I Stand All Amazed

   I love church. I love the gospel and I love Christ. I just love it! I get so excited talking about it(like when I talk about FALL! And elephants and sunny weather and thunderstorms. Which is a discussion for later when you have an hour and 43 minutes)! But church. Every Sunday, I get to go to church, take the Sacrament and feel the power of the Atonement, listen and be strengthened by other people and their testimonies of God, and strengthen my knowledge of the scriptures.
   This past weekend and what has really been on my mind all week can be summed up by the hymn "I Stand All Amazed". I really do just stand all amazed. The love that Christ has for me and you, is so personal and so profound. Something my friend Liz said tonight really hit me. She said that our parents love us a lot and they can't even express how much they love us. But God loves us so much more than that. His capacity for love is infinite and He loves each of us that much.
    I think the words in that hymn are so direct and so close to what I feel. I do "tremble to know that for me He was crucified. That for me a sinner He suffered, He bled and died.". I really cannot express how much gratitude I feel when I think about the atonement and the pain He felt for me and the actions He did for me. All so that I can be reunited with Him and God again and I can become perfect. In my times of deep pain and struggle, I know that Christ has felt absolutely every ounce of that pain. He knows exactly what I have been through and am going through. He is so aware of everything. I feel so unworthy of this great gift I have been given.
    Which brings me to another hymn that I love-"Because I Have Been Given Much". My favorite verse says "Because I have been sheltered, fed by Thy good care I cannot see anothers lack and I not share my glowing fire, my loaf of bread, my roof's safe shelter overhead that he too maybe be comforted.". That really sums up how I feel most days (it sounds terrible saying most days, but sometimes you get prideful and forget! We are all human!). I just get so overwhelmed with gratitude that I know I have not been given this great of a life for me to just stand around and marvel at it. I have been called to share what I have with others. This not only goes for temporal things, but spiritual things as well. My testimony and faith, spiritual gifts and talents, and the biggest blessing of all is the gospel. I have been given these things not so I can use them for myself, but so I can go out and help bring others to Christ and help them share the joy I feel and the immense gratitude and pure love I feel.
     When I think about these things it's so hard for me to be upset when one little thing in my life is not right. And I feel terrible in saying that that is how I have been feeling the past few days is sorry for myself because I don't have the one thing I want. But that's not why I am here. I am not here to wish away my life and to have my heart set on the things that I want, no matter how good or bad that thing is. I am here to help others and be a tool in the Lord's hands. He has given me the blessings I need and the knowledge I need to help others in any way possible.
     I guess you could say these two hymns have really impacted me this weekend and really opened my eyes again. Which is exactly what I needed! I can only pray I am successful this week in doing what I have been sent here to do!

I Stand All Amazed:

I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me
Confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me
I tremble to know that for me he was crucified
That for me, a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died

Chorus:
Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me enough to die for me
Oh, it is wonderful
Wonderful to me

I marvel that he would descend from his throne divine
To rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine
That he should extend his great love unto such as I
Sufficient to own, to redeem and to justify

(Repeat chorus)

I think of his hands, pierced and bleeding to pay my debt
Such mercy, such love and devotion can I forget?
No, no, I will praise and adore at the mercy seat
Until at the glorified throne I kneel at his feet

Because I Have Been Given Much:
Because I have been given much
I too must give
Because of thy great bounty, Lord
Each day I live
I shall divide my gifts from thee
With every brother that I see
Who has the need of help from me

Because I have been sheltered
Fed by thy good care
I cannot see another's lack
And I not share
My glowing fire, my loaf of bread
My roof's safe shelter overhead
That he, too, may be comforted

Because of thy life's mission, Lord
I too will serve
I'll leave the comfort of my home
To teach thy word
I'll seek thy sheep who've gone astray
And those who've never known the way
I will make thy work my work today

I shall give love to those in need
I'll show that love by word and deed
Thus shall my thanks be thanks indeed