Being Thankful

Well, I just had to stop what I was doing to say how Thankful I am for what I have. I have a house to keep me dry during wet weather, it may not be the warmest right now with the heater broken, but I do have a roof over my head and I can heat some of the house with wood in the stove. I have cars to drive that are paid for and in working condition. I have a job that I go to 5 days a week for 8 hours a day and get paid for it. I have a loving family and loving friends who are there for me when I need a shoulder to cry on, a pat on the back, a few words of encouragement, help doing something that I need help on, being able to go to the church of my choice and worshiping God as I wish to. Part of me thinking this way is finding out about a fellow ward member who doesn't ask for much at all and doesn't have much in the way of material things. This person I will call "Larry" lives in Lompico in a little 1 bedroom cabin that the landlord was going to remodel but has felt he has put too much money in it already and isn't motivated to do much more. Larry only gets less than $900.00 a month in disability because of his back. He was in an accident that was not his fault and has chronic back pain. Larry's vehicle's back window is missing and only has a thin plastic sheet replacing it. In the cabin he rents, he pays about $425.00 a month. He doesn't have running water in it. He has to go to the water heater which has a hose attached and turns on the faucet to fill containers and then turns off the faucet. With these containers of water he is able to pour water into the toilet so it can be flushed since there is no running water in the cabin. Larry goes to a friends a few houses up the road to use the shower. Larry only has a hot plate to cook on. He does not have a stove or oven. He can only cook things that he can cook on the hot plate. Larry's electricity is by a power cord. He has a lamp he uses for light. There was a hole in the roof that he has been able to cover with some wood but only after the rain a few weeks ago got his bed wet(a used full box spring and mattress that was given to us that we gave to him). It took him a little while to get the mattress dry so he could sleep on it. Larry only has a small space heater to use occasionally to try and get warm because if the electricity bill gets to high, the landlord won't pay it. I don't hear Larry complain, he just is grateful he has a place to live and where his son can come over and spend some weekends with him. We had Larry over for lunch on Sunday after church and Dennis was surprised how much he ate. Larry commented that he usually only eats one meal a day but for the past few days had been visiting him mom and she made sure he ate 3 meals a day. Well, I could tell you more, but this is longer than I had planned already. I now think before I complain about it being cold in our house. I at least have a woodstove to heat part of the house and some wood. I have a few space heaters I can use to help keep a room warmer. I have warm clothes to wear and water that works in my house. I can do my laundry at home and can bake cookies if I want. I have light to be able to see properly in the house, I have electricity to run my tv or radio and I can run my dishwasher. My goal this Christmas season is to be a secret Santa to Larry and his son. I want to share a little of what I have to make this mans live a little happier, warmer and not so hard. I will be thinking each day before I complain about something, is it really all that bad? I hope everyone thinks about what they are Thankful for during this Thanksgiving time.