How often we forget....

The last 18 months I have never felt so blessed in my life.  For those of you unaware, the past 18 months my wonderful parents have been serving an LDS mission at the Polynesian Cultural Center.  During that time it seemed like our merciful Lord was always blessing me.  I was humbled and truly felt unworthy at how blessed I felt.  However, literally right after they were released as missionaries I heard some news that literally felt like I had been punched and all the wind had been taken out of my sails.  I kind of laughed and said:  "Well, that didn't take long for the blessings to stop."
Since that time it seems like the troubles have been standing in line waiting their turn to pile on.  And it seemed as this week was just one of the worst in a long time.  Adding insult to injury, just in time to enjoy the weekend, I end up catching a cold.  This morning I made the conscious decision that I was only going to make it to Sacrament Meeting and then quietly exit the building and return home for some much desired sleep.  I had nursed my cold most of the day Saturday and felt good enough to make it to Sacrament Meeting.  As I was grabbing my things in preparation for my departure, I spoke with a few of my fellow ward members, when my attention was caught by the approaching figure of our Elder's Quorum President.  He had that look in his eye like he was needing something.  I looked down and noticed what was in his hand.  I knew my quiet escape had been thwarted.
As he nears me, I see him holding the remaining slices of bread from our Sacrament service today.  Having served in the Elder's Quorum, I have told myself if it is something I can actually physically do, I will not say no.  President Hogue looks at me and asks if I can "do this" holding up the bread.  The "this" he was referring to was the taking the sacrament to our ward members who are unable to make it to church and have requested to have the sacrament brought to their homes.  I have done this in the past and it has always been a good experience and I hoped it would be again today.  AND it was.  I was able to visit with some friends/fellow ward members I have not seen in quite some time.  Including visiting with my old Bishop a man that I have always admired and has helped me make some of the biggest decisions of my life.  We were also able to give a priesthood blessing to one of our ward members.  My fellow elder that went with today mentioned to me that it was a good experience for him as well.
It's funny how our Lord knows when we need these things in our life and how He is readily willing and able to bless us.  After this experience today, my day seemed brighter and my entire outlook took a turn.  This evening as I was contemplating my day and week, instead of looking at and reflecting the negative that I had been feeling, instead I saw the good things from the week.  Spending time hunting with my brothers, going out to a nice dinner with my parents, our Father in Heaven providing peace and help as a result of a rather frantic prayer whispered atop a mountain in the dark.  Then two amazing and humbling comments from people coming from different aspects of my life.  Finally, this incredible experience mentioned earlier.  They were all things I needed and reminders from our Father in Heaven how much he cares for us.  Then as if a ton of bricks was dumped on my head, the words came to my heart and mind:  "I didn't stop blessing you, you just stopped looking for them."  Lesson learned, lesson learned!