Come, ye thankful people, come;
Raise the song of harvest home.
All is safely gathered in
Ere the winter storms begin.
God, our Maker, doth provide
For our wants to be supplied.
Come to God’s own temple, come;
Raise the song of harvest home.

-Come, Ye Thankful People, Hymn 94

***

The more I’ve tried to make a conscious effort this week to be thankful, the more I want to BE a “thankful person.” I want Heavenly Father to think (when He thinks of me), “That Krista. What a good kid. She’s always so thankful.” I really do. I want to always be a thankful person. And I think gratitude — honest, consistent, and sincere gratitude — takes practice. Maybe some people are born with automatically thankful hearts. Mine? Not so much. Mine needs practice. And I’ve been grateful (see … it’s working!) this week for the opportunity to try harder.

Today, I’m especially grateful for …
1. the money I found in a forgotten bank account
2. the award i received from whitney permann’s porch. whitney: my sincerest thanks. i was SO touched you would even think to nominate me!
3. the italian opera music the construction workers were listening to whilst they worked on the building next to ours downtown. …or maybe there were SINGING the italian opera music. THAT would make it even better! either way, those are some guys i want to hang out with!
4. divine motivation
5. karly and the way she looked in her gorgeous ivory-with-a-champaigne-sash wedding dress
6. melissa-whose-name-means-honey-bee and the hot hair she gave me tonight. i have the best hairdresser in the whole wide world!
7. my buddy and the way she hangs out on the phone with me while i drive home. we don’t even talk sometimes. she’s just there. always there.
8. 5 shows down, 20 to go
9. hope for change (and i am NOT talking about Barack Obama)
10. yesterday
11. today
12. tomorrow