Preparing to give Thanks

I wonder if I would love Thanksgiving as much if I did not have so very much for which I am grateful?  It is easy to give thanks and be positive when you live in a Country where you can speak what you think, write what you want, pray to your God or not pray at all, publicly condemn and criticize your government without fear of reprisal.  

I wonder if I were going to bed, underneath a viaduct or in my car, with my stomach rumbling from hunger and my body smelling from not having a shower in which to wash...how much I would love Thanksgiving?  I wonder if I was elderly and alone in my home with no company but the television or 18 and just released from the foster care system with no where to go and no prospects for my future, how grateful I would be?  I wonder if I were dying of cancer and had no insurance to get treatment that could make my life better or save my life, how much I would feel like giving thanks.

Thankfully, I have never gone to bed hungry or anywhere other than a warm bed in a warm house.  I have never awoken and not known how I was going to feed my family that day.  I have never applied for job after job after job just to be turned away time and again.  I have been very blessed and I try my best to help others who have not been as lucky.....because that's all it is....Luck.  But for the grace of God, I could have been born in a third world country and never have known the security and peace that I have know my entire life. 

This year, as we enjoy our huge feast and then sit in front of our big screen tv's watching guys who get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to throw a ball around a field may we say an extra prayer for those who are not as fortunate and are seeking refuge in our Home of the Brave and Land of the Free.

I am sharing with you today, our Thanksgiving Menu for this year, we are having a small group (by our standards) of 10 for dinner.  I pray that you and yours have a very blessed Thanksgiving Day and that your team wins!