The holiday season is upon us and, as we start our list of chores to do for the festivities, we must remember that this first holiday is all about giving thanks. So amidst the second course of turkey, the third course of stuffing and the fourth piece of pie we should give thanks to what we are all thankful for this year. Then we can go into a coma on the couch watching football.

Family. That is the first thing to come to mind this year, and I am truly thankful for them all. Even though we don’t get to spend as much time as we want with each other, we do truly appreciate each other and are glad to have each other again this year. But there are those who are missing. So I am thankful for the amount of time and the quality of time spent with those we lost this past year. Yes, we will miss you as we gather, but you are never far from our thoughts and hearts. Yes, sometimes change happens not only in death, but because of other life happenings and unforeseen events; but we are thankful for those who weathered the storm with us.

Friends. We would all be lost without friends. People who are brutally honest but still have our backs, even when we are wrong. Friends we can bounce ideas off and not be afraid of them telling us how crazy we are. Those real close friends on whom we can call any time of day or night for help, words of advice, encouragement and just silence as they listen. Friends with whom we can just hang out and live life.

Community. We really do live in a great place. A place where we know just about everyone, and everyone knows us. Yes, we have our problems, but every place does. I love the history of this place. It sits all around us. Not all of it is positive history, but it is the history of this place. We can look at the sand hill and remember a story. We can look at the dam and remember a tale. We can drive over Disautel Pass and recall a memory. This place tells a story for us all.

Country. Yes, some may have turned up their nose at this one, but no matter how our frame of mind toward the way things sit and are going, there is still something to which we can cling. We are living in America. The land of the free and the home of the brave. We do have freedom in this country as citizens of the good ol’ USA. We have the freedom to do a lot and we have the freedom to dream bigger. We can do just about anything we choose to do and have available to us the means to do it. One way or another. I am still proud to live here.

Inspiration from others. Every day, someone new inspires me with their story, their situation or their attitude. I am blessed to work with students every day who encourage me to be a better person as I encourage them to look and plan ahead. I also am inspired by the people whom I don’t know. The ones who, through a ministry I am a part of, come to seek something out; sometimes I am able to show them the love of a Father, and most times I am blessed and inspired just as much as they are. It moves me to also become closer to my Creator.

With that said, I will finish with the one for whom I am most thankful: Christ. The one who died on a cross so long ago and saved me and you. That same one who is a living God today. Who gives us everything that he has to offer and shows us what true love is daily. We may not always be looking for him, but he is there. In our family, in our friends, in our community, in our country and in our inspiration. He is always there. If we look.

So I hope you are just as thankful as me this year, and as you sit around your table, living room or yard and look at the faces surrounding you, I hope you take the time to tell every one of them how important they are to you. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Oh, and save me a piece of pie, please.