Waiting for our "Golden Blessing"

I love General Conference time. At this time in my life, I desperately need the guidance that is given. I have had several thoughts on this prior to General Conference, but after hearing this talk, it prompted me to write my thoughts on this particular subject. The talk was given by Elder Bednar on tithing. However, although he talked about tithing, I heard something completely different. Elder Bednar said, "Some of the diverse blessings we obtain as we are obedient to this commandment are significant but subtle. Such blessing can be discerned only if we are both spiritually attentive and observant." Obviously Elder Bednar was referring to tithing in this particular quote. But, we are promised in Mosiah 2:41 that those who keep the commandments (any commandment) of God "are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual." So when we obey the commandments of God, he is bound to bless us.
The next day I was taking a walk and thinking about this talk. I was thinking about all of the blessings I have received from obeying the commandments. But, it seems that every time I think of all my blessings, I always stray into the path of the blessings that I desire that I have not yet received. This can be a very dangerous path for me because I go from being grateful to being ungrateful. Elder Bednar also said, "A grateful person is rich in contentment. An ungrateful person suffers in the poverty of endless discontentment."
Once I realized that I was starting to be ungrateful in my life because of the blessings that I desire have not yet come into my life, I was reminded of an experience I had back in the days of Young Women's. My wonderful Young Women leader was giving a lesson on patriarchal blessings. She relayed an experience that I never forgot. She was mentioning that the greatest thing she desired was to be a mother. At the time, her and her husband were struggling with infertility. She went on to say that she knew she was going to have children because it was promised to her in her patriarchal blessing. Every time she read her patriarchal blessing, she was constantly drawn to that promise. When the desired blessing finally happened, she went back to read her patriarchal blessing again. She said that because she was so focused on the blessing to have children, there were countless other blessings in there that were neglected. If she wasn't so focused on the blessing to have children, she would have appreciated all of the other blessings that were available to her while she was waiting for that blessing.
So many of us have blessings that we desire that are unfulfilled. We have "Golden Blessings." For me, it is the desire to be married and start a family. For some, it might be the desire to have a child. It might be your dream job. Or maybe just a job in general. It might be good health. None of these desires are evil, or bad for us to desire. They are all righteous desires. But, for some reason or another, we have not been blessed with them. What do we do when the thing we desire the most has not yet been given to us? Well, we can do what Elder Bednar suggests in his talk. We are to look for the "significant but subtle blessings" in our lives. In the April Conference of 1996, Elder Richard G. Scott said, "Find the compensatory blessings in your life when, in the wisdom of the Lord, He deprives you of something you very much want. To the sightless or hearing impaired, He sharpens the other senses. To the ill, He gives patience, understanding, and increased appreciation for others' kindness...You will discover compensatory blessings when you willingly accept the will of the Lord and exercise faith in Him."
So, although I may not be married and have a family of my own (and am no where even close to obtaining this blessing) I can recognize the blessings the Lord has given me in my life, that I might not be able to do as much or at all if I were married. I have been blessed to be a member of the Orchestra at Temple Square, which gives me so much happiness in my life. I have been blessed with amazing friends, who I gain strength and wisdom from on a daily basis. I have a wonderful, supportive family who want only what is best for me. Of course there will be times when I will be sad and lonely. There will be days when I just want to give up. There are also days when I just want to be mad at life. But then I always remember what the Lord has promised me. He has promised to take care of me and help me return to Him.
We need to always remember what the Lord has told us in Isaiah 55:8-9, "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." So we may be doing all that we can do to get whatever blessing it is that we desire, but the Lord has his own ways and time frame we may not understand. And although we don't have our "Golden Blessing," we can recognize all of the other blessings in our live, both spiritual and temporal, because they are there.