I spoke in church this past Sunday. I don't write out talks, so I can't post the whole thing without more effort than I really have time for right now (T minus 5 days to loading a moving truck). But I found some wonderful words from General Authorities about gratitude - especially Elder Scott. I have come to love his gentle way of speaking, and I can just hear these words in his voice.
I have saved the most important part about prayer until the end. It is gratitude! Our sincere efforts to thank our beloved Father generate wondrous feelings of peace, self-worth, and love. No matter how challenging our circumstances, honest appreciation fills our mind to overflowing with gratitude.
Why is it that the most impoverished seem to know best how to thank the Lord? In the highlands of Guatemala, members barely subsist. Going to the temple requires great sacrifice. A visit takes a year of preparation. There is hard work, sacrifice to save money and food, the spinning, dyeing, and weaving of new clothing. There is the long, barefoot walk out of the mountains, the crossing of Lake Isabel, the bus rides with little food. Tired and worn, they arrive at the temple. They scrub until they shine, dress in their new clothing, and enter the house of the Lord.
Reclothed in white, they are taught by the Spirit, receive ordinances, and make covenants. One highland woman was greatly touched by the spirit and meaning of the endowment. Entering the celestial room, she saw others seated, with heads reverently bowed. Innocently, she knelt at the entrance to the room, oblivious to others. She bowed her head, sobbed, and for twenty minutes poured out her heart to her Father in Heaven. Finally, with her dress soaked with tears, she raised her head. The sensitive temple matron asked, “May I help?” She responded, “Oh, would you? This is my problem: I’ve tried to tell Father in Heaven of my gratitude for all of my blessings, but I don’t feel that I’ve communicated. Will you help me tell Him how grateful I am?”
Richard G. Scott, Oct. 1989
Recently I stood on the north shore of a beautiful Pacific island gazing out to sea at daybreak. I was fascinated by the regularity with which the gigantic waves consistently moved forward to break on the shoreline. It reminded me of the constancy of the plan of the Lord, with its fixed, eternal law, and the security of enduring justice and the tenderness of mercy when earned by obedience. I noticed that each wave would crest at a different point on the horizon to find its unique path to shore. Some cascaded over rocks, leaving rivulets of foaming, white water. Others burst on the shore in individual patterns. They slid up the moistened sand with playful frothy edges, then bubbled and swirled as they receded.
I thought of the unending variety of possibilities the Lord has provided for us. We have so much freedom, so many opportunities to develop our unique personalities and talents, our individual memories, our personalized contributions. Since there would be no further opportunity to observe the majestic sea, I tried to imagine the glorious panorama the brilliant sun would later create. As I watched this magnificent scene in reverence, a window formed in the clouds; the glistening rays of the rising sun broke through the overcast sky, transforming everything with its luminescence, its color, its life. It was as if the Lord wanted to share an additional blessing, a symbol of the light of His teachings that gives brilliance and hope to everyone it touches. Tears of gratitude formed for this wondrous world in which we live, for the extraordinary beauty our Heavenly Father so freely shares with all who are willing to see. Truly, life is beautiful.
Do you take time to discover each day how beautiful your life can be? How long has it been since you watched the sun set? The departing rays kissing the clouds, trees, hills, and lowlands good night, sometimes tranquilly, sometimes with exuberant bursts of color and form. What of the wonder of a cloudless night when the Lord unveils the marvels of His heavens—the twinkling stars, the moonlight rays—to ignite our imagination with His greatness and glory? How captivating to watch a seed planted in fertile soil germinate, gather strength, and send forth a tiny, seemingly insignificant sprout. Patiently it begins to grow and develop its own character led by the genetic code the Lord has provided to guide its development. With care it surely will become what it is destined to be: a lily, crowned with grace and beauty; a fragrant spearmint plant; a peach; an avocado; or a beautiful blossom with unique delicacy, hue, and fragrance. When last did you observe a tiny rosebud form? Each day it develops new and impressive character, more promise of beauty until it becomes a majestic rose. You are one of the noblest of God’s creations. His intent is that your life be gloriously beautiful regardless of your circumstances. As you are grateful and obedient, you can become all that God intends you to be.
Richard G. Scott, May 1996
Our realization of what is most important in life goes hand in hand with gratitude for our blessings.
Said one well-known author: “Both abundance and lack [of abundance] exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend … when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that’s present—love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature, and personal pursuits that bring us [happiness]—the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience heaven on earth.”
Thomas S. Monson, Oct. 2008
Gratitude is a state of appreciation, an act of thanksgiving, which causes us to be humble because we recognize an act of kindness, service, or caring from someone else which lifts us and strengthens us.
Ingratitude is the attitude of being unaware or not recognizing when someone has assisted us or helped us or, even worse, when we know we have been helped and have not given thanks privately or publicly.
In some quiet way, the expression and feelings of gratitude have a wonderful cleansing or healing nature. Gratitude brings warmth to the giver and the receiver alike.
Gratitude expressed to our Heavenly Father in prayer for what we have brings a calming peace—a peace which allows us to not canker our souls for what we don’t have. Gratitude brings a peace that helps us overcome the pain of adversity and failure. Gratitude on a daily basis means we express appreciation for what we have now without qualification for what we had in the past or desire in the future. A recognition of and appreciation for our gifts and talents which have been given also allows us to acknowledge the need for help and assistance from the gifts and talents possessed by others.
Robert D. Hales, April 1992
The perm. The feathering. The white banana clip with gold hearts. It's all 1987. Just so you know, the sweater was pink with a round yoke and puffed sleeves. It would actually be chic again in 2010.
The short life of my efforts with "claw" style bangs. I'm the one in the Gene Loves Jezebel shirt on the couch. The rest of those girls, my compatriots from Young Women in my ward in Pittsburgh.
Again with my girls, this time with shaggy, red hair. The color started with a supposedly temporary dye job for a play (FAUGH by Jerome McDonough, a true classic) and kind of stayed that way all year.
At the end of my freshman year of high school I somehow got roped into being a hair model for a cosmetology show. I got this cute cut, an extreme angled bob, shaved up the back. I loved this cut. I still think it is about the most perfect cut ever invented. I am presently unwilling to undertake the maintenance, though.
Here's how I looked around the time I met Dr. G. Again with the Gene Loves Jezebel shirt. I loved that shirt.
Here I am at the beginning of my junior year. The slight flip was almost unheard of at this time (Fall 1990). I was wearing a hand-knit sweater that used to be my mom's in the '60s. It had no buttons left, so I stretched it out and pinned it so that it crossed over at the hem and made sort of a V shape. Under it I usually wore a white camisole, the khaki sleeveless dress you see here, and some Timberland riding boots. It was J. Jill before I ever heard of J. Jill, I guess.
Taken by a fellow student when I was in a photography class (my only D in high school. I was overextended that semester and photography had to give). Notable: my hair was really, really straight. It is not that straight anymore. It bends all over the place.
I got this perm before my junior prom. It was actually a pretty good choice, for 1991. The scarf in this picture is one I still have and still wear. A gift from my dad. I love the Northwest native design.
I grew out the perm before college and chopped off my hair after Dr. G and I got engaged in December 1992. Again, it was pretty much an angled bob, but this time stacked up to the U-shape instead of shaved in the back. My mom was in wonder that I would cut off all that hair for my wedding. And then to boot, I went red again. Well. He married me anyway.
Speaking of Dora ... gosh, our girl is pretty, huh? She loves the snow.
This looks like original 1958 paper to me, and the dirt underneath it seemed to confirm that hypothesis. Gross! Beyond gross! I had to disassemble the wooden divider to get this out. Yeah, it was worth it.
I was thinking 1960s for the palm trees, until I saw similar Contact paper for sale at the local WalMart.
Obviously an early-1980s print.
White on pale green. My wedding colors from 1993.
The faux-marble look screams 1990s to me. (But, hey! Pull out shelves in the pots-and-pans cupboard! Super!)
