Have a great Thanksgiving, everyone. I’m signing off for the week in favor of housecleaning and food preparation (I realize that this should be a regular habit, but this week it seems more pressing). Enjoy down time with your families and loved ones. Among many things, I’m grateful for the community of like-minded friends I’ve found through blogging (especially those of you I know in real life who tolerate my blogging), and wish you all a week of peace, love, good food and good company.
Here are some quotes I’ve collected this week about gratitude. It’s overwhelming to think how blessed we truly are.
” We can lift ourselves, and others as well, when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude.” — Thomas S. Monson
“He who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious”. — Doctrine and Covenants 78:19
“A grateful heart is a beginning of greatness. It is an expression of humility. It is a foundation for the development of such virtues as prayer, faith, courage, contentment, happiness, love, and well-being.” — James E. Faust
“Gratitude is a mark of a noble soul and a refined character. We like to be around those who are grateful. They tend to brighten all around them. They make others feel better about themselves. They tend to be more humble, more joyful, more likable.” — Joseph B. Wirthlin
“Mercies and blessings come in different forms–sometimes as hard things. Yet the Lord said, ‘Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things’ (D&C 59:7). All things means just that: good things, difficult things–not just some things. He has commanded us to be grateful because He knows being grateful will make us happy. This is another evidence of His love.” –Bonnie D. Parkin
“A happy home is but an earlier heaven. President George Albert Smith asked, ‘Do we want our homes to be happy? If we do, let them be the abiding place of prayer, thanksgiving and gratitude.’” –Thomas S. Monson
If you haven’t seen this yet, it’s a must see:
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Congrats to Lara, who won the FHE Adventures giveaway! If you didn’t win a copy, but would still like to get one, you can order here.
Diapers and Divinity 
Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you enjoy a beautiful day in the company of friends and family.
Happy Thanksgiving!
I hope you have a great holiday, Stephanie!
Thanks for posting this! I needed to hear it on a busy day getting ready to go out of town. Sometimes we get so busy preparing for these upcoming holidays we forget to enjoy them for what they really are. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! I always love to listen to Elder Oaks and I remember that talk.
Hope your holiday is full of warmth and love and memory-making moments!
Lovely. I adore Sister Parkin. Mercies and blessings, evidence of His love….. just what we all needed. Great jump start for a day of laundry and dishes! Have a happy week off!
Hope that the housecleaning and food preparations don’t preclude you from enjoying the holiday! This year I’m thankful to have reconnected with you. Your posts have been both a bright spot and a source of inspiration for me. Thanks for sharing all the parts of you–I think they’re all great!
Happy Thanksgiving!
I love all those quotes, esp the Faust one. And that YouTube clip makes me cry!
happy thanksgiving to you & your beautiful family.
I’m a little curious if the Grandma D gene that makes one want to make AT LEAST three pies for Thanksgiving has also afflicted you. Every time I decide to make too many, I think of all the pies Grandma must have made over the years. Mine are a drop in the bucket. Happy Thanksgiving!
I’m a glutton, but it’s a tradition that lives on. Everyone in the family picks their favorite pie and I make it. Our dessert spread is bigger than the actual feast!
Happy Thanksgiving my new friend. It’s amazing this week in my scripture reading the word thanksgiving has come up several times from Ammon and then Alma the younger. We all have so much to be thankful for!
Stephanie, I saw what you wrote to Fefe and I laughed out loud:) I couldn’t remember the post with your boy so I scrolled back to find it. It truly is SO sweet and so sincere- you can tell those are his own words. You should be so proud- don’t we just hope those little testimonies grow to send them on missions someday:)? nice job:)
I think the principle of gratitude is one of the most powerful we can practice to brighten and improve our quality of life. Our stake president challenged us to make our gratitude count, to take it deeper this season so as a family we decided that at the end of our morning family prayer, we would each say one thing we were grateful for before everybody parted for the day. I loved doing that and want to think of a similar challenge to take us through the Christmas season. It was a small thing that added so much to the holiday for us.