His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed.  –Psalms 72:17

As the US takes a sigh of relief and peace, I, along with many others, can find the time to take an account.  With one final to go and plenty of time to pack my things, I can review my last semester and my ten months at BYU, making a personal inventory of each moment of strain and growth I have learned to endure.  And what blessings I can see, each carefully placed by an understanding and graceful God!  There were many times when so much went wrong, but the few times when everything went right replace all of my experiences of doubt and sadness. 

I am thankful for my school and my professors.  Even though I will not forgive some select universities for placing my name on their waitlists, I have come to clearly understand that this is the time and place for me.

I am thankful for each of my friends, old and new, who make the good days long and the hard days short.  These are the people who exemplify service in the simplest ways. 

I am thankful for the experiences I have enjoyed, academic and recreational, for shaping my thoughts and stretching my ideas.  I am especially thankful for my opportunities to travel to Las Vegas and New York in the past year to meet and serve others. 

As I get ready to return home for my final preparations, I hope that I have been able to assist and positively influence those around me.  I pray that my words and actions have touched others in the manner that the words and actions of others have touched me.

And in the words of my man, Brett Dennen:

I welcome the sun, the clouds and rain, the wind that sweeps the sky clean and lets the sun shine again.
This is the most magnificent life has ever been.
Here is heaven and earth and the brilliant sky in between.

Blessed is this life and I'm gonna celebrate being alive.

I dwell in the darkness; I let in the light.
I sleep in the afternoon and become the noise in the night
I trespass in temptation, suffered in sacrifice, but I awake each day with a new sunrise.

Blessed is this life and I'm gonna celebrate being alive.