Thankful for the gift of SIGHT!

Wednesday afternoon I got on a plane to head to Montana to conduct a site survey for a college campus in northeastern Montana in a town called Poplar and Wolf Point. Not long into my trip and it was dark. As we were flying I was looking out the window and I was amazed at how clear of a night it was. There wasn't a cloud in site. I could so clearly see the starts and the beautifully lighted cities below. I have flown a lot in the last few months and it seemed like every time I fly there is a lot of clouds. It was such a wonderful sight to see the towns so brightly lit up. I know it was just the street lights and all but looking down on the entire city all at once was a breath taking site. I wish I would have had my camera readily accessible so I could have taken a picture of the site to share. Maybe on my way home I in a few day the sky will be clear and I can try and take a picture and if I do I will add it for you to see. As I was looking down at the lighted world below me I was thankful for the gift of sight. I feel so lucky that I know the difference between light and dark, to be able to see colors. There were many things that day that made me very grateful for my vision. While I was sitting in the airport waiting for my next connecting flight I was watching a sweet old couple across from me. The wife went and got them ice creams to each while they waited. I watched as they talked about their ice cream and the flavors and how yummy it was. I could see the gratitude in her husband’s eyes for such a sweet treat. They tenderly talked to each other about past experiences and about the time they will be sharing with their grandchildren over the Christmas holiday. They are looking forward the fun activities of making ginger bread houses with the little ones and reading stories and sharing quality time. I watched a mother who was traveling with two young children her son of 4 and daughter who was almost two. Her little girl had braided pig tails and looked so adorable. The little girl was a little nervous about this whole flying thing. Her big brother so tender to her in comforting her and taking her hand to let her know she would be fine. He let her watch his DVD with him and they colored together. Again I was grateful for my sight to be able to see. What is sight is it just the ability to be able to open our eyes and to see what is in front of us. I think Heavenly Father gave us the gift of sight so we could see all the beauties of the earth but also to see when someone is struggling and can use our help. How often so we see someone with arms full and wrestling with a child or someone who is in need of a little assistance and when we see this to we utilize our sight and offer the help they need or do we pass by. What a glorious gift we have to be able to see different shapes, to be able to see the rippling waters or the snow covered ground. How amazing to see all the different creations that Jesus Christ made, so many animals and to so the uniqueness in face and body characteristics of each individual person. So many beauties of the world do we take the time to enjoy them or do we rush past them. We have been given so much to see in this life and I hope we take the time to see them. I think looking deep into the scene and really seeing what is there is why we were given the gift of sight. We need to look deeper than just passing by and glancing. Enjoy life and it's beauties and amazements for we never know when it will be our last for life is so short to rush through it. This experience brought my mind to our Savior's life. He spent his life really looking deep into what was around him, as others would walk past he would find someone trying to reach him and he would extend his hand and heal them. He was taking the time to see what was there rather than just passing by to get to the final destination. I pray that we all may take the time to see what is really there and to use the Sight we have been given.