to explain how amazing my family is. To sum it up, my very greatest examples are in my own family, I look up to each individual member of my family (parents, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc, etc) I have learned priceless lessons from each of them and found inspiration from their actions, passions and lives. 

2. My education.

 It may be because I am coming to the end of my years in school but I have recently been so grateful for my opportunity to go to school and learn more about things that I love. I am well aware that education is a blessing that not everyone is lucky to have. I have always been a nerd and loved reading and learning but this has been enhanced in the last year or so. I absolutely love going to school! 

3. My health. 

So I have been volunteering at a school for special needs students every Friday for the past 2 months. This has been a pretty incredible experience. I will be totally honest in saying that this was a big challenge for me, and I was stretching my comfort zone when signing up, but man have I learned a lot and developed a greater understanding for people with disabilities and their potential. In this process I have felt so grateful for my own health. These amazing students have so many obstacles that I will never understand. I will never understand why certain people are given disabilities and others are not, but I know that I am grateful for my own abilities and health. And have been so inspired by the teachers and students I have worked with. 

4. My travels. 

I am so spoiled it is ridiculous. I have had the opportunity to travel all across the world, and I am only 22 and I have already been to 15 countries! Let me tell you these experiences have molded me into the person that I am today. Traveling is my greatest passion and each time I travel abroad I gain an even greater appreciation for the United States, I have always been patriotic but you guys our country is the best. I feel so blessed to have been able to experience so much history and culture and see some of the most magnificent sites this world has to offer.  But at the end of the day I will always love America the most. 

5. My testimony.

My religion is who I am. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church on this earth and its teachings come directly from God. I live my life based on the teaching of Christ and strive to live by his example and make him and my Heavenly Father proud. We are all so blessed to have a modern day prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, that can guide and direct our paths in today's world. I am so grateful that I have this Church in my life and that I am surrounded by such amazing examples, I constantly receive such peace and pure joy from the love of our Heavenly Father. I cannot imagine not knowing what the purpose of life was, and I am grateful for my testimony everyday. 

6. My experiences in Israel.

Well this one is quite obvious to everyone that knows me, but I have to include it because it really is one of the greatest learning experiences of my life. I have grown so much both mentally and spiritually through this experience. I learned about different peoples and religions and so much about myself, and I gained friends that I know will last a lifetime. I will forever treasure my experiences in the Holy Land and hope that everyone can have similar experiences in their lifetimes. 

7. My mom. 

So my parents each deserve there own number separate from number 1. It is a well-known fact that my mother is angelic. It is not only her family that appreciates her and sees her Christlike attributes, I have had numerous people thank me for my mothers kindness and example. She is a perfect example of a mother, wife, and women. She is a class act and I everything that is good about me I learned from her. I will never be able to express into words how much I love and look up to her. 

8. My dad. 

My sister and I recently had a conversation about love and relationships....we wondered why we had such a tough time finding a boy that we can see ourselves marrying, we came to the conclusion that this is no problem, we just have the greatest example of man and it will take time to find someone like him. Our dad is the perfect example of a husband and father. If I find a man that is a measure of the man that my father is I will be one lucky girl. I realize that having this example of a dad, is very rare and I am grateful for it everyday.  I always feel protected and know that my dad will always be there for me at any second. I always joke with my friends that my dad would be Liam Neeson from the Taken movies if anything bad ever happened to me. It sounds cheesy but I honestly think that it is true! I know how much he loves his family and he will do absolutely anything to protect them. He is the perfect balance between fun and responsible! I also will never be able to put into words the love and respect I have for him. 

Man I am a lucky girl. These things are not even the beginning of the innumerable blessings in my life. I cant stress enough how uplifting counting your blessings at the end of  the day can be. EVERYONE has things to be grateful for whether it be something as simple as a sunny day. Seeing these positives can change your life.