“Our Family Journal,” Ensign, Mar. 2010, 49
Our Family Journal
When my husband and I were married, one of my former Young Women leaders gave us a precious gift: a leather-bound journal with gold-edged pages and an artistically textured cover. She also pasted our wedding announcement inside the front cover.
We loved the gift and decided to save it for a special purpose. That fall while we were watching President Henry B. Eyring’s conference talk, we knew why we had saved our special journal. We would record our daily blessings upon its beautiful pages as we found ways “to recognize and remember God’s kindness.” As we began to find the joy in each day, we “became ever more certain that our Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers” and felt more gratitude for His blessings. (See “O Remember, Remember,” Ensign, Nov. 2007, 67.)
Too often we had been looking to the future for happiness. I’d be happy when we graduated from school, found a job, started a family, bought a house, and eventually retired in comfort. But when we instead focused on our daily blessings, we experienced greater joy in our marriage and life in general.
Our beautiful wedding gift is now a source of true inspiration for us. Our daily recollections of Heavenly Father’s blessings help us “preserve that memory for the day that I, and those that I love, will need to remember how much God loves us and how much we need Him” (69).
Through the thoughtful gift of a former youth leader, Brian and Jennifer Ricks found a way to regularly recognize the hand of the Lord in their lives.