Has it ever hit you how blessed you are?
Mike and I were sitting in tithing settlement a few weeks ago, and the bishop asked how everything was going in the Hicks home. Mike said, "It's going so well, I'm kind of waiting for the bottom to fall out." Implying that the Lord had possibly been going easy on us in terms of trials, and tribulation... I piped up and said, " No. The trials are there, However, I think it's a change of attitude.
Later that night I brought the conversation up with Mike. I said, "Do you really think that things have been super easy, and trial free?" He confirmed his thoughts. I gently pointed out that in the past few years,  There was a time that I struggled so much with postpartum that I locked myself in the closet and cried on a daily basis. I reminded him that we had just made the decision to leave the home that we brought all three of our babies home to.  That we have 6 people in a tiny townhouse. The months that we didn't know if our daughter was going to be able to hear our voices. The months that we didn't know if her feet were ever going to be normal, Or if she could walk normally. That we had a few months prior, had minutes that felt like hours that we didn't know if our son was going to live with us on this earth after his birth.

I assured him that the trials were there. However, I think that through the refiners fire that the Lord has changed our outlook on the trials that we are given, and softened our hearts to graciously accept his will. I am in no way saying that I have never hardened my heart towards the Lord or taken everything that he has thrown our way with the best attitude. However, There has never been a moment in my life that I felt like the Lord had abandoned me, or given up on me, or that he didn't know my needs or didn't love me.

I can also see where Mike was coming from. We have been extremely blessed, Our children are healthy, and we have sufficient for their needs. We are happy. I know that everyone has their own trials, and nobody's life is perfect, or easy. I know that our trials are seemingly insignificant to the things that the Lord sees fit for others to experience. But I do know that when we put our trust in the Lord, and in his timing, and in his wisdom, no matter what our situations are, that the things he blesses us with will bring us closer to him, when we make the decision to be happy and live our lives by his example and teachings. Things are very good and we are very blessed. Looking back, EVERY trial we have been given, has been a blessing. We have come to know our savior better, and learned knowledge that will carry us through the things that the Lord will continue to bless us with. The gospel of Jesus Christ is real, and it is through him that happiness comes regardless of our circumstances.

An excerpt from Doctrine and Covenants 122:7-8

"Know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee ^eexperience, and shall be for thy good.

The ^aSon of Man hath ^bdescended below them all. Art thou greater than he?"