28th

28) I am grateful to day for the Holy Ghost. I am thankful that I can feel His promptings and have a sensitivity to the spirit. I recognize that the Holy Ghost is available to tell me things I need to know, testify to me of truth as I hear or read or feel it and bring things to my remembrance. I am grateful for the feeling I have when I feel the Spirit. I don't even mind the weeping that comes with that feeling anymore. Lately I feel like I can weep at the drop of a hat, but I sense that it is the Spirit I feel that brings the tears. I am grateful that my spirit is receptive enough to His spirit that I can feel a difference. I am grateful that my heart is not so hardened that I am past feeling that. Each day I get a sense of the nearness of the Holy Ghost in my life, I give thanks. I am learning to discern the Spirit in my daily life, and I am grateful for the re-dos, the do-overs and the try-agains when I miss a prompting and the Lord sends me another one. I am grateful He trusts me enough to prompt me to do or say something by sending His spirit. I hope to someday be in tune with that Spirit all the day long that I might lift those around me and help them to also feel His love and His spirit in their lives.

27th

27) Today I am grateful for the knowledge I have that God lives and loves me; that I am His child and He had a plan for me. I am grateful that He sends us prophets to direct His work on the earth today and that we have lessons recorded by prophets long ago in the scriptures to teach us the things we can do to become what God wants us to become. It isn't an easy life, but it is the best chance we have to learn what matters most and how we can master ourselves by obedience to His commandments. That obedience brings us freedom as we recognize the blessings offered to us as we obey Him. His love is complete and unconditional. His promises are sure. He is our Eternal Father and he want us to choose to return to live with Him again as an eternal family.

Happy 26th!

26) I am thankful for the day to reflect on my many blessings. I am thankful for the free land I live in and the opportunity this country gives me to pursue happiness. I completely believe this land was preserved by God to be established as the home of free men and women who love and serve the Lord. It was preserved to be a place where the Gospel of Jesus Christ could be restored. It is a blessed land. It is a special land. It is my home and I am blessed to have been born a citizen of this country, and today I am so grateful for the privileges living here affords me and my family.

Happy Thanksgiving!

25th

25) Today I am grateful for all those who have come before me. I am grateful to have my parents still--though they are a little too far away for holiday visiting this year. I am grateful to have known my grandparents and for the lessons I learned from them. I am grateful that I had great grandparents and great-greats on down the line. I am grateful that at some point, someone in each of the branches of the family tree made the brave attempt at a new life in America and came to this country to begin a life of their own.

24th

24) I am grateful today for the early start I got on the work I needed to do. I got a move on things quick by sweeping and mopping all the wood floors int eh kitchen, dining room and front room. While I was already sweaty, and since it was only 19 degrees outside this morning, I did yoga rather than a run this morning. I had three hours of work finished already by the time I got out of the shower just after nine o'clock. Now I get to bake cookies and run errands and feel like my day is already a success.

22nd and 23rd

Hey I have 500 posts! Can that be my 22nd gratitude post?

22) I made it to 500! That is pretty crazy! Writing this is very journal-esque for me. I know my mom reads it and that keep my parents in the know for my life and the family here. I am pretty sure other friends read this too, not quite as regularly, but I only have one mom, so there you go. But I happy to write every day, and this is easier mentally for me than to fret about journaling something each day--essentially this fills that requirement too.

23) I am grateful for memories. We had Grandpa Herb down for dinner last night--well, he got here at 2 PM, and Genius Golfer's sisters and their families came over for dinner at 5 PM. Herb had found some old, old photos from the day SIL Brenda went into the MTC and when now-married & expecting niece, Larisa, and now-married nephew, Travis, were preschoolers. There was even one of BIL Mike, who looked a lot like Prince in the 80s. They were so funny.

In my visit to another ward yesterday, I was able to sit in on their sacrament meeting where my trek 'son', the Professor, had his twin brothers speak having just come home from their missions last week. They each used the word "remember" a few times in relating stories from their own experiences on the missions to illustrate the Lord's hand in missionary work. It was such a pleasure to hear them both. I am not close to them, as I feel to Professor, but I can see so much of them in him--mannerisms, inflection, bone structure, testimony, and Spirit. It was a great day. But I am grateful for the remembrances that we all have that give us fond memories and recollections we can enjoy over and over again.