Gratitude - Dec. 16

Ask yourself, "Am I grateful?" Stop for a moment and think about it. We use the words multiple times a day. Do they reflect our heart? All that we have, the air we breathe, the light by which we see, our homes & families, our testimonies of the Savior, our health, our breath-taking world, our hope for eternity, all are gifts from a loving Father and his Son. In this season of giving, let us give one of the greatest gifts we can offer - a grateful, humble heart.

Tonight we read:

Luke 17:12 - 17.

12 And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were ^alepers, which stood afar off:

13 And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.

14 And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the ^apriests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.

15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,

16 And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him ^athanks: and he was a Samaritan.

17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten ^acleansed? but where are the ^bnine?

Todays challenge is to express your gratitude in your prayers without asking for anything.

Other ideas for the day:

*Take a few minutes today to write a letter to your parents thanking them specifically for all they have done and continue to do for you.

*Start a "Blessings" journal. Elder Eyring gave a talk that I haven't forgotten called "O Remember, Remember". I wanted to share this part of it -

When our children were very small, I started to write down a few things about what happened every day. Let me tell you how that got started. I came home late from a Church assignment. It was after dark. My father-in-law, who lived near us, surprised me as I walked toward the front door of my house. He was carrying a load of pipes over his shoulder, walking very fast and dressed in his work clothes. I knew that he had been building a system to pump water from a stream below us up to our property.

He smiled, spoke softly, and then rushed past me into the darkness to go on with his work. I took a few steps toward the house, thinking of what he was doing for us, and just as I got to the door, I heard in my mind—not in my own voice—these words: “I’m not giving you these experiences for yourself. Write them down.”

I went inside. I didn’t go to bed. Although I was tired, I took out some paper and began to write. And as I did, I understood the message I had heard in my mind. I was supposed to record for my children to read, someday in the future, how I had seen the hand of God blessing our family. Grandpa didn’t have to do what he was doing for us. He could have had someone else do it or not have done it at all. But he was serving us, his family, in the way covenant disciples of Jesus Christ always do. I knew that was true. And so I wrote it down, so that my children could have the memory someday when they would need it.

I wrote down a few lines every day for years. I never missed a day no matter how tired I was or how early I would have to start the next day. Before I would write, I would ponder this question: “Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us or our children or our family today?” As I kept at it, something began to happen. As I would cast my mind over the day, I would see evidence of what God had done for one of us that I had not recognized in the busy moments of the day. As that happened, and it happened often, I realized that trying to remember had allowed God to show me what He had done.

More than gratitude began to grow in my heart. Testimony grew. I became ever more certain that our Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers. I felt more gratitude for the softening and refining that come because of the Atonement of the Savior Jesus Christ. And I grew more confident that the Holy Ghost can bring all things to our remembrance—even things we did not notice or pay attention to when they happened.

The years have gone by. My boys are grown men. And now and then one of them will surprise me by saying, “Dad, I was reading in my copy of the journal about when …” and then he will tell me about how reading of what happened long ago helped him notice something God had done in his day.

My point is to urge you to find ways to recognize and remember God’s kindness. It will build our testimonies.

I started a "Blessings From Heaven" journal after listening to his talk. I soon found myself discovering blessings I would have overlooked had I not been searching for them. The Lord became so very real to me and my entries became longer and longer. I felt more gratitude for my family as I became aware and grateful for little things that they did for me. My love for each of them deepened. Little did I know at the time, but each entry was building a reservoir of faith that I needed to draw on over the the last year and a half. I am grateful for tonight's devotional. I loved re-reading Pres. Eyring's words. I think that it is time for me to start a new "Blessings" journal.

Our song tonight was: "Count Your Many Blessings"

Our Red Letter Envelope was to do some Christmas shopping and then to have a wrapping party. We started late and soon discovered that we were out of regular tape. No, we did not resort to duct tape. We cut up packing tape. ;)