I Have Many Blessings

By Laurel Rohlfing

I, the Lord, … delight to honor those who serve me in righteousness (D&C 76:5).

Heavenly Father has given you many things for which you can be thankful. You have been blessed with a beautiful world in which to live, a family and friends who love and care for you, and leaders and teachers to guide you. You have the scriptures to help you learn of Heavenly Father and Jesus, and talents to bless your life and the lives of others.

Remember to thank Heavenly Father often for the blessings that He gives to you. The prophet Alma tells us to “always [return] thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive” (Alma 7:23).

There are many ways that you can thank Heavenly Father. You can thank Him by praying to Him, by singing praises, by being reverent, and by being a good example. You also thank Him by obeying His commandments and by serving others.

The big picture here is missing many things that are given to you as blessings from Heavenly Father. To help you understand how many blessings you have been given, cut out the small pictures and glue them within the correct outlines on the big picture. What others blessings can you think of?

Illustrated by Robyn S. Officer

Sharing Time Ideas

Divide children into small groups. Each child in turn tries to think of a blessing that begins with the letter A. When no more blessings can be thought of that start with A, move on to B, etc. For example: I am thankful for apples. I am thankful for ants. I am thankful for arms. You could do this in rhythm by clapping twice on your lap, then three times with hands, then snapping fingers once over shoulder.
Have children search for blessings in scriptures and list them on paper. For example: Genesis 2:9 [Gen. 2:9] (23rd word—food), Mark 5:28 (10th word—clothes). See Topical Guide headings for additional scripture references.
Enlarge small pictures, and make two copies of each. Paste on cardboard squares of equal size. Divide pictures into identical groups, and have children match pictures by turning over one card at a time in each group.
Give children list or pictures of topics. For example: beautiful world, talents, family and friends, leaders and teachers, my home, my body, the gospel, my country, education. Ask them to name as many blessings as they can think of under those topics.
Roll out long sheets of paper. Assign children a section, and have them make mural by drawing large picture of blessing that is important to them.