Thankful

It’s Thanksgiving Day! Before you enjoy that turkey, and other traditional treats, take a moment and think about what you have to be thankful for. Even as we struggle with the worst moments of our lives, we can still find reasons to be grateful. Maybe today is one of those days for you, but I hope not. I truly pray that this Thanksgiving is a day full of joy and reminders of everything amazing in your life from the past year.

Here’s a little bit from my list:

• I’m thankful for my God, the Father and Creator for the universe that we live in and all of the wonders in it. I’m thankful for the Earth, and the beauty that we find in it. I’m thankful for how the whole of creation inspires the creators within us.

• I’m thankful for my Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. I’m thankful for his sacrifice. I’m thankful for his mercy. I’m thankful for his words and his example. I’m thankful that I’m allowed to follow him.

• I’m thankful for the Holy Spirit, the Helper and Comforter. I’m thankful for my growing understanding of his presence. I’m thankful for his guidance.

• I’m thankful for my wife. For so many reasons, she is the perfect woman for me, and I wouldn’t have become the man that I am today without her inspiring and supporting me.

• I’m thankful for my children, and the opportunity to raise them. I’m thankful that each one of them is different, and that they each teach me something new about myself.

• I’m thankful for my family. My parents, grandparents, and sister. I’m thankful for the family I married into. I’m thankful for all of these voices speaking into my life.

• I’m thankful that for the work that I am able to do. I’m thankful that I’m healthy enough, and skilled enough to work steadily. I’m thankful that my work allows me the time and resources to give back through my church and charities.

• I’m thankful for the growing community of friends and mentors that are a part of my life. I’m thankful for what each one of them contributes. I’m thankful that I have been entrusted with each relationship.

There are so many reasons to be grateful, more than any list could cover. What are you thankful for today?

Links of the Week

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• Yesterday was Thanksgiving Day. I hope you all enjoyed your turkey. I tried to give everyone something to be thankful for yesterday, but Seth Godin’s Turkey Day post is far more poignant. He proposes that when we look at the holiday we do it with a modern eye, and not as a celebration “of scarcity averted.” I love it.

• Have you ever wondered if the site you were trying to reach is actually down, or if it’s just you? Now the internet has an answer for you. Just add a URL.

• NPR’s All Things Considered spent a little time talking this week about the future of Social Security (or the lack thereof). Several members of the blogosphere are excited that they’re finally saying what just about anyone with a basic understanding of math and a passing familiarity with the term ‘Ponzi scheme’ have known for decades.  I’m not going to be that harsh, but I’m also not counting on Social Security to be around to supplement my investments when they think I should be retiring.

• Popular Mechanics interviews a security expert who says the new TSA policies won’t catch anybody. Color me surprised. We’re doing a lot to the innocent citizens of our country and people around the world to try to stop terrorism. We need to be more honest with ourselves how much of it is actually worth what it has been costing us, and how much of it actually accomplishes the stated goals.

• If the following video doesn’t strike you as familiar, you haven’t watched the news in a long while.
  
  While I find the video very dry and very funny, it does make a good point about the way television news has become homogenized. On the other hand, the rise of social networks has begun to reform the nature of investigative journalism. Maybe TV news will be just one more casualty of the communication revolution.

• Carlos Whittaker wants to turn this Black Friday…Blue. He’s partnering with Watermissions.org to bring clean water to the most desperate communities of the world. It’s as easy as sending a text.

Happy Turkey Day

It’s Thanksgiving. I’m going to be enjoying my turkey and cranberry sauce with some family and friends this year. I have a lot to be thankful for.

If you’re stuck working today, I’m sorry. I hope you can get some time with your family. Thanks for being available to perform the needed service that the rest of us might require today. We really do appreciate it.

If you’re not looking forward to Thanksgiving dinner, because the turkey will be more like jerky or your family will be less than friendly, then I can only offer you a small consolation. Be happy you don’t have to eat this instead:

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That very angry looking meal is from James Lileks’ Gallery of Regrettable Food, which has been published in book form, and also has an occasionally updated Interweb presence. The Gallery re-introduces the viewer to the cookbooks of days gone by. Using images and text from these forgotten tomes of the “Golden Age of Butter,” Lileks masterfully puts the entire era into its proper and most humorous frame of reference.

For example, did you know that you can “fresh up” those everyday dull dishes with the lively flavor of 7-Up? Use it to baste your ham, add it to salad dressing, or even bake a cake with it (with 7-Up icing!). How can we have forgotten, in a mere two generations, the endless culinary uses of this simple soft drink? It’s a travesty.

The Gallery contains an amazing array of such wonders and educational moments. I encourage you to take just a few moments and learn all about:

• Vegetables in all their Glory

• Cooking After Dark

• How Refrigeration Equals Civilization

• The Wonders of Meat Fisting (Yes, really. No, I’m not at all ashamed that I’m sharing this.)

There is more, of course, but I don’t want to deprive you the joy of exploring the Gallery on your own. So, before you’ve stuffed yourself on the Thanksgiving spread, take a few moments and go appreciate what you don’t have to eat. You’ll be thankful that you did.