A Liberating Thanksgiving

We ate at Golden Corral for Thanksgiving. It felt like a corral...hundreds of people being herded around to get their endless supply of food. Cousin Ashely said, "I like that I can choose to eat pizza for Thanksgiving if I want. It's kind of liberating." I can give thanks for that as well.

The morning of Thanksgiving I read several scriptures that command us to give thanks in all things. Not just the pleasant things, mind you, but ALL things. That's not necessarily easy for me...but I don't know that it's meant to be. The saying it with your mouth part is easy, but I think honestly feeling it in your heart can take work. Let me just give you a sampling of the crowd of people we had at our Thanksgiving feast: a grandmother who is in constant, debilitating pain, an uncle separated from his family for the holiday because of addiction, four eligible, wonderful single women who are not dating, a mother with back pain, a father who has never been able to run.

So I ask, how do you find gratitude in ALL of these circumstances? I'm not asking because I don't know, but that I think it's necessary to remind myself again and again. I believe in a Savior who consecrates all experiences for our good...if we let Him. His very existence heals our broken hearts, strengthens our feeble knees, cleanses our souls, compensates our losses, gives purpose to our trials, deepens our joys, and anything else which has any semblence of meaning. We can give thanks in all circumstances, because at least we have circumstances. He has given us the opportunity to live, to experience the rawest of human emotions, and to transcend into something holier. The atonement gives life to life, which is far beyond our capacity to fully understand. I offer my gratitude to Him, in whatever imperfect way that I can...and am humbled for the opportunity. He has made my life worth living.

Happy Thanksgiving!