That He Died For Me

I know I have expressed gratitude on this blog in the past for my Savior and His Atonement on my behalf.  And I know that is tightly linked to His death -- and His resurrection.  In fact, I believe what He did in Gethsemane, as well as His death were different parts to the whole of the Atonement.  He suffered emotional pains, physical pains, and He laid down His life that He might overcome all things.  And we commemorate all of those events this weekend. 

I hadn't originally planned to write this post as my grateful for today. 

But as I stood in the kitchen this evening, making Resurrection Cookies for Sunday (they are part of what we are giving the Young Women for Easter), I contemplated the instructions I used for making the cookies.  (They end up being hollow -- representative of the empty tomb.)

The first step is to crush pecans -- and this is to represent the crushing and physical torment the Savior experienced at the hands of the Roman soldiers.  And a scripture reference is included:  Isaiah 53:5.

And as I thought of that verse in my mind -- a verse I've heard often -- it brought tears to my eyes.

"But he was wounded for [my] transgressions... and with his stripes [I] am healed."

I honestly feel at a loss for words.  I can't seem to formulate words to describe the thoughts in my mind.  I only know that I am grateful that He did what He did for me.   

I am grateful that "all that is unfair about life can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ." 

I am grateful that, though He didn't have to do what He did...  Though He could have chosen not to...  That He did do it.  Out of love. 

I don't claim to understand it all.  But I know it is real.  And I am grateful.

What are you grateful for today?