Full of stuffing & gratitude 

November 27th, 2014- the traditional day of Thanksgiving. This is the day where we are up earlier than we would like getting the house ready & then ourselves. Where the home smells like turkey, stuffing, yams, cranberry sauce, and tons and tons of pie. A day where we go around the table saying things we are thankful for- family, food, jobs, school, etc, all the standard answers. A day for being grateful. But, shouldn't we be grateful on days without pumpkin pie?

Last Sunday, I was able to teach a lesson about being grateful IN our circumstances rather than afterwards or for certain things. There is a difference about being grateful to go through obstacles that God has put in our paths. To be grateful that He trusts us with such an important part of our lives. At first this was really hard to understand. How can I be grateful in my circumstances? Do I count all the blessings I have been given in my life? Do I pray? I didn't even know what "being grateful IN circumstances" meant, until I tried to do it.

I decided that during my struggles I will be grateful. I will be grateful to be in the present with our Father in Heaven. I will be grateful to have the struggles I have. I will be grateful because I know that the worries and challenges that are in my life are the one's I am meant to have. The one's I am meant to overcome. A women in my church, during the lesson said something that really made me think. "Rather to have my struggles than someone else's." Everyone goes through different obstacles in their lives, but there is one thing that can all pull us back together, and that is to be grateful in anything we come across. Because what if we didn't have those standard answers to be grateful for in our lives? What if we didn't have a family, or food, or jobs, or school? Could we still be grateful?

Instead of being grateful for things, we need to just be thankful overall. The scriptures just talk about a general gratefulness rather than being specific on what to be grateful for. And maybe it's time we adopt that into our own lives. To just be grateful, period.

 https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/04/grateful-in-any-circumstances?lang=eng&query=grateful+in+any+circumstances