As the time I have spent on this earth gets longer, I find there is so much more for which I am extremely thankful. With the Thanksgiving holiday approaching, I feel it is appropriate for me to express my thanks for at least some of them.
1. I am first of all thankful to be able to worship God. There are millions of people in the world today who do not have that freedom; who live in places where extremist views or oppressive religions are forced upon them. While it is true that many of them do not consider those beliefs either extremist or oppressive, anything that forces someone to accept beliefs rather than giving them the freedom to choose is both, and I am so very thankful not to have found myself living under those circumstances.
2. I am extremely thankful to have been born in a country where I am free to set and strive to reach my own personal goals. Again, in many countries a woman is born into virtual slavery and her life is pretty much dictated to her by the men around her. I doubt I would have lived very long had I been born into one of those societies.
3. I am thankful for all of the people I have come to know along my life's journey. Even those who, at the time, seemed to me to be more of an aggravation than a blessing, added something to that journey that helped to shape the rest of my life. And there have been so many wonderfully interesting people! Search and rescue dog trainers, fire fighters, and emergency planners; human and women's rights activists, hippies, yippies and radicals of all wonderful sorts; news men and women, and news makers; working people just trying to make it from one day to the next, and trying to make a better life for their families; people who have nothing, working in the trenches with those who have more than enough, bringing relief to members of the community affected by disaster of one kind or another. All of you have made my life richer.
4. I am thankful that the numerous wonderful experiences in my life have given me the stories to tell and the knowledge to pass on to my grand children which they otherwise would never hear or receive. Hearing about new and different things, having their world opened up so they can see that the world is absolutely what you choose to make of it, is a blessing we all wish to be able to bestow to those who come after us.
5. I may never have had plenty, but there has always been enough, and I thank the Lord for this. There are so many people who have always had too little, and it is only by the grace of God I was not in that number, and not by my own actions.
6. And lastly, I am thankful to live in a country where freedom is so cheap we can take it for granted, as we all have a tendency to do. During this holiday season, I wish you all more things to be thankful for than you can possibly count; more blessings than you need; and that you take the time to give thanks for at least some of them.
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