Tag: #GiveThanks

#GiveThanks Day Seven

(87) I’m grateful for my pilgrim ancestors who came to this country seeking to build a more godly community, and gave us a heritage of self-government and self-sufficiency.

(88) I’m grateful that my pilgrim ancestors actually survived, which was not at all a foregone conclusion, or even likely.

(89) I’m grateful for the native Americans like Squanto who welcomed the pilgrims and helped them to make it through that first winter, when everything was so precarious.

(90) I’m grateful that the tradition of Thanksgiving was established in our American culture, and that we have a holiday where we remember the pilgrims and the contributions that they made to our culture and history.

(91) I’m grateful for turkey and cranberry sauce. It’s a wonderful combination of flavors, and I always forget how good it is until Thanksgiving rolls around.

(92) I’m grateful for Thanksgiving leftovers and how delicious they are!

(93) I’m grateful for the opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving with family this year, and that Utah wasn’t nearly as Draconian with the lockdowns as some places.

(94) I’m grateful for all of the people who are defying the lockdowns to practice their religion and celebrate the holidays. At this point in the pandemic, given all that we now know about the virus and how to treat it, I consider it an important act of civil disobedience against would-be tyrants who care less about our health and safety and more about power and control.

(95) I’m grateful for the unexpected growth in book sales that I’m currently experiencing, and the fact that my sales have more or less held steady through this difficult time.

(96) I’m grateful for how much I’ve grown as a writer in just the last few years.

(97) I’m grateful for every short story sale that I’ve made, including the ones to the token paying markets.

(98) I’m grateful for all of the readers who follow my newsletter and reach out to me via email from time to time. I wish I could respond in a timely manner to all of them!

(99) I’m grateful for all of the readers who take the time to post a rating or a review. It really does help other readers to find and enjoy my books.

(100) Finally, I’m grateful to be alive in what is, without a doubt, the best time in history to be a reader or a writer!

#GiveThanks Day Six

(73) I’m grateful that my only food allergy is chicken meat, and that I can still handle Turkey just fine.

(74) I’m grateful for books like The Fourth Turning and The Next Hundred Years, which really help to open my eyes to what’s coming, and prepare.

(75) I’m grateful for our renters and the blessing that we are in each others’ lives.

(76) I’m grateful for my ancestors who made the Mormon Pioneer Trek so that their descendants could grow up in Zion.

(77) I’m grateful for my ancestors who emmigrated to the United States, so that I could grow up in this great nation and understand the meaning of freedom.

(78) I’m grateful for my ancestors who fought for this country so that I could still have those freedoms enshrined in our Constitution.

(79) I’m grateful for all of the sacrifices that my ancestors made, especially my grandfather, to make sure that their children and grandchildren could have better lives than they did.

(80) I’m grateful for the opportunity that I have to pass on those blessings to a new generation, and to be another link in the chain.

(81) I’m grateful that the masks are finally coming off now, that the enemies of this country are revealing themselves for who they really are, and that tens of millions of Americans have just woken up and been red-pilled, as painful as that may be.

(82) I’m grateful that Winston Churchill was right about America: that you can always trust us to do the right thing, after we’ve done everything else.

(83) I’m grateful that my own red-pill experience happened from 2016-2017, so that I’ve already been mentally prepared to deal with the things that are happening now.

(84) I’m grateful for the fact that I live in a country where making ourselves ungovernable is a part of our cultural heritage.

(85) I’m grateful to be alive and able to have an impact in such a pivotal time in history.

(86) I’m grateful that I live in a red state that is very well positioned to ride out the coming collapse.

#GiveThanks Day Five

(61) I’m grateful for my truck and the mileage I’ve gotten out of it.

(62) I’m grateful for our Toyota Camry and the diligent service that the previous owners put in it, for it to run so well.

(63) Believe it or not, I’m actually grateful for the fact that our baby always gets up before 6am. On a good day, it allows me to get an early start to the day, and on a bad day, we just sleep in with her for a couple more hours.

(64) I’m grateful for all the baby clothes that our neighbors gave us.

(65) I’m grateful for all the board and picture books that my parents and friends gave us.

(66) I’m grateful that we have everything we need to take care of our baby’s needs.

(67) I’m grateful for the fact that I have a wife and a baby, and that my life doesn’t just revolve around me anymore.

(68) I’m grateful that I was able to grow up in an era of peacetime, between the end of the Cold War and the era of endless wars in which we now live.

(69) I’m grateful that our leaders, including President Trump, have made such incredible progress toward peace in the Middle East in just the last year.

(70) I’m grateful that I was able to read the Book of Mormon in another language (Arabic) for the first time this year.

(71) I’m grateful that I was able to see Jerusalem and spend a significant amount of time in the Holy Land while studying Arabic in college.

(72) I’m grateful for all the ways in which my experiences with Middle Eastern cultures and history have enriched my writing.

#GiveThanks Day Four

(45) I’m grateful for Jordan Peterson and his courage to speak the truth as he sees it, even in the face of incredible opposition.

(46) I’m grateful for the “intellectual dark web” and how they show that there are still intelligent people who can discuss important issues with those with whom they disagree.

(47) I’m grateful for the voices in the alternative media that push back against the gaslighting of the mainstream media.

(48) On a less political note, I’m grateful for Mike Duncan and his History of Rome podcast, which taught me far more about the Romans and their impact on our world than my college education ever did.

(49) I’m also grateful for Mike Duncan’s Revolutions podcast, which has done the same thing for the history of our modern era.

(50) I’m grateful for Dan Carlin and his numerous podcasts, especially Hardcore History.

(51) I’m grateful for the Writing Excuses podcast, which was very influential in how I developed my writing craft back when I was just getting started.

(52) I’m grateful for the Six Figure Authors podcast and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Marketing podcast, and the excellent marketing and publishing ideas that they give me.

(53) I’m grateful for the Sell More Books Show and how it helps me to stay up to date with what’s happening in indie publishing.

(54) I’m grateful for the Mythulu cards that my wife got me for my birthday, and how they’ve helped me this nanowrimo to come up with some great story ideas.

(55) I’m grateful for Kris Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith, and the influence they were in helping me to decide to self publish back in 2011.

(56) I’m grateful for Life, the Universe, and Everything, and how that conference was and continues to be critical in shaping my writing career.

(57) I’m grateful for the writing group that I was fortunate enough to marry into, and the good advice and feedback that I receive from it.

(58) I’m grateful for Quark, BYU’s Science Fiction and Fantasy Club, and for how it provided me with a community of like-minded geeks and aspiring writers in college.

(59) I’m grateful for Leading Edge and the opportunity that I had to read for their slushpile, back when I was still learning my craft.

(60) I’m grateful for all of the other science fiction conventions I’ve been able to attend over the years, including Worldcon, World Fantasy, FanX, CONduit, and others.

#GiveThanks Day Three

(30) My wife posted today that she’s grateful for Tillamook Mudslide ice cream. So am I!

(31) I’m grateful for the original Star Wars series for cultivating within me a deep and lifelong love for science fiction.

(32) I’m grateful for Michael Ende and his magnificent book The Neverending Story, which remains my favorite novel of all time, and showed me as a child just how powerful and moving a book can be.

(33) I’m grateful for Madeline L’Engle and A Wrinkle in Time for helping me to realize that one day, I would be a writer.

(34) I’m grateful for Ursula K. Le Guin and her masterful book The Dispossessed for showing me how the written word can make you feel you understand a fictional character from a completely alien culture better than you understand yourself.

(35) I’m grateful for Orson Scott Card and Ender’s Game for keeping me up until 4am and giving me one of the most incredible reading experiences of my life.

(36) I’m grateful for David Gemmell and his Drenai Series for moving me to tears with the inspiring heroism of his characters.

(37) I’m grateful for my childhood teachers who encouraged me to read and instilled in me a love of reading.

(38) I’m grateful for Terry Pratchett and his wonderfully entertaining Discworld books, which definitely helped me to become a funnier person.

(39) I’m grateful for Paperback Swap, which has been a wonderful tool for swapping books and building my personal library.

(40) I’m grateful for all of the wonderful books I have yet to discover.

(41) I’m grateful for Goodreads for helping me to organize and keep track of the books that I read, and to set reading goals.

(42) I’m grateful for the ability that I have to blog about my writing and my reading, something that didn’t really exist until just a couple of decades ago.

(43) I’m grateful for NaNoWriMo and the encouragement that it gives all of us to write things we didn’t think that we could.

(44) I’m grateful for Brandon Sanderson, his wonderful books, the positive influence that he is on the fantasy genre, and for the class he taught at BYU that both I and my wife were privileged to be able to take (though we didn’t know each other at the time).

#GiveThanks Day Two

(15) I am grateful for my American heritage, and the rights and freedoms that I am able to enjoy because of that.

(16) I am grateful to have access to many good books, more than I can possibly read in one lifetime.

(17) I am grateful that my copy of Destroyer of Worlds by Larry Correia came in the mail today!

(18) I am grateful to live close to the Orem Library, which really is a first rate library with a great staff and an excellent selection of books.

(19) I am grateful for the two mature apple trees in our backyard and the fruit that they give us.

(20) I am grateful that we have space for a garden and were able to have an excellent harvest this year.

(21) I am grateful for the art that hangs over my computer, which my sister painted back in high school:

(22) I am grateful for my nieces and nephews and the chance to be a good uncle to them—also, that one of them considers me her favorite uncle!

(23) I am grateful for the mountains that surround the valley I live in, and the many opportunities I’ve had to climb them.

(24) I am grateful for my local church community, especially our bishop and ministering brothers.

(25) I am grateful that our family finances are reasonably secure.

(26) I am grateful that I was able to graduate from college debt-free.

(27) I am grateful that I was able to study Arabic in one of the best undergraduate Arabic language programs in the country, and for the experiences that I was able to have while completing that course of study.

(28) I am grateful that I was able to teach English in the Republic of Georgia, and for the experiences that I had while living in that country.

(29) I am grateful that I’ve been able to travel across the United States, including both coasts and every major region of the lower 48 except the Pacific Northwest.

#GiveThanks Day One

President Russell M. Nelson, the spiritual leader and prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, put out this message today about gratitude. In it, he invites all of us to turn our social media accounts into our own “personal gratitude journal” between now and Thanksgiving, which we celebrate next week here in the United States.

I don’t really do social media anymore, but I do still have this blog, so in keeping with President Nelson’s invitation I am going to spend the next seven days building a list of a hundred things that I am grateful for.

(1) I am grateful for my wife, and the wonderful influence for good that she is in my life.

(2) I am grateful for the fact that our baby is healthy, happy, and developing well.

(3) I am grateful for our home, the roof over our heads, and the shelter it provides us from the elements.

(4) I am grateful for the scriptures and the teachings of living prophets and apostles, which have and continue to provide me with guidance, direction, comfort, admonition, and answers to life’s difficult questions.

(5) I am grateful to live in an age when incredible advancements in medical knowledge make it possible for us to live without fear of the diseases and ailments that have plagued mankind for thousands of years.

(6) I am grateful to live in an age when my words can be read across the world at very little expense to myself, and I can hold in my hand a device that has access to almost all of the collective knowledge of mankind.

(7) I am grateful for my parents, who raised me in a loving home and provided me not only with the necessities of life, but who raised me to be the man I am today.

(8) I am grateful for my sisters and the positive influence that they are in my life.

(9) I am grateful for my in-laws and the support and love that they give us.

(10) I am grateful that I am able to pursue my childhood dream to be a writer, and the numerous opportunities that the self-publishing revolution has made possible.

(11) I am grateful for my readers who make this writing career possible.

(12) I am grateful for my health.

(13) I am grateful for the fact that we have food in our pantry and refrigerator, and do not need to go hungry.

(14) I am grateful to live in a community where crime is low and people are generally friendly and willing to help when we need it.