Gratitude
This past week the Merrill family studied "Gratitude". Here are our favorite thoughts and quotes on this subject....
DAD:
"In every thing give athanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
"But agodliness with bcontentment is great gain.
"For we brought anothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out." (1 Timothy 6:6-7)
I learned from Morgan that Heavenly Father wants us to show gratitude and that He is in every detail of our life.
I also never fully realized before that it is a command to be grateful.
I learned a lot of things but a couple of things that I learned I have never thought of in connection with gratitude.
"We set goals to show our faith. We follow up on goals to count our blessings." (Ensign October 2013, p. 32)
Maybe because I'm a goal oriented person, but that really stood out to me!
"Gratitude is the antidote to comparing ourselves to others." (Ensign October 2013, p. 34)
As a parent with three teenagers, the thought of finding a way to help stave off rebellion really stood out to me as well. I love President Faust's insight:
"It seems as though there is a tug-of-war between opposing character traits that leaves no voids in our souls. As gratitude is absent or disappears, rebellion often enters and fills the vacuum. I do not speak of rebellion against civil oppression. I refer to rebellion against moral cleanliness, beauty, decency, honesty, reverence, and respect for parental authority." (James E. Faust)
Although we can't force our children to be grateful, there are some things we can do to hopefully help develop that crucial virtue. We can encourage service to less fortunate, provide opportunities to work for things that they want, and to daily provide an opportunity to express what they are thankful for. We are starting to go around the dinner table and let everyone share one thing they are grateful for and we are hoping that will help all of us focus on our many blessings! Yesterday, Tanner was wanting to buy a new shirt. We decided he could earn the money and purchase one if he wanted to. He spent four hours cleaning all three cars and he was so happy and excited. He went and found a good deal where he was able to purchase two shirts for just $10.00 each (he returned one that he had bought previously so he would have enough for the deal). I know if we had just given him the money or just purchased the shirts for him, he wouldn't have had the same positive experience.
If I start thinking about the state of our world and country I get anxious so President Monson's words are comforting to me:
"This is a wonderful time to be on earth. While there is much that is wrong in the world today, there are many things that are right and good." (Thomas S. Monson)
I was thinking how grateful I am to be living on this earth at this time. Sometimes I get discouraged and a bit fearful because of the decline of our society. When I think of all the worlds created and all of the billions of people, I am in awe that I was blessed to be saved for the last days and was born on this earth. The earth that Christ would come and live and die. I am also grateful of all those same people, I was born into a family that had the gospel. That puts me in a very small minority but with that great blessing comes a great responsibility. I was reminded of the scripture in Alma 13:3 where it tells me that I was foreordained and prepared before I came here because of my faith and good works in the preexistence. I am so grateful for that knowledge!
NICHOLE:
"And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more."
Just like our own children, the ones who are grateful we feel even more inclined to help and bless! During hard times we sometimes find fault instead of expressing gratitude to our Heavenly Father.
DEAN:
I learned that no matter what we do or how hard we try we can never repay the Lord because he continues to bless us throughout our lives. I also, learned that the Lord wants us to be grateful because it actually brings us joy. We are able to reflect on the things we do have and not the things we don't have. It's also important to show our gratitude to the Lord in word and in spirit.
DAVID:
The one thing I have come to realize this week is that no one has an easy life. Everyone has challenges and that can get you down if you dwell on it. I was pretty down for 2 years and I did not enjoy life at that time and I think it was because I was focusing on the negative. I should have been grateful for the blessings I did have such as family and my health. I realize that time in my life was the best thing for me and I am grateful for it because now that my life is better I realize how lucky and blessed I am. I think Katy Perry sang it best when she said "After a hurricane comes a rainbow!" She is so wise. (I question the wisdom of David's source....but agree with this statement!)
RACHEL:
"What if you woke up today with only the things you thanked God for yesterday?"
Hope you enjoyed this weeks study session. Elena's topic for next week is ATTITUDE.
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