God is good: expressing gratitude and recognizing blessings

Even without any snow or cold weather here in the Valley, when I flipped my calendar last week, I knew that it I was in the month of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is my very favorite holiday! There are no fireworks or grand displays, no presents, or glitzy decorations. There is just great food and family, love and friends. Some think that it’s a holiday dedicated to eating, but it is so much more! It is an opportunity to look around us and truly feel grateful and give thanks.

Four years ago, I gave a talk to one of our congregations. In preparation, I pondered and studied the subject of gratitude. I was not in uncharted territory; the scriptures alone have 155 verses exhorting us to give thanks—most of those admonishing us to give thanks to God.

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus heals ten lepers. Of the ten, only one returns and gives thanks for the healing. Then the Savior says to the grateful man, “Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole” (Luke 17:12-19). This familiar story struck me with new meaning—the leper’s gratitude had worked a change. Christ had done the healing of the leprosy for all ten, but this single man’s gratitude had made him whole. I concluded that God does not need us to be grateful; rather that our gratitude helps us. I desired to be made whole.

With the Savior’s words running through my mind, I began a quest, a quest to be grateful. A quote from William Arthur Ward admonished that, “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” So, even though I was sixty years old and not all that into social media, I turned to Facebook and committed to posting something in my life that I was grateful for every day. I would end each post with the simple truth, “God is good.”

At first, the task was easy; there were family, friends, community, sunsets and all the many blessings in my life. However, as the days and months went on and I endeavored to find something unique to be grateful for, my vision began to expand. I began to use a safety pin and marvel at how handy it was or see a spider web and enjoy its beauty. I became more alert to the virtues in others. I became excited by little things all around me. In short, it felt as if the Lord had given me a new sense, a sixth sense. I became a seeker.

I discovered for myself the truth of what the nineteenth-century theologian, Henry Ward Beecher shared:

“If one should give me a dish of sand, and tell me there were particles of iron in it I might look for them with my eyes, and search for them with my clumsy fingers, and be unable to detect them, but let me take a magnet and sweep through it and now it will draw to itself the almost invisible particles by the mere power of attraction. The thankless heart, like my finger in the sand, discovers no miracles; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day, and as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings.”

When making these posts, I am concerned that people may misunderstand my intent. My life is so incredibly wonderful, while many suffer need and want. I try to be grateful for the small things, but I’m mindful of those without running water, refrigerators, or flush toilets--or even safety pins. There are those whose mom isn’t 86 years old, who don’t have loving siblings, children, and grandchildren. Many lack comfortable homes, heat, plenty to eat, soft beds, luxurious sheets, greenhouses, gardens, flowers, etc. I never want anyone to feel bad because they don’t have what I do, and I hope that isn’t the case.

Finding and expressing gratitude is my small way of trying to sift through my wonderful life and see it for the blessing it is. I have found that gratitude allows the Lord to open my eyes to those who need my help. It has made me more generous with my time and resources and given me greater desire to reach beyond my limited sphere.

Life offers us all endless choices. One of the biggest ones we make (and we make it repeatedly) is how we choose to interpret our lives. The author Mike Ericksen wrote:

“I truly believe we can either see the connections, celebrate them, and express gratitude for our blessings, or we can see life as a string of coincidences that have no meaning or connection. For me, I’m going to believe in miracles, celebrate life, rejoice in the views of eternity, and hope my choices will create a positive ripple effect in the lives of others. This is my choice.”

After a year of my “God is good” posts, I wasn’t ready to be done. So, I continued. It is now four years since I chose to become a grateful person. There have been some hard times, but I have found goodness everywhere. I am certainly not ‘whole’ yet, but I am more. And I am grateful for the big and little things in my life which all help me to affirm that God is good.

Carol Kenley grew up in Palmer on a dairy farm. She owns and operates Kenley’s Alaskan Vegetables and Flowers, is a member of the Palmer Lions Club, is on the Board of Directors of Alaska Farmland Trust, and volunteers with Loaves of Love nonprofit charity. Carol is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.