Giving Thanks
Thanksgiving is upon us and it is one of my personal favorite times of the year. Though we should everyday, the reality is that we do not often take the time to simply be thankful for the things that are good in our life, our community, our Nation. It is at this time of the year that is dedicated to that pursuit and it goes a long way toward making life livable over the next twelve months.
This year I am thankful for the freedoms that we enjoy. The freedom to listen to the music that I love. The freedom to choose my elected officials and the freedom to disagree with their decisions and positions. The freedom to practice the religion that I believe without persecution. The freedom to write the truth, no matter how popular that it might or might not be. The freedom to speak the truth, out loud and publicly. The freedom to read different ideas and make my own determinations about those ideas. The freedom to choose the work I love, the person I love, to pursue the knowledge that I want. I know that those freedoms are shared but they are special and important to each of us and for each of them I am thankful.
In a time where being politically correct is almost a mandate, I am thankful for things that are, somehow, not politically correct. I am thankful for God and His grace and blessings, which are too many to list. I am thankful for my husband and a marriage that has withstood the test of time and life. I am thankful for my son, who has brought me joy and a type of love that explains many of life’s questions. I am thankful for parents and grandparents who modeled resilience and my brother, who would give me a kidney if I needed it. I am thankful for my niece, my extra baby, and my sister in law, who completes our family in a way that only they could. For all my family, my friends, my work, my life, my community and my God, I am thankful.
On this Thanksgiving, my hope is that your thankful list is long and your blessing many. Happy Thanksgiving to your family from our family at the Jefferson County Post!
