Week 13: A Journey of Gratitude

 I have a quote painted on a wooden plaque and placed above my kitchen sink.  I read it many years ago in the Ensign magazine in an article about gratitude.  It reads "The grateful heart sits at a continual feast."  Though I made the plaque over fifteen years ago, I've never considered taking it down.  The more time goes on, the more profound it seems to me.  

If I get into a mood where I'm looking around at all that is wrong in my life: a difficult child, a messy house, not enough money for some of the things I want, my own personal failures, the failures or unkind behavior of others, life can look bleak and paltry.  

On the other hand, if I look with eyes that are searching for the rich blessings that are mine, I truly feel that I'm sitting at a feast that God has provided just for me.  I am dazzled by all that is mine: good health, the good health of my husband and children, a large comfortable house, cars that function, relationships full of love and respect, the ability to repent and be forgiven of our mistakes, hot water, the time to pursue hobbies and interests, the invention of books with their gift of letting one communicate with the great minds of the ages, I honestly could go on and on for a very long time.  

I really loved that President Monson focused on the seemingly simple things that almost everybody has to be thankful for: a loving mother, a loving father, Jesus Christ, good friends who enrich life and bring so much joy, wonderful teachers who gave of themselves so that we might learn and so that our lives, in turn, would be better.  Not one of these on the list are things, rather, they are people.  I think that's profound and worth pondering.  

In the end, it's all about others, and how we interacted with them.  Did we grow in love and service to those God put into our life plan?  Did we love and are we loved?  If so, we truly sit at a rich and abundant feast.