3 more days until Christmas!!

This Christmas season has been such a happy and joyful experience for our family.  Our children have a been filled with the spirit of the season, and I have enjoyed spending time together as a family.  Kera has been feeling so well and she has been in such great spirits.  I know this is a blessing from God, and I'm very thankful.  One of our sweet neighbors has been delivering the 12 days of Christmas gifts to our doorstep each day, and it has added to the joy and excitement, especially when the gifts and their message have been centered on the Savior.  I am grateful to our secret santa for thinking of us with their thoughtful gifts each day.  Before the deliveries started I had commented to my mother in law that I don't really have any manger scenes displayed in our home.  We have a small one, but over time some of the figures have been lost or broken.  So what is one of the gifts that we have received with our 12 days of christmas, a manger scene with a different figure each day being delivered.  The kids can't wait until the day we receive the little baby Jesus to complete the nativity :)
I have been wanting to blog about our wonderful experience attending Elf the musical.  As I said before our wish granter contacted the person in charge of the shows at Pioneer Theater Company and we were given four tickets to see the musical, as well as getting to go backstage to meet the cast.  The whole cast was amazing and so thoughtful.  The cast made special gifts for Kera, including her own t-shirts elf the musical t-shirts.  She was given some elf ears, her own elf hammer for making toys, an etch-a-sketch, and several other special and thoughtful gifts.  We brought our video camera to capture the moment.  Our wish granter and the musical's own photographer also captured photos of the night, so I will be attaching those on here as soon as I get them.  I was also so thankful that the actor who played Santa Claus took the time to talk with Kera and she was able to tell him what she wanted for Christmas this year.  His special spirit has helped make the spirit of Christmas even stronger and more magical.  Kera also got a special letter in the mail the other day from Santa himself.  She was so excited to get her very own special letter from Santa.
Not only do we have Christmas to look forward to, but this Friday we are having her star raising party for make a wish before we leave for our big trip to Disney world on the 30th.  I'm trying not to panic about all of the little details that have to be seen to before we take our trip, and just to enjoy Christmas first, but the day after Christmas is over, I've got some planning and preparing to do!
I love taking the time on this blog to express things that I've learned or talks I've heard that have helped me and have made an impression on me, and one that Dave brought to my attention tonight, and I watched on TV, was Elder Bednar's talk that he gave at a CES devotional called "That We Might Not Shrink".  Elder Bednar shared the story of a young couple who had only been married for 3 weeks when the young man received the news that he had bone cancer.  Elder Bednar shared the feelings that this young couple felt after receiving the news, and Elder Bednar counseled with this couple and he was prompted to share something Elder Maxwell shared with him when he was undergoing chemo treatments.  While Elder Maxwell was about to start his treatments, he said that he has learned that not shrinking is more important than surviving.  He said as we confront our own trials and tribulations, we too can plead with the father that we might not shrink.  Not shrinking is much more important than surviving.  Partaking of the bitter cup without becoming bitter is in emulation of Jesus Christ. Orson F. Whitney said "no pain that we suffer is wasted.  All that we suffer and all that we endure builds up our character, purifies our hearts and expands our souls, making us more worthy to be called the children of God."
The young man who went through treatments for cancer successfully went into remission but months later the cancer came back.  He learned through this process that he had to put complete trust in God that His will would be done, and that he needed to have faith to NOT be healed.  This submitting our will to God must occur if we are truly faithful.  If I know that the Lord has a plan for my family, I must be willing to fully submit to His will and know that He has the power to heal my daughter, and I know that I need to have faith to not have her be healed if that is the will of the Lord.  Our natural desire is to be in control, but when I put it into the Lord's hands, that is when we show true faith.  That is what I am continually striving to do.  I am always thankful for these little reminders and I know the Lord is shaping my life and my family's life through this process.  I am forever grateful for the knowledge of the plan of salvation and the atonement of the Savior.