A Month of Gratitude

It is November. The time when we posted daily on Facebook those things for which we are thankful. I have joyfully looked forward to this time. Even before Facebook. This time of year is my favorite. I like the holidays starting with Halloween. I have come to love Thanksgiving most of all. It is a wonderful reminder of what is truly important and how very, very blessed I am. This year I want to not only name my gratitude, I want to explain it. My goal is to post everyday. I've already missed the first two days of November, but I will try not to think of that as falling behind. I will start fresh right now.

I am grateful for my membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. There was a point in my life that I did not take it seriously. Everyone else was having fun and I was alone. I made choices that were not the best. I admit that I had a good time, but I wasn't happy. And because I'm stupid it took me some time to realize that I wasn't happy. A friend started asking me questions about my beliefs and I had to look closely at myself. I had to evaluate what I really believed. I came back. I spent a lot of time on my knees. I came to realize that I had never actually been alone.

Every good thing that has happened to me has been because of the gospel of Christ. My husband and our children are two very large examples of the goodness. Some of my closest friendships began at church. I know that no matter where we go, if we can find a chapel we have instant community. There are opportunities to serve and be served. We learn from each other. We are strengthened and edified as we gather together.

I am grateful for the scriptures. There is so much to learn. Each time I read them there is something new. It amazes me how I can read the same passage and learn something each time. It amazes me how sometimes I'll be reading something I've read before and I notice something that I didn't see before. Isn't that fantastic! Something new every time.

When I was in high school I attended early morning seminary. The first year we studied the Old Testament. I don't really remember much from those lessons. What I do know is that I love and adore the Old Testament. Sometimes those people were just crazy. On the other hand there is much beauty and depth of gospel knowledge.

Now I have the opportunity to teach seminary. If you don't know, in our church seminary is for youth 14-18. We start at 6:00 am everyday during the school year. It can be challenging. It is not easy to get up that early. There are a lot of days that seem to accomplish nothing. On the other hand, there are a lot of days that are fantastic. These kids are reading their scriptures. These kids are hungry for the doctrine. They don't want it watered down. They are ready to tackle the hard things. They are simply amazing.

Well there it is. I suppose I snuck in a few extra gratefuls. But they overlap a bit. If you didn't catch it all, I am grateful for my membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the gospel of Christ, my scriptures and seminary. Whew. That seems like a good enough start.

Until next time.