Thankful #3

 I think recording our thanks and gratitude and expressing it are so important.  President Gordon B. Hinckley in his book Way to Be!  9 Ways to be happy and make something of your life lists Be Grateful as his #1 thing to be.  He says 

"There are two little words in the English language that perhaps mean more than all others.  They are "thank you."'

"The habit of saying thank you is the mark of a cultivated mind."

"Be grateful.  Count your blessings and gifts and privileges and see just how long that list is.  I imagine that each of you will have difficulties ahead of you.  None of us can avoid them.  But do not despair.  Do not give up.  Look for the sunlight in the clouds.   And be grateful for what you have."

 

Every November we make a "tree of thanks" to put on our wall.  We draw a tree on a big piece of paper or poster board, then we cut out leaves and write on them what we are thankful for.  

We hang it up in the kitchen and add more leaves to it each day.  On Thanksgiving we have extra leaves for our guests to write on and add to it.  Here is our tree so far.  By the end of the month it should be overflowing with leaves and thanks.

This year I also wanted to really focus my family on our blessings and being grateful.  At the beginning of the year we made these daily blessing books.  I wanted 2013 to be our year of Gratitude.  The post about them is here.  Each night we were to write 5 things in our books that we were grateful for that day--5 blessings we saw in our lives that day.

"We live in a unique time in the world's history.  We are blessed with so very much.  And yet it is sometimes difficult to view the problems and permissiveness around us and not become discouraged.  I have found that, rather than dwelling on the negative, if we will take a step back and consider the blessings in our lives, including seemingly small, sometimes overlooked blessings, we can find greater happiness.
     ". . .take an inventory of our life and look specifically for the blessings, large and small, you have received."

President Thomas S. Monson

The above quotes are the inspiration for our daily blessings/gratitude journals and for 2013 to be our year of Gratitude.  It has helped me a lot so far this year to look for my blessings especially when I become discouraged.  I am so grateful for this inspired counsel and for all the blessings, large and small, that I have received.  

Consider your blessings.

We had done pretty good.  These are the state of our books mid-November.  We haven't written every single day, but a lot of days we have, and it was been wonderful for our family to consider our blessings and be grateful.  Recently my girls were telling some friends about our 'blessings books.'  They said as they go through the day and see something good they think "I need to remember that to write it down.  I am grateful for that."  I wanted to stand up and cheer. :)   We do have so much to be grateful for, and we really do need to take the time to say thank you and count our blessing and now is the perfect time to do it.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Blog love

I love blogs.  They inspire me.  I have fun with mine.  I like doing it, but blogs are not real life.  No one is ever as perfect as you think they are.  I remember a quote I heard at church once, "If you think someone is perfect, you just don't know them well enough."  Amen.  I am so not perfect, and if you think I am, you just don't know me well enough.  My blog doesn't let you see the fights my kids have with each other, or their mom yelling at them, or the disagreements my husband and I have.  It doesn't let you see the times life takes us and wrings us dry or makes us cry our eyes out or collapse with exhaustion at the end of the day.  That is real life.  Sometimes it is very hard, sometimes it is joy beyond compare, sometimes it just makes you cry, and others it makes you laugh and smile until it hurts.  You just never know.

I read several blogs regularly, and I enjoy them, but sometimes I think, "Man, she has it so good" or "I wish. . ." and then I stop and remember that quote, "If you think someone is perfect, you just don't know them well enough."  I don't know my blog friends or just the blog people I read well enough.  I know they have trials and challenges that I wouldn't want.  Everyone does.  I have my set and you have yours, and we probably wouldn't want to trade :)  but I am grateful for my life.  I am grateful for the family that I have.  I am grateful for a Heavenly Father who loves us and trusts us to do this life thing.  I am grateful for a Savior who is my friend and is there for me and loves me.  I am grateful for my life whatever challenges it may bring.  As we are doing our year of gratitude in our family (more about that here), I am trying so much more to see the good in the world--my world, and each day I am amazed at how many blessing I have and how many things I have to be grateful for.  We are all so very blessed even when we feel down or don't think we are, if we will stop and take the time to really look for our blessings, we will see them in abundance and it will help us along our journey called Life because that journey isn't always easy, but our Heavenly Father gives us so many things to lift us, bless us, and make us grateful along the way.

Happy journey today, and see the good in your world.

2013--The year of Gratitude

 I read in a book once that each year the mom picked a "theme" for the year.   Something to focus on for her family.  I decided to do that this year.  The theme for our family in 2013 is Gratitude.

We all have problems.  We all have challenges--no matter what our age, income, location, etc.  Everyone does, but we also have so much to be thankful for--so very much to be grateful for.  I think in our world with the news from everywhere that always seems to be negative it is very easy to forget our blessings and be positive.  I so want my family (and me) to remember our blessings and be positive and optimistic about our future.  To help us do this I bought each of us a little composition notebook.  They are 3" x 4.5" with 160 pages.   They were $1 at Wal-Mart.  We decorated them yesterday.  Everybody did their own expect for Ben.  He was going to leave his plain, but Miss E felt sorry for him and said, "Dad, do you want me to decorate yours for you?"  "Sure!"  So, he got an extra special one from Miss E.  Anyway, we read scriptures as a family each night around 8 p.m.  We have now made it the tradition that after we read scriptures together we are going to write in our little blessing books 5 things from that day we are thankful for, 5 things that were blessing to us that day, 5 blessings we have, and then we share one of our 5, have prayers, and everyone heads to bed.  Last night was the first time we did it.  I meant to start on Jan 1st, but didn't get them done.  Jan 2nd works just as well.  The kids were excited about it.  I hope the excitement continues and that as we do it they will think more about what they have to be grateful for and count their blessings, because we really do have a lot.   

 So, join me for 2013 and our year of Gratitude!

Daily December 19: Being grateful

In one of our Church magazines it talked about how we should focus on giving and not getting this season and on how God has given us so much.  We have so much to be grateful for.  It suggested taking a "Gratitude Challenge."   Each member of my family has decided to do this, and I wanted to share.  It said to write 100 things you are thankful for.  To help you is suggested these. . .

1.  Write 10 physical abilities you are grateful for
2.  Write 10 material possessions you are grateful for
3.  Write 10 living people you are grateful for
4.  Write 10 deceased people you are grateful for
5.  Write 10 things about nature you are grateful for
6.  Write 10 tings about today you are grateful for
7.  Write 10 places on earth you are grateful for
8.  Write 10 modern inventions you are grateful for
9.  Write 10 foods you are grateful for
10. Write 10 things about the gospel you are grateful for

And as we write this we realize this barely touches all that we have to be grateful for.  You can read the article here.  Take the Gratitude Challenge!

So Thankful

Gratitude and thankfulness are on my mind as I am sure it is on everyone else's too.  I have so much to be thankful for.  Here are just a few. . .

Family jam--so grateful for music and a family that enjoys it.

So thankful for a little guy who is willing and happy to rake my leaves :)

Girlfriends--what can I say more?

The most handsome man in the world that willingly puts up my Christmas lights when I tell him.  :)

Library and books--what a blessing! 

A dad who reads to my kids--what a treasure!

The country where we live.  My Savior and redeemer and His Gospel, and my amazing family.

May you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and remember we have so much to be thankful for!