An Attitude of Gratitude

I remember a General Conference talk from many years ago where it was noticed that as congregations we are often heard to say we are grateful for the blessings which we enjoy. Of course we are grateful for those things which make us happy. What about the blessings we don't enjoy? I was reading the experience of a mother who was just starting chemotherapy. She felt chemo was poison, doing more harm than good. She certainly didn't want her six year old son to know her fears and concerns. So she devised a wonderful image in her mind and shared it with her son. She explained to him that since she had a powerful sickness in her body, she would need a powerful medicine to help her get better. This medicine would be so powerful, in fact, that it was superhero medicine. It could knock the hair right off her head. She found herself visualizing little Supermans flying through her body punching out all the cancer cells. When she did this, she wasn't scared anymore. Now that's gratitude with an attitude.

As I "count my blessings instead of sheep", I usually list the obvious: warm home, food, a job, family and health. But I am taking the opportunity in this week's Grace Notes to express my appreciation for the lesser known blessings. See if you agree?

BRAKES. As I was flying home from Ilene's last week, I felt a rush in takeoff. But the landing...I was very grateful for that person in engineering history that invented brakes. All I know is that George Westinghouse of Schenectady, New York invented the air brake in 1869. Bless his little heart!

HOT WATER HEATER. I've seen movies. I've read books. I know that past generations used cold water for everything. Today we just turn the knob to the left and like magic the water turns hot. (My HWH is nearing the ripe old age of 24...I better start preparing for its demise.)

PHOTOGRAPHY. My memory fails quite often. Isn't it great that we can relive those Kodak moments over and over again? (The gorilla at Brooke's wedding; the reunion giggling family prayer; Dax's baby blessing; Grandpa Singleton on his tricycle; vacationing in Hawaii)

MOUNTAINS. I remember visiting Disneyworld several years ago. Personally, I wasn't thrilled with Florida. I missed my mountains. It's an amazing plan that God planted mountains so as to collect snow for summer use and provide a scenic home for Bambi and Thumper.

FINGERNAIL CLIPPERS. How did women manage their fingernails 500 years ago? Did they use some sort of stone grinder or the family sword? I don't know! But I would bet there were no Dollar Cuts in every community offering manicure services.

THE "BACKSPACE KEY". Computers are in that "obvious" blessing category. Isn't it wonderful to have a backspace key to erase all the "oops" in our typing? I am old enough to remember eraser pencils, whiteout strips, and hours spent on retyping the term paper because of a misspelled word in the FIRST paragraph. Oh, yes, I am old enough to remember typewriters, too.

PEACHES. I mentioned I was grateful for food. I think my all-time favorite food is peaches. Fresh, ripe...not canned. Peaches on cereal, peaches on cake, peaches in ice cream, peaches in pies, peaches all by themselves...yum!

FAX MACHINES. I don't even begin to understand the technology. How do alphabet letters and characters get transmitted through the air? Boggles my mind. I don't comprehend the workings of telephones, email, television or electricity either.

POLICE OFFICERS. The same man that annoys me with a traffic violation is also the man that has the power and authority to perhaps save my life.

RED LIGHT. How I hate to wait at a red light when no one is going through on the green. But considering human nature as it is, we would never take turns without it.

TELEVISION COMMERCIALS. We just get to the climax of the story when they break to sell laundry detergent. How annoying. On the other hand, when would we take time for the restroom or visit the refrigerator?

And here's a quick index of other miscellaneous blessings ranging from A to Z. Maybe they don't appear to be God sent, but their invention sure makes life easier today. Just try doing without. It may be fun for you to come up with your own alphabetized list.

Ant spray
Bifocals
Calculator
Drive thrus
Escalators
Freeway
Gas pump
Hair dryer
Italian seasoning
Jiffy Lube
Knee highs
Lawn mower
Mouse traps
Nursery, as in Primary
Oven, the microwavable kind
Piano
Quiet books
Remote control
Scissors
Telephone, namely cell
Umbrella
Velcro
Wise leaders
X-lax
Yellow anythings
Ziplock bags

As Thanksgiving comes next week, may I thank you all again for your love and support. Your kindness allowed me to enjoy the holiday with family last year as we celebrated the Saturday before Thanksgiving. I truly appreciated being with you and look forward to this year's celebration. So, Mahalo, Merci, Danke, Gracias, Thank you. Tis the season...to be grateful.