The first hymn I am going to share is my favorite hymn in all the world called, "For the Beauty of the Earth". There are a lot of memories and experiences that I've had with this hymn that make it so special to me and but I'm just going to share a few of them with you because otherwise you would be here reading for hours. First, my Jacobsen family always sings this hymn together before Thanksgiving dinner every year and it reminds me of the beautiful Earth that Heavenly Father has blessed us with and that there are a zillion things for us to be grateful for. When we sing this together as a family, the verse that always makes me start to cry is the third verse that says, "for the joy of human love, brother, sister, parent, child, friends on earth, and friends above, for all gentle thoughts and mild, Lord of all, to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise,". This verse reminds me of my Uncle Ben who passed away from cancer a few years ago and even though it's so sad that he is not with us on Earth anymore, I know that families can be together forever and that we will be reunited with him again.
In all my adventures climbing the Grand Teton, or hiking Table Rock mountain, or just being at the cabin and growing up in Jackson Hole (which is freaking National Geographic everywhere I turn), I am so grateful to have always been surrounded by Heavenly Father's beautiful creations. Sometimes I feel like this hymn is my theme song. A little over a week before my car accident, Ashly and I drove up in Rosie to Tony Grove Lake (read my post about it here) and took the photo below that I later posted on Instagram with the lyrics to the second verse of this hymn that talk about the earth. I remember being so excited to drive up through the canyon and see the tree branches drooping under the weight of the snow and the Tony Lake frozen over and shimmering in the afternoon sunlight. Now looking back on that moment, it feels eerie because the similarities between that adventure up to Tony Grove Lake and the tumble down into Tincup Creek seem almost parallel. I listened to this song as I drove out of Soda Springs about an hour before my accident and remember tearing up because I had felt the Spirit so strongly. Once my sympathetic nervous system finally had a moment to calm down and I had got into the church building to wait for my dad to come get me after my accident, the lyrics to "For the Beauty of the Earth" came into my head and comforted me once again. I was so afraid and shaken up but knew that I had been watched over and that angels were there to help me get out of my sinking car. I am so grateful for the companionship of the Holy Ghost and the comfort that it brings, especially through music.
Now it's finally time for you to listen to the song I've been raving about for the past three minutes (so sorry). There are lot of other versions of this song out there, but this one is one of my favorites though because the Lower Lights sing it and they're the bomb.com
Love, Caitie
