Think to Thank

For a little insight into the holiday, "In the United States, the modern Thanksgiving holiday tradition traces its origins to a 1621 celebration at Plymouth in present-day Massachusetts. While initially, the Plymouth colony did not have enough food to feed half of the 102 colonists, the Wampanoag Native Americans helped the Pilgrims by providing seeds and teaching them to fish. And eventually became an annual harvest festival, known as the thanksgiving festival."

 Thanksgiving is a time of gratitude and giving. We began our day at 9:00am waking to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Broadcast, a Martin Family tradition. We saw lots of fun dances, songs, floats, balloons and more; we got to recap it with Joseph and my Mom over the phone. Before we left for dinner we tried taking some pictures together with us Martins and my Stanger babes.

 

 We celebrated at the Stanger Family's house and some of us Martin's joined in too (Amberlee and Daniel).  We had a delicious dinner with everyone.

 It wore some of us out...

After we were home Bella was sleeping and Amberlee and I had some fun doing a photo shoot with her in this adorable outfit.

 She didn't enjoy it as much as we did. So we ended real quick.

Connor got a little jealous of our Bella Shoot so he tried to take over and got very sad when we put away the camera. So I couldn't resist snapping this picture.

In honor of thanksgiving we read this talk by President Monson about gratitude. Here are some aspects I enjoyed.

Excerpts from the 1998 October General Conference “Think to Thank” by Thomas S. Monson:

The Apostle Paul, in his epistle to the Corinthians, proclaimed, “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.” And to the Thessalonians, “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God.”

Do we pause and ponder Ammon’s words? “Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people,  … over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever.”

Robert W. Woodruff, a prominent business leader of a former time, toured the United States giving a lecture which he entitled “A Capsule Course in Human Relations.” In his message, he said that the two most important words in the English language are these: “Thank you.”

Gracias, danke, merci—whatever language is spoken, “thank you” frequently expressed will cheer your spirit, broaden your friendships, and lift your lives to a higher pathway as you journey toward perfection. There is a simplicity—even a sincerity—when “thank you” is spoken.

The prophet Alma urged, “Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.”

I would like to mention three instances where I believe a sincere “thank you” could lift a heavy heart, inspire a good deed, and bring heaven’s blessings closer to the challenges of our day.

First, may I ask that we express thanks to our parents for life, for caring, for sacrificing, for laboring to provide a knowledge of our Heavenly Father’s plan for happiness.

Next, have we thought on occasion of a certain teacher at school or at church who seemed to quicken our desire to learn, who instilled in us a commitment to live with honor?

Third, I mention an expression of “thank you” to one’s peers. The teenage years can be difficult for the teens themselves as well as for their parents. These are trying times in the life of a boy or a girl. Each boy wants to make the football team; each girl wants to be the beauty queen. “Many are called, but few are chosen”  could have an application here.

The Master invites one and all:

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”