Thanksgiving

Jason and I had a different Thanksgiving than usual this year. We weren't able to attend the feast of food with friends and family but since giving thanks is the most important part of Thanksgiving I still want to celebrate it by reminding myself of all the many things I've been blessed with.

What I'm grateful for:

• At the top of my list is the atonement of Jesus Christ closely followed by my membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 
• Close proximity to temples and church buildings and time to visit them often
• An incredibly kind, loving, and loyal husband
• Loving and concerned parents, parents-in-law, and siblings(-in-law)
• True friends
• Good health
• A challenging job that I enjoy most of the time and that provides well for our family
• Opportunities to serve others through church service
• An apartment that is clean and nice and in a good location
• A good education
• Reliable cars
• Ease of communication through phone and email
• Enough food, clothes, and necessities to take care of our needs
• Uninterrupted sleep at night
• Hot water, electricity, heater, stove, microwave, indoor plumbing, washer/dryer, and carpet
• Contact lenses
• A laptop and internet access
• Free time on evenings and weekends
• The ability to leave the house in less than 5 minutes whenever I want to
• Good books and movies
• Free public libraries
• Modern medicine and technology
• Warm sunny days
• Mountains that are close

There are many people in this world who have almost none of these blessings although many who will read this list could probably say they enjoy most of these too. It's good for me to remember that even many of these simple blessings are things to be appreciated and not entitlements.