Thanksgiving Gratitudes Continued

#13  It is almost time for Thanksgiving.  Newell called tonight and asked if it was OK for him to invite some  Spanish speaking investigators to dinner with us.  I told him they are more than welcome but that he had better invite the Spanish speaking missionaries too.  I am grateful that we can have family and friends to share Thanksgiving with.  I love having family around us.

#14 I am grateful for adversity.   Even as I type this I think of Corrie Ten-Boom, who was in a German prison camp with her sister Betsy during World War II.  They has smuggled a bible into the camp and were able to read scriptures each night.  They had a group that would gather around them as they read.  One night they read that they needed to be thankful in all things.  Betsy started praying and thanking the Lord for all things and Corrie agreed.  She agreed until Betsy thanked the Lord for the lice. (it might have been fleas, I am not sure.)  Corrie said she would never be thankful for the lice.  Sometime later when Corrie came in from working in the fields, Betsy was bubbling with excitement.  She said she now know why they still had their bible.  There has been a dispute in their sewing group and they had tried to get a guard to come into their dorm room to settle the dispute.  He would not step into the room because of the lice.  So Corrie thanked the Lord for the lice that allowed them to keep their scriptures.  Oh that I can be as grateful for my adversity as Corrie and Betsy were.

#15 Sunday School.  Wayne Gingell has been teaching our Sunday School class.  He has been doing such a great job.  I love having him as a teacher.  He has been using the Come Follow Me method of teaching and it is fantastic.  I learn (and relearn) so many things.  I love it.

#16 Turkeys!  OK, I know everyone wants to eat turkey for Thanksgiving, but the turkeys I am thankful for I hope don't get eaten.  We have had a momma and her 8 babies around here all summer long.  They have been such entertainment to watch as they have grown up.  They had been roosting on my clothes line pole most of the summer.  As they got bigger some of them were flying up into the tree that the Grand kids like to climb.  The mom and a couple of the youngest were staying on the cloths line pole until a raccoon came early one morning.  All escaped and were save but she never brought her babies back there to roost again.  Now they are roosting in a tall tree in Larry James' yard.  There was snow on the ground this morning and Joe was shoveling the sidewalk.  He stuck his head in the door and said the turkeys had seen him and came running.  He asked if I had anything for them, so I felt bad for them and cut up some cucumbers for them to eat.

#17 Snow.  I love the clean look the earth has right after a snowstorm.  I love driving down a lane where there are no tracks in the snow.

#18 Time.  Time flies on wings of lightning.  How grateful I am that my Heavenly Father has giving me this time on Earth to learn of Him.  Time to grow in understanding.  Time to overcome weaknesses.  I am thankful for time.

#19 Eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to understand.  I am so grateful for those senses that draw me closer to my Heavenly Father.

#20  Heavenly Father, His son Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Where would we be without them.  All I have to do is look at the world and I see people running to and fro not knowing where to find peace.  I am so grateful to my Father for his love for us that He would send His Son to atone for our sins.  Then to have the Holy Ghost to prompt us and help to teach us the right path to take to get back to our Father.  I am thankful for each one of them individually but how do you separate them out?  I am grateful that they work together for our good.  I am grateful for the knowledge that I have that my Father loves me.  Christ died for me.  The Holy Ghost prompts me and teaches me daily.  The Gospel is my saving force that moves me in the right direction.  May I ever stay on course!