How Great Thou Art

Click to hear Carrie Underwood sing How Great Thou Art.

I was asked to prepare a brief talk about gratitude for a church meeting. Here is some of what I said:

I received a thank you card yesterday.  It was from a neighbor girl who is in elementary school, thanking me for purchasing something for a school fundraiser.  I certainly had not expected a thank you for helping her in such a small way, but clearly she was being taught by her parents the importance of expressing gratitude, and I appreciated it. 

It was a little thing.  Gratitude can be a little thing, but it can also make a big difference.  With Thanksgiving coming up, I wanted to share some things for which I  am grateful.

I am thankful for the country in which I live.  I don't always agree with every political decision that is made.  The candidates I vote for are not always elected.  I may not like all the ways my tax dollars are spent, but when I look at the broader picture, I feel so very fortunate.  I sometimes hear about people living in other areas of the world where disease and abuse and terror are part of their daily lives.  Not mine.  Some people have hardly known an existence without soldiers or rebel armies in the streets.  My life has never included those things.  I have great freedoms and peace, including religious freedoms,  for which I am very grateful.

I am thankful for my family.  I don't have any relatives in town other than my husband, but even with my children in different states, I am so grateful to have them in my life. 

I am thankful for my parents.  I had good parents.  My mother died over 18 years ago - far too young, but I am grateful for the years we had together and for the influence and example she still is in my life. 

I am grateful for my friends.  I am not employed, so I spend many of my days at home by myself, working on various projects.  Some days I have very little contact with others.  But, I feel blessed because I have had friends in my life who have touched me deeply.   I appreciate each one of them. 

There are so many things that I am lucky to be able to take for granted.  I have a warm home.  I have transportation available to me.  I need never go hungry.  Those things could change at any time, but I am grateful that they are so common place to me that I almost forget what a blessing they are.  So many people have so much less. 

I am grateful for my Savior.  I am especially thankful for those moments when I have been reminded that my Heavenly Father is mindful of me. 

God has commanded us to be grateful in all things, and that can be hard.   All things.  Not just the things we like.  Not just the sunshine, but the rain as well, and the storms.   It can be hard to feel grateful when problems arise, when situations or opportunities  change or former blessings seem to disappear.  That is when our attitude makes all the difference.  

I recall the example of Corrie Ten Boom who writes in her book, The Hiding Place, that she learned to be grateful even for the lice in her concentration camp bed, as it caused the guards to keep their distance.  In her dire condition, her efforts at finding things for which to be grateful is an inspiration.  I'm not so sure I would have had the proper attitude to see the blessing in the lice.

There is a woman I knew years ago who once made a simple comment that I've thought of many times.  We were talking about gratitude, and she told me how at one point in her life she had decided to make a habit of saying a brief prayer of gratitude whenever she felt she had been blessed in some way.  What she discovered, in her very concerted effort to be more grateful, was that this simple exercise made her increasingly aware of how much she really had.  She became more grateful as a result of expressing that gratitude to her Heavenly Father.  Her blessings did not necessarily increase, but her eyes became open to them. 

It reminds me a little of when I got a new Subaru some 20 years ago.  Suddenly it seemed like every car on the road was a Subaru.  They hadn't become any more common, but because I was suddenly focused on them, I noticed them everywhere.  When we focus as intently on our blessings, we will notice them everywhere, too.

I may have much to learn about gratitude, but I do know one simple truth.  Gratitude makes life happier.  When we open our eyes to whatever blessings we have been given, our outlook on life improves along with our relationship with the One who is the source of all those blessings. 

If I could choose, I would have family and friends closer to me.  I would have my mother, who would be 89 now, still with me.  There are more things I could place on a wish list, but I also realize that everything in my life does not need to unfold according to my personal plan in order for me to recognize that my Father in Heaven has been generous with His blessings.  In being grateful to Him, I show my faith and trust in His plan for me, and in being obedient to His command to be grateful, I find that I am blessed even more.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thriller

 Want to listen to MJ while you read?

There are things of which I am afraid.  Not all of them are reasonable, but I hope that most of them are - that I am not a bundle of unfounded fears.

I am afraid of pickup drivers who tailgate on icy roads.  I am afraid of walking downhill in stilettos.  (Laughing?  Try it!)   I am afraid of Walmart on Black Friday. As a child, I had a strange fear of volcanoes. Yeah, volcanoes.  Living in the shadow of Mt. Rainier was probably not the issue. It was more likely some innocuous science lesson in kindergarten that lead me to believe they could spring up overnight and BAM!  Hot lava everywhere.  I even remember watching in brief horror as a broken sprinkler line caused a small patch of grass to suddenly swell and reach menacingly skyward - about a foot.  When my father stomped on it and ash didn't spew forth, I knew I was saved.  Oh, and then there were the gorillas.  Yeah, I sort of thought they hung out in my basement.  I don't think I really believed it, but it was a frightening image I probably enjoyed inflicting on my young self.  Drama queen in training.

Volcanoes and gorillas hold no power over me these days.  Should I come face to face with either of them, that would be another story, but in my tame urban existence, I feel pretty immune to their destructive powers. In fact, I feel immune to most dangers.  I don't think I'm any more protected from crime, natural disaster or random disease than anyone else, it's just that most people are not victims of those things, and those who are can only do so much to protect themselves.  I wear my seat belt and lock my front door and don't write my pin number on my debit card.  I'm careful, but I refuse to live in fear.  I refuse to make up things of which to be afraid.  

I will flash my lights whenever I please.  Should I want to buy perfume from someone in a parking lot, I'll do it.  I will read notes placed on my windshield and listen to little old ladies who ask for help.  I'm told there are no documented cases of apples with razor blades in them.  Not one.  Yes, there are bad people out there, no question.  But there are enough real boogie men that I don't need to invent my own fake ones.

Maybe I'm naive.  I prefer to think I'm logical and bit skeptical.  I'm unwilling to personalize every possible disastrous scenario, or believe every imagined internet threat, or that your average smooth criminal is as clever as the writers of  popular TV crime dramas.   Reasonably protecting myself is a choice, as is being unreasonably afraid.    I want to spend more time celebrating the good in life instead of fearing what's hiding under the bed.  I'll have no guarantees, regardless of how fearful I am, but I'll have fewer worry lines on my forehead.  Now, that's something I'm afraid of!  

Put a Little Love in Your Heart

Listen to the song!

On the TV show What Not To Wear, unsuspecting fashion failures are nominated by friends to receive clothing advice and a shopping spree, in hopes of changing their image.  The program usually follows the same format: initial surprise and a little dismay at being told they dress poorly enough that their friends would stage an intervention, and excitement at the prospect of $5,000 to spend in Manhattan. 

Then they get to New York, wardrobe in tow, only to be told that everything they own is awful, as they watch it all get unceremoniously thrown in the trash.  Their ego is bruised.  They’re left feeling either unsure of themselves, having been so torn down, or angry that these self-professed fashionistas have the nerve to find fault with their perfectly good clothing.  

In the end, after just a few days, nearly every victim is converted to the ideas initially thrust upon them.  All it really took was for them to let go of old habits and accept the idea that subtle changes can make a big difference - even in something as superficial as wardrobe.

Change is hard.  It can be painful letting go of familiar habits and routines that are not best suited to us, but there is no seasonal whim directing the appropriateness of good behavior.  Honesty, kindness, patience, and serving others are always in style.  When I find it difficult to incorporate such desirable traits, maybe it would help to take a hard look at those ragged, unflattering habits that might be holding me back.  If I can free myself from such ugly old garments as pride and faultfinding, I may discover room in my life for something better - for charity and compassion, for a little more love in my heart, and that looks good on everyone!

In My Life

Spokane friends in New York.

In keeping with the tradition I started with my other blog, I may give each post the title of a song.  Not being limited by trying to come up with a Broadway show tune should make it easy.  Today ... a Beatles song that I've often felt was a reflection of my occasional nostalgia for old friends.  


Click to hear: In My Life by The Beatles

High School reunion in Seattle.

I'd like to throw a party.  I'd invite all the people I've known in my life who have made an impact.   Not just the people who I've met or who I've shared something fun with, but those who really meant something to me; those who still make me smile when I think of them; those who have touched my heart. The invitees would be a diverse group, and my guest list would not be exactly the same as anyone else's, but I would love to have them all in the same room.  What would it be like to be able to share even a few minutes with each person who is a special part of my history?

Reunion of Provo friends in SLC.

As long as I'm planning the impossible, I'd want to break the barriers of time.  I don't just want to gather everyone today, but to be able to go back to those moments when a memory was made, when a bond was forged. Friendship at its best.  Some of the guests would be people I've not seen in decades.  Others, I've not know for long.  There are a few who I have completely lost track of and too many that I likely will never see again.  But that's OK.  During the time I knew them, they made my life better, and, by extension, make my life better now.

Boise friends at a wedding reception.

I'd especially like the chance to tell them that.  Maybe they already know.  I hope as I've gotten older, I've gotten better about sharing what I feel with those who are important to me.  I've come to realize that no matter how many times you've been "friended," a real friend is something special.



To my very special friends - and I hope you know who you are - thank you.