Giving Thanks

 

 Today is Thanksgiving Day! It is a day of eating a lot of delicious food, playing football, and gathering together with family. On Thanksgiving my family always gathers together for the annual family feast and shares all of the many things we are thankful for. We go around the table and everyone shares their thoughts and feelings. Some are solemn, others are funny, and still others are...let's just say...creative. But always we have a good time and our family comes a little closer together.

This morning I was pondering some scriptures that relate to giving thanks and being grateful for what we have. They come from both the Bible and the Book of Mormon. I'll share just a couple of them here.

On Thanksgiving we always talk about how grateful we are for our many blessings. These blessings come to us from God, our Heavenly Father. He has "created [us], and granted us [us our] lives", and as we keep his commandments, He "doth immediately bless [us]."  We are always in His debt, and nothing we can do in our lives will ever be enough to repay Him (Mosiah 2:20-25). This passage from the Book of Mormon really helps me to be more grateful for every little blessing that I have in my life: my family, my missionary experiences, my food, shelter, and clothing, and the opportunity to be on the earth right now.

I learn from Philippians 4:6-7 that as I pray humbly and with the spirit of thanksgiving in my heart, God will hear my words and bring me peace. I have felt that in my life every time I have prayed to my Heavenly Father. I know that the best way that we could ever show our gratitude on this Thanksgiving Day would be to offer a humble prayer of thanks to God, the one who has granted us all of our many blessings. I invite you to do that on this day of gratitude. I know that He will hear you and answer your prayers. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!