Good morning, and a Happy Thanksgiving to all within the sound of my voice.
We celebrate Thanksgiving on Thursday. My wish is that each of you are blessed to connect with family and close friends while stuffing yourself silly upon the seemingly endless vessels of food made carefully and with love from those who will deservingly sleep in on Friday morning.
As I have gotten older, Thanksgiving is more a day of reflection. To me, Thanksgiving is a 364-day celebration of those I love and care for. Each tap on the shoulder from God is automatically a sign of Thanksgiving that occasionally takes some work to not take for granted, for it ushers another day to be thankful for the blessings God has given me.
For myself, Thanksgiving feels like a spiritual progress report in real time. This year, we wait in blessed anticipation for our two bundles of joy to arrive while at the same time feeling like a reminder the happy go lucky middle nephew is about to fully embrace a new chapter in his life that goes beyond prank texting and discussing which high school football recruit is making a visit to a Power 5 program.
Thanksgiving is a day where I will periodically ask God, “Have I done well in your eyes over the past year?” Am I truly worthy of the blessings not only within my view but also within the amount of love that I seek to share daily?
Thanksgiving is also the one day of the year where my health insurance is on high alert once the backyard football game commences. With each passing year, the hips don’t turn as fast when running a route and the ground becomes that much harder on inadvertent crash landings. It’s been a number of years since a trip to the ER or a “funny, my finger shouldn’t bend that way” moment has occurred but being able to still throw spirals on demand and the wisdom of knowing where the soft spots are remain blessings.
My wish for you this Thursday is to take a moment from the busyness of the day and ask God for a progress report. I also hope that as Friday comes along, you will treat it as the beginning of a new year of daily Thanksgiving.
Heavenly Father,
Thanksgiving is a daily blessing, and while we are grateful to have a day to fully celebrate, let us be mindful that we don’t need turkey, deep dish pie and a 4th helping of stuffing to realize every moment You watch over us is a moment to be Thankful for. Let us always remember the greatest expression of Thankfulness is knowing that Your Son gave it all in order for our sins to not be punished on Thanksgiving or any other day of the year. Go forth and bless us and may we all have a safe and joyful holiday with those we love. Amen.
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Brandon C. Williams is the editor of The Post Newspaper
