It’s been said, “The struggle ends when gratitude begins.”
This week begins one of my favorite times of the year! Certainly, the weeks that are left in the year will be busy, and we will have so many options to choose from in how to fill our days. But with Thanksgiving being celebrated this week, it serves as a great reminder to give thanks to the giver of all gifts, our Father in Heaven. All that we have, all that we will ever have, is given to us by our Father in Heaven.
And while the next several weeks could be some of the busiest and most hectic weeks of the whole year, it seems that as our focus turns to giving thanks, often our struggles seem to take up less space on our plates. To quote our former Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, “have an attitude of gratitude and see the difference it can make.”
In the Doctrine & Covenants, section 59 verse 7 it reads, “Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things.” And in verse 21, it reads, “And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is His wrath kindled, save those who confess not His hand in all things.” Thanksgiving is a time of year that helps me remember to give thanks for all that has been given. There are blessings given that help us in mortality – physical health, freedom to live & worship as we please, the blessings of family and friends, and perhaps most important of all, the gift of the Holy Ghost to help guide our path while here in mortality!
The blessings of testimony and faith & prayer are also given from a very kind and generous Father in Heaven to help us navigate our journey while here in mortality!
King Benjamin probably said it best when he said, “I say unto you, my brethren, that if you should render all the thanks and praise, which your whole soul has power to possess, to that God who has created you, and has kept and preserved you, and caused that ye should rejoice, and has granted that ye should live in peace one with another – I say, if ye should serve Him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.”
President John F. Kennedy once said, “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”
This is a great time of year to show our gratitude to others by the way we treat them. Do our friends and families know we’re grateful for them? Do our spouses know we are grateful for them? Do we express appreciation to our Father in Heaven for all that He has given us by the way we treat His sons and daughters? Do we show Him through our service that we are truly grateful for the blessings and gifts we have been given?
I hope that we can all remember thankfulness is the quickest path to joy!
I hope each of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving! I hope we will all take the time to express our appreciation and gratitude to our Father in Heaven for all He shares with us. Let’s all take the time to realize what we have been given and express appreciation to those who make a difference in our lives!
Happy Thanksgiving!
– Doug Nielsen, Director, Granite FamilySearch Center