Gratitude

I'm grateful for the Savior and His Atonement.  His love is a gift.  I've done nothing to deserve it, and plenty to not, yet it's there. He gives it freely--gives Himself freely.  Most nights when I pray it's remarkable to me how much I have to be grateful for because of Him.

Tonight I met with my Stake President.  Getting that call was a little nerve-racking.  I've never before been summoned to see the Stake President.  Don't they only do that when they have a massive calling to give out?  At any rate, it was a "get to know you" visit, so I needn't have been wondering about various scenarios, and that's not the point of the post anyway.

As long as I was there, I asked him for a blessing.  The part that stood out was simply this: "I bless you to know of the Lord's gratitude for the choices you've made."  And I felt the Lord's gratitude.

What a wonderful feeling.  And so humbling.  I have everything to thank the Lord for, and here He was telling me how thankful he is for me.  What is it that I can possibly give the Lord that should return such gratitude?

Myself.  What the Lord wants most is for us to give our agency back to him in selfless service.

The point of this post isn't to brag on me.  I'm a sinner.  I'm not selfless.  I'm working on it.

Instead my point is that we can show our gratitude to the Lord for every blessing we receive by giving back to Him the one thing he wants--ourselves.  That is gift you get for someone who literally has everything.

Feeling the Lord's gratitude is a powerful manifestation of His love.  "Thank you," He says.  "I so wanted you to come back.  Welcome Home!"