Day 229

     Days 224 - 228 were great days for Katie.  We were in New Mexico for my  mother's 86th birthday, which we celebrated by having a family party every night, four nights in a row.  We had a great time!  Katie and Conner loved seeing all of their aunts, uncles, and cousins.  Katie was suprisingly strong all week, she actually had a better week than usual - which was a great blessing.  I am glad we got to get a way.  It was good to go "home". 
     While I was in New Mexico, it struck me how blessed we are to live so close to a Children's Hospital.  In twenty minutes, I can be at the hospital with Katie, and in twenty minutes we can be home.  But what if we didn't live here - or anywhere near a Children's hospital?..  Scott would not have been able to come to appointments with me...  I would have had to stay in a Ronald McDonald House...  And what would I have done with Conner?..  How much more difficult everything would have been, if we didn't live where we live!  I definately feel a new appreciation for such a thing as a Ronald McDonald House - but I am glad it wasn't necessary for me to stay in one.  I am so grateful we live near a good hospital and have such good doctors.   It is a tender mercy to live so close.
     Speaking of which... Katie goes back in for chemo today.  This past 10 days went fast - it doesn't seem like it should be time for her to go back in.  Although, each day is one day closer to the end of her treatments, so I will stay focused on that. 
     "Mercies and blessings come in different forms--sometimes as hard things. Yet the Lord said, 'Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things' (D&C 59:7). All things means just that: good things, difficult things--not just some things. He has commanded us to be grateful because He knows being grateful will make us happy. This is another evidence of His love." 
     "Gratitude is a Spirit‑filled principle. It opens our minds to a universe permeated with the richness of a living God. Through it, we become spiritually aware of the wonder of the smallest things, which gladden our hearts with their messages of God's love. This grateful awareness heightens our sensitivity to divine direction. When we communicate gratitude, we can be filled with the Spirit and connected to those around us and the Lord. Gratitude inspires happiness and carries divine influence." (Bonnie D. Parkin, "Gratitude: A Path to Happiness," Ensign, May 2007, 35).