At the table of Thanksgiving

On Monday, we had a lesson on gratitude for family night.

We talked a little about being grateful, and then I gave them each a chocolate Lindt truffle.

They felt pretty grateful.

Then, as soon as the chocolate was completely eaten, I made them go stand on the front porch in their bare feet. In the snow.

They did NOT feel grateful.

After torturing them for about 30 seconds(I stood in it too), we went back inside.

In the warmth of our own living room, I asked them to describe how the snow felt on their feet.

Words like, cold, burning, freezing, awful, were used.

Then I asked them if any of them had thought of the chocolate truffle at all while they were standing in the snow.

No, they had not.

So we discussed how, when things are not going well in life, why we only think of those negative things, and why we forget all the good things in our life,all the blessings.

Then I had them look around the room and find everything red.

As soon as they were done with that, I had them close their eyes and tell me how many silver things were in the room.

They were not successful.

So we talked about how when we focus so hard on one thing, mainly bad things for my example, then we can't see anything else.

And do you know, they actually got it?

And better yet, I got it.

It's so easy to feel sorry for ourselves, ask why me, cry and dwell on the negative things, and then completely forget all of our tremendous blessings.

But that is so boring.

What is fun, is counting our blessings, and being thankful for every moment.

Yesterday, as I cleaned and readied for Thanksgiving, I found myself a little annoyed at the pile of mismatched socks. And I wondered why it was so hard for children to keep track of their socks.

But almost instantly, I saw in my mind's eye, a future me. Walking around the empty house, tidying up and preparing for all of my grown children to come home for Thanksgiving.

And that future me couldn't care one bit that those sweet children ever had mismatched socks.

So I decided that present-time me wasn't going to care either. Not about mismatched socks, not about tendencies to leave toys lying around, not about spills or loud craziness.

Because I will miss it someday.

So count your blessings today and everyday. Try and remember that you are loved by a good, kind Father in Heaven who truly just wants to pour blessings upon you.

Open your arms to receive those blessings.

And then don't forget them when your day is cruddy, or your car breaks down, or you chip a tooth. (I totally just did that, so I'm grateful that I still have all my other teeth)

And know that I am grateful for each of you, for reading my blog, for giving my thoughts/words a place to land.

Have the best Thanksgiving ever!