"...and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God" (Alma 37:37)

Today, I sit pondering about water. What a gift and blessing water is for us. And it comes right to our house and we can drink it! This is taken for granted, forgetting the process and how many people made it possible for me to have this water run to our home. Just a little perspective on a few of those people. There are the people who originally found the source of the water, and the people who piped the water, and the people who filtered the water, and the people who made the filter. And the people who piped the water to my house (that's a lot of pipe!), and the people who built my house who put in the pipe. And the people who made the faucet and the people who put in the faucet. And to not leave out the people who made all that pipe or even the people who originally invented pipe and therefore made it possible for us to have running water, that I can drink straight from the tap.

There are two quick points from this thought. The first quick point is water and all that it goes through so that we might be able to drink, right from the tap. It's like we are drinking it from the original source. Spiritually speaking, Christ is the original source. When I am really thirsty, I can just go turn on the tap and the water comes out. And Christ is the same way! He said, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink" (John 7:37). Let any man, woman or child, come and drink! He has laid the "pipe", He has made the faucet for us to receive the "living water" (see John 4:10). Christ is real. He has the power to do all things, and strengthen us. But first, we must turn on the faucet and drink the water.

The second point: gratitude. As I have pondered all that I have been given, and all that goes into making it possible for me to receive it, I am humbled by all that I have been given! It makes so much sense why we are given this counsel: "...and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God" (Alma 37:37). And another way of saying it: "...always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive" (Alma 7: 23).  Just receiving water alone is a miracle. But I think the miracle is complete when we receive it with a grateful heart.

Drinking clean water, even the Living Water, strengthens me, and blesses my life in ways I have taken for granted. I am coming to find that gratitude is really a way of living. It is a way of being aware of what I have and giving thanks for all things, even being able to drink straight from the tap. When I live in gratitude and give thanks in all things, I am changed, I am happier and I have greater peace. This I testify.

(This short video put things into perspective for me - enjoy! And remember, you are LOVED!)