Instead of Sheep...

 I'll have to be honest, I'm not one who's all gung-ho about gratitude lessons during Thanksgiving...we hear them every year, and it's always the same thing: "You should have gratitude the WHOLE year, but ESPECIALLY this week." I, personally, am more gung-ho about the food...although we get that every year too. But for some reason a plate full of mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, and pie feels less repetitive than a lesson about gratitude. At any rate, I guess seventeen annual gratitude checks have gotten a little old, and I didn't feel the need to pay attention to number eighteen.

So I paid attention to the food, family, and fun. And it was fabulous! Little did I know, Heavenly Father was going to give me a gratitude lesson whether I liked it or not...

 It actually started last Monday when I went to my high school's production of White Christmas, which I had never seen before. I loved it! Especially this song. Take it away, Bing!

 

What a stud...So Thanksgiving rolls around, and, like I said: Food, family, food, fun, food...and pie :) Oh, and I have a new favorite treat which you can find here on my sister's cooking blog. I definitely ate WAY too many gooey chocolate cookies for my own good...luckily I balanced it out with my new workout routine, right? I'm a work in progress...

Sunday night sneaked up way too fast, and I still had to write a research paper. So I got back to my dorm, reunited with my dear roomies, and got down to business. I stayed up until...late. But I finished! I quickly brushed my teeth, sunk into my mattress, snuggled in my blanket and...I was still awake. I waited some more...still awake. I thought the more tired you are, the easier you fall asleep! Apparently not. So I counted down from 100, 99, 98...27, 26, 25--okay, if I get down to 1, that's just depressing. "Let's try something else..." and this lovely song popped into my head. Can you guess what it was? Bing Crosby said it all...

So I started...

I'm grateful for spending time with my family this week...

I'm grateful for good roommates...

I'm grateful for my education (that was a tough one after this beastly paper)...

...And I fell asleep counting my bleeeeeeeeesings! I know it's cheesy, but it worked for me, which makes me excited for what I'll learn (and eat) this Christmas! ;)

Confucius Say...

Do you ever think that maybe there's a little Providence in your fortune cookie?

Ok, I'm not saying I'd like to bear my testimony of fortune cookies and I know that they're true. I'm just wondering...if Heavenly Father sends us messages through the scriptures, through nature, and through other people, well...why not through food?

Regardless of whether or not it really was meant especially for me, I really liked my most recent fortune:

The near future holds a gift of contentment.

The more I live, the more I realize, life is hard (I'm brilliant, I know). And most of the time, it's not the kind of hard that can just disappear...let's face it, as much as we pray, our biology teacher is still going to give us a research paper, and we're still going to have to have an apartment cleaning check, study for tests, eat, and try to be a good person, all at once.

No, it's not all going to go away...unfortunately. And it's probably going to get harder. I get that. But I am also learning that the near future always holds a gift of contentment.

Perhaps Elder Richard G. Scott said it better than a fortune cookie in a 1995 General Conference. My wonderful RA brought up this talk today in our floor meeting. (Maybe she was just as inspired as the cookie I ate on Thursday night). Elder Scott put it this way:

"I testify that when the Lord closes one important door in your life, He shows His continuing love and compassion by opening many other compensating doors through your exercise of faith. He will place in your path packets of spiritual sunlight to brighten your way."

Life is still hard. But I've found that the harder life is, the brighter (and probably more frequent) our packets of sunlight:

A loving parent (or two)...

A call from a good friend...

A new favorite scripture...

Candy and an anonymous note at the door...

A new nephew...

The opportunity to serve...

A priesthood blessing...

A talk with a good listener...

...just to name a few.

Confucius say...I'll get through the next two weeks. And if not...Thanksgiving's right around the corner!