My life. Perhaps you can relate. I have many blessings to count. I have been blessed with wonderful parents, brothers and sisters. I have a husband who works hard to provide, protect and love our family. Our kids are our little gems, still in the polishing stage but so beautiful regardless. (I guess we all are – just at different stages along the process.) 
There are many other things, little and big along the way that I count as blessings. I look back and see my life has been so good, but I must say that life has not always been easy.
I believe in God. I believe that God is our Heavenly Father. I believe that as a Father, He loves us more than we could ever understand. And as a loving Parent, He wants us to learn, grow and become stronger. Yes, the hard part.
Growing. Learning. Trying to understand. Sometimes it’s bearable and I can still push through without a lot of growing pains. Other times, however, it feels like a trek that is so long and grievous, it is almost unbearable. But I’m grateful knowing there is purpose to this life. I am also grateful for a loving Heavenly Father that knows we cannot do it on our own. I see His hand in my life. It’s difficult to pen the challenging moments with the load that has been lifted. I just know that somehow through the each small hill and every grievous mountain I have climbed – pushing, pulling and even sometimes carrying others, I have not been left to do it alone. My load was made light, even for a small moment amidst a struggle. After a long and heart-wrenching cry, I have felt arms wrapped around me, those that I could not see. The times that I could not go anymore, I kept going. I don’t know how. I look back and it was like that poem “Footsteps in the Sand” says, I was carried. And then those times of rest and rejuvenation from the storms of life. Oh, how I am so grateful for those times. Sometimes, almost unknowingly to me, those times of rest have come right before I set foot on the more difficult part of my journey.
I think of my journey often. I think of where it has taken me. I think of the difficult times, as well as the times of bliss. I count them all as blessings. Yes, even those those long and grievous times, I count as blessings. I wouldn’t be who I am or where I am without them. I don’t pray for hard times. Maybe I should. I’d probably grow more. But through it all, I do try and keep myself in check with an eternal perspective. Sometimes I remember on my own, sometimes I am reminded.
Shifting gears, but not really (and perhaps not as gracefully as I’d like- but here it goes) … (smile) …. The one song that I have filmed that speaks my life and how I feel from my personal heart and the life I walk from day to day is “Come, Come Ye Saints”. You may or may not have strong religious beliefs. You may or may not be a descendant of a pioneer. You may or may not be a modern-day pioneer, in any sense of the word. 
But I am almost completely sure, we all have struggles. We all have challenges. We all have good days and bad. We all climb hills that we wish we didn’t have to climb, but maybe we know we have to or we have to regardless. We all need those moments of peace. We all desire for times of rest. We all want to be good, to be loved, to finish our journey with satisfaction knowing we did all we could. That’s what this song says to me. There was a lot of “trek” in this song. There was a lot of “journey” in my vision and feelings of this piece. There was also a lot of hope and peace and counting of blessings. That is what it says to me. That’s what I tried to express in every form while preparing and filming.
I hope that through your journey, if you ever need to just “watch and feel” or perhaps need a glimmer of hope and peace, or even someone to say “Keep on going”, I hope that you will think of this piece, “Come, Come Ye Saints”. I hope that when you watch this you will feel the power of the message. I hope that you will know that our journey, though it may be hard, is here for us to learn and grow, and to love and be loved, and enjoy and be happy. My favorite line in this song is, “All is well. All is well.” God knows us. He loves us. There is a plan. And through it all, yes, all is well … All is well!
