Day 1 of Gratitude

As I go through my 25 days of blogging what I am thankful for this month, I would like to start with the atonement of Jesus Christ. I am first and foremost grateful for this sacrifice in my life. Over the past month, I have had the opportunity to personalize the atonement in my life, and learn what it means to me. This is something, I will admit, that I have never put much thought to. However, as I learned that my sweet little baby returned to live with our Heavenly Father, I had two choices: I could live in depression and sadness forever, or I could understand that Heavenly Father has a plan, and it is perfect, and there is a reason for everything. By choosing the second choice, I felt my Savior's love. I felt his arms around me, and I felt him lifting me out of the sadness. I hear the reverence in my children's voices as they close their prayers "in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." I see the light in their eyes as they talk about our Savior and what they have learned about him at church and at home. I know that my Savior lives, that he loves me, and that he died for me. I know that he has felt every ache, pain, and moment of despair that I have experienced. I know he did all of those things, because he loves me. So today, I would like to publicly express my gratitude to the Savior, Jesus Christ, for his atoning sacrifices.