Graditude for Our Gardener

I have thought long and hard about what I wanted to share with this subject.  I expected to share a list of things I am grateful for, but I think I have found the most appropriate way to share with you this subject of Gratitude.
I was really sick last week with a horrible flu/strep throat.  Being sick, it was easy to feel sorry for myself and feel like this would never pass.  I was in so much pain and there were times I wanted to cry all through the night, but I couldn't.  It would only make it worse if I did.  I asked my husband for a blessing and in it he said that there were things to be learned and that it was a symbol.  I thought and thought about those two things and decided I was not going to figure it out on my own.  I decided I would let the lord teach me what I needed to learn.  I don't know if this was what I was suppose to learn from this experience, but it was something that really touched my heart and strengthened my testimony!
As I laid in bed for almost a week, I felt like this would never pass.  I felt alone and unsure if I would make it through this sickness.  I even wondered at times if the lord even cared for me to get better (Illness can really test your faith).  But through all of that I realized that my pain was nothing compared to the lord's when he suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane. Nothing compared to the walk he had to take alone. Nothing compared to the pain on the cross.
I can't even imagine the pain he went through and to think that he did that for me...That is the most incredible thing of all!  He suffered for me! He died for me! He did everything he did for me!  He did that for each one of us individually!  He loved us so much that he would give everything he had for us! I don't see how we can't get down on our hands and knees and give thanks for the incredible gift he has given.  Because of him we don't have to suffer, we don't have to go it alone!  He is there by our side through it all.  Through all the struggle, through all the heart ache and pain...he is there! He is our Gardener.  He takes care of each of us and our needs.  He provides the sunlight, the water, the good soil, building us up so we can become like him. Gratitude for our Savior is one of the greatest gifts we can give to him!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWLXep0IVqM