Day 268, November 7

Abraham Lincoln is one of my heroes.  He combined both strength and gentleness, turning the seeming dichotomy into yet another strength.

His friends liked to tell a story from his days on the judicial circuit to show just how kind he was.  While they were riding to the next courthouse, one of his friends noticed that Lincoln had disappeared.

"Where's Lincoln?" one asked.

"When I saw him last he had caught two young birds which the wind had blown out of their nest, and he has been hunting for th enest so as to put them back," answered his companion.

After a while, Lincoln rejoined the group.  To the teasing of his friends, he merely said, "I could not have slept well tonight if I had not saved those birds."

So, for today, I am grateful for his example of compassion.

Day 267, November 6

Today is my mother's birthday.  Even though she has been gone for 16 years, I miss her still.  I frequently find myself wishing that she were here to see how her grandchildren have grown up and my grandchildren are growing up.

A child of the Great Depression, Mom grew up poor.  That only whetted her appetite for learning.  She never had the opportunity to go to college.  Instead, she went to business school and learned secretarial skills.  From there, she traveled from her small town home in Eastern Tennessee to Washington, DC to get a job and send money home for her mother and three siblings.

Later in life, she worked as a substitute teacher in the high school which my sister and I attended.  She loved the students, and they loved her.

So, for today and for everyday, I am grateful for my mother.

Day 266, November 5

"Our Heavenly Father, who gives us so much to delight in, also knows that we learn and grow and become stronger as we face and survive the trials through which we must pass/  We know that there are times when we will experience heartbreaking sorrow, when we will grieve, and when we may be tested to our limits.

"However such difficulties allow us to change for the better, to rebuild our lives in the way our Heavenly Father teaches us, and to become something different from what we were--better than we were, more understanding than we were, more empathetic than we were, with stronger testimonies than we had before."--Thomas S. Monson, Prophet and President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

As always, President Monson says much in a few, well chosen words.  Surviving trials strengthens us in a way that enjoying the smooth times of life will never do.  Much as I hate going through the hard times, I find I emerge with more confidence and more gratitude than I previously had.

So, for today, I am grateful for those times when I "change for the better."

Day 265, November 4

Last week, our lesson in Relief Society focused on happiness.  We talked about what happiness is ... and what it isn't.  We agreed that great riches don't make for happiness.  Neither do many of the things the world deems important.

What does make for happiness?  We came up with the usual suspects:  service, family, friends.  We included in their sharing the good news of the Gospel with others.  Happiness is one of life's ironies, in that when we chase it, it frequently eludes us.  But when we engage in doing good, it comes to perch on our shoulders.

So, for today, I am grateful for those times when happiness happens to perch on my shoulder.

Day 264, November 3

Today is a special day.  It is our granddaughter Reynna's birthday.  Reynna is now 14 and fully involved in being all that that means.  She loves her parents, her little brother, and Justin Beiber.  (I hope she loves her grandparents somewhere in there as well.)  She attends Young Women, plays volleyball, and takes karate. 

Her energy is boundless as is her curiosity.  She is compassionate to her poor grandmother who is hopelessly behind in all things technological and is completely uncool.  When I wear things that Reynna deems unfashionable, she says, "Grandma, you have a unique fashion sense."

Reynna finds time to participate in Relay for Life races (to benefit cancer research), to work with her mother at service projects, and to babysit for friends.  She is a light in my life.

So, for today, I am grateful for Reynna.

Day 263, November 2

I promise:  only one more verse of "We Are Sowing."  (Well, there could have been more as I love this hymn, but the author ended at four.)

Though who knowest all our weakness, leave us not to sow alone!
Bid thine angels guard the furrows where the precious grain is sown,
Till the fields are drowned with glory, filled with mellow, ripened ears,
Filled with fruit of life eternal from the seed we sowed in tears.

The last line of the verse especially resonated within me.  "Filled with fruit of life eternal from the seed we sowed in tears."   Some of the most important seeds I've sown in my life had been sown in tears.  There is childbirth (and let me tell you there were plenty of tears there!).  And child rearing (more tears).  There is working to stay married (buckets and buckets of tears).  And saying a temporary goodbye to loved ones (still more tears). 

All of these jouneys were and are drenched in tears.  And they were also filled with laughter (well, not so much the childbirth)  It occurs to me that the most important journeys and events in life are frequently accompanied by tears, so that when we experience the joy, we are that much more grateful for it.

So, for today, I am grateful for "seeds sowed in tears."

Day 262, November 1

You've probably figured out now that you are going to have to wade through all the verses of "We Are Sowing."

Seeds that lie unchanged, unquickened lifeless on the teeming mold,
Seeds that live and grow and flourish when the sower's hand is cold.
By a whsiper sow we blessings: by a breath we scatter strife,
In our words and thoughts and actions lie the seeds of death and life.

We know what it is to be unchanged, but what does it mean to be unquickened?  Different definitions come to mind.  One that came to me was "unacknowledged."  The seed we try to sow within a child to return to a family sometimes seems unacknowledged.  The seeds I try to sow with my writing frequently seem unacknowledged as editor after editor reject my work.  There are all sorts of unacknowledgment.

So, for today, I am grateful for seeds that refuse to lie unacknowledged.