Thanksgiving...

Tonight my family will celebrate Thanksgiving.....without me. It is not a good, bad, or indifferent thing and then again it is all 3. I am extremely thankful for many things and, given the holiday, I feel that I will expound on the thanks I have that there will be celebration tonight without me.

First and foremost I know that where ever I am or what ever I am doing, the Lord watches over me. He keeps me safe. He loves me. He provides everything I have and I am truely thankful to be here because of Him. I am also thankful for where I will go, also because of Him.

Second, I am thankful that I have a family that will be celebrating. Without a family, I don't think there would be a reason for living. They are the light and love of my life. From my wife and kids, to my parents and siblings. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and all those that are just family because they mean so much.

I am thankful that I will be missed because it means that I am loved. They love me so much that my absence will be a little bothersome to them but they will also carry on as though I was there to celebrate the holiday and family.

Third, I am thankful for the reason I will not be there and that is my job, or one of them. It means a couple of different things. It means that, since it is a second job, that I am willing to work hard for my family to support them. It means that I am able and capable to do so. It means that I'm not afraid to take on additional responsibilities to do what is necessary for survival and for the benefit of my family.

I am thankful that I am healthy enough to work. I am thankful that I have transportation to and from as well as transportation home. I am thankful that I have a home to go to at the end of the day and for the people and living things there to greet me.

I know there is more to life than working and it is sometimes difficult to be taken away from so much but it is wonderful that there are things to be taken away from. I can't help to think that if I didn't have family or other people in my life, what I would be doing tomorrow. I shudder to think that I would be without any of those things that I am grateful for and realize that its a whole package. You take the good with the bad.

I wouldn't need a second job if I didn't have my wife and kids. So, I think of the trade off and I would take a second job and third if necessary to provide for them. I would suffer and give up sleep to insure that I could watch them grow up or spend a little time with them. I refer to thankful reason #1 for giving me a family and making me work hard to keep and maintain them because He worked so hard on this earth to keep and maintain us. He continues to work today to keep and maintain us.

May you too realize the things that you are thankful for in your life and appreciate what you have. May you also be thankful for the things that seem negative and realize that they are there to keep us humble and to teach us the value of hard work. If it were easy, it wouldn't be worth doing.

Happy Thanksgiving.