I Must Ask . . . Grateful & Thankful Edition

Our society is afflicted by a spirit of thoughtless arrogance unbecoming those who have been so magnificently blessed. How grateful we should be for the bounties we enjoy. Absence of gratitude is the mark of the narrow, uneducated mind. It bespeaks a lack of knowledge and the ignorance of self-sufficiency. It expresses itself in ugly egotism and frequently in wanton mischief....

"Where there is appreciation, there is courtesy, there is concern for the rights and property of others. Without appreciation, there is arrogance and evil.

"Where there is gratitude, there is humility, as opposed to pride." –Gordon B. Hinckley

About 10 seconds after I posted the last I Must Ask, I realized that I'd forgotten a VERY important category, as far as places to meet a spouse. Work. And so, for all those who were shafted in the voting, I'm going to post your comments.

Mommarock said, I met my hubby at WORK. We were in the military together way back then... 24 years ago. But work isn't a choice there. So no vote.

Too right you are. Sorry about that!

Marianne (aka, Ranger Anna) at Misadventures with Rangers shared this, I was working for the local Girl Scout Council, and my hubby was the Ranger/Manager at a park directly adjacent to one of our camps. I called him to arrange some type of event, and he mentioned, quite quickly that he was a single Dad of a Girl Scout. We dated for 4 years to be sure our little Girl Scout could handle another person sharing her Daddy with her. DH proposed by saying, "So. You wanna get married or what." A couple of days later he gave me a chain saw--which cuts a lot more stuff than a diamond, says he. Not to mention the family heirloom diamond he gave Darling Daughter's mom ended up cutting his face when she delivered a left hook while wearing it. I did get a diamond anniversary ring for both our 10^th and 20^th anniversaries. And his Mom thought the story about me not getting the ring sucked, so she told everyone that "when I go toes up, Marianne gets my ring." I wear her beautiful ring whenever I can.

I think he made a great choice when he picked you!

Pink at Pink Suede Shoe had this to say, I met my hubby at work. We worked opposite shifts, then I moved to Russia for a year and when I came home we were on the same shift. We started work at 5 am and spent a few hours talking everyday before the store opened. He got to hear all about my crazy Russian ex-fiance and I got to hear all about his crazy ex girlfriend. And a few weeks into it he asked me out. We went out after work every single day for a few weeks and it didn't take long before we knew we were supposed to stay together. We kept it a secret at work for months, because technically we weren't allowed to date co-workers. And then he got promoted to my supervisor and we knew we really had to keep it quiet. I didn't wear a ring to work until less than 30 days before the wedding, because that was my official window of time to find a new job. Luckily I was able to transfer to another store right after the wedding and we both got to keep our jobs. I later got promoted, transfered back to my original store where we met and took over his job. Anyway, I was shocked that he loved me when he saw me at my worst. Just reeling off of the Russia mafia ex-fiance experience, and lets be honest, no one is at their best at 5 am day after day. After the whole Mafia guy/ex-fiance I was ready to swear off men and dating forever. But despite my best efforts to ignore how he made me feel, I fell in love and we got married at the next semester break, just before Christmas. Which was a really convenient time to get married, and a terrible time for an anniversary.

Any man who can fall in love with you at 5:00 am is a keeper.

Cat e-mailed me directly and said, I went to do your poll again this week but you needed an extra option. I met my husband at work. We were on a workplace training program together that went for about a year. We didn't actually work together at the time - there are about 1600-2000 people working for my organisation, but once we were engaged we actually ended up working in the same team!

One more apology for forgetting that the majority of single adults spend about ⅓ of their lives at work! I know that this week, I'm bound to leave something off the list too, so make sure to leave a comment if you don't see what you're looking for.

Growing up, there was this little old man who attended the same ward {congregation} as we did. We called him The Grateful and Thankful Man because every time he was called on to offer a prayer, he had a long list of things he was grateful and thankful for. In our youthful ignorance, we failed to realize that this man was on the right track. After all, everything we have comes from God, so why not take a few minutes to be thankful for some of those things. Focusing on the positive in life changes perspective. As I prepare to stuff myself with turkey and mashed potatoes and gravy and stuffing, here are a few things I've been reflecting on.

I am thankful for family; for goodly parents, for beautiful children and a kind spouse.
I am thankful for a listening ear.
I am thankful for friendship.
I am thankful for opportunities to serve.
I am thankful for modern medicine.
I am thankful for good books.
I am thankful for the beauty of this earth.
I am thankful for a roof over my head, gas in my car and money in the bank.
I am thankful for my talents.

I think that Thanksgiving is a really overlooked holiday. As soon as Halloween is over, it's all about Christmas because, I guess, you can't sell thankfulness at the store. But I really enjoy pausing for a few minutes to reflect on the blessings in my life. How about you? I must ask . . . what are you thankful for?