TJ Hirst

Live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you. Alma 34:38

More than ten years ago, I made a Thanksgiving tree with my toddler children. I chose a bare branch from our yard and gathered leaves from beneath our silver maple. I cleaned and mounted the branch and displayed it in our dining room. Each day we wrote a word or two on a leaf about something for which we were thankful and taped it to the branch. At the end of the month, we had a full Thanksgiving tree to decorate our table and a full heart of gratitude to began the Christmas season.

All it takes to see past what you don’t have is to see one thing you do.

The writer who said this also said, Stop Saying You Do Not Because Now You Do. Just like we filled our Thanksgiving branch, he’s filling a wall of gifts with 100 things he will do for other people—even you—so we can SEE what we’ve already been given. He says,

Each of the 100 squares on my wall represents one thing I’d like to do for you this holiday season. My hope is that by doing this one thing for you, you’ll have at least one thing to say you do have–you’ll have something to be grateful for–and I’ll have some measure of satisfaction that I put to good use what resources I can contribute.

His creative generosity inspires me. I chose a square, and you can, too, when you visit his online project called 100 Squares for Christmas.

And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.
And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.
And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:
For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.

Mark 12:41-44

Paul’s finally home. He’s recovering from an accident this weekend while cutting down a tree. He suffered four broken ribs and a small fracture in his back. He’s in pain but healing. What an experience. More about it tomorrow.

To view more participants, go to Wordless Wednesday or 5 Minutes for Mom.

I notice people. I observe them and consider them and learn from them. Unfortunately, though, I stopped observing life.  I don’t mean life in the big picture, the cause and effect, or its purposes. I mean life in its smallest and simplest forms. Life like a child sees it for the very first time.

The baby who came to play at my house this week sensed life. And through his eyes, I sensed it too. He touched the water pouring from the faucet and let it run through his fingers. When I changed the temperature, he startled at the cold.

He heard the whir of the furnace from the vent, held his face over to look down inside and and felt the soft blow of warm air in his hair. He listened to the oink sound of a plastic toy and shook his hand to hear it and laughed.

He chewed the crusts of wheat bread and made a game of the extra pieces. He absorbed the colors of the books we read and tried to pull the animals off the page to play.

At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,

And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 18:1-4

Teaching the account of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from Matthew this week highlighted something new to me—replacing fear with faith, especially in moments of spiritual growth.

And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. . . . And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.

Matthew 28:5-6, 9-10

Our class noticed how the counsel given to the women at this holy time is to not fear or be afraid. That fit along so well with these words we then heard:

Challenges, difficulties, questions, doubts-these are part of our mortality. But we are not alone. As disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have enormous spiritual reservoirs of light and truth available to us. Fear and faith cannot coexist in our hearts at the same time. In our days of difficulty, we choose the road of faith. Jesus said, “Be not afraid, only believe.”⁴

Through the years we take these important spiritual steps over and over again. We begin to see that “he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day.”⁵ Our questions and doubts are resolved or become less concerning to us. Our faith becomes simple and pure. We come to know what we already knew.

Elder Neil L. Anderson
You Know Enough