Thankful

I was lucky to get most of the week off for Thanksgiving this week. We had a terrific dinner at a family's house here in FG and had a great time complete with football and Xbox360. I've been thinking lately about all the things I have to be thankful for (ok everybody's doing it) and I thought I'd blog one or two. The big one weighing on my mind is my own little family. Wow, I never would have guessed it would be so fun to have a wife and kids. It makes all day worthwhile just to be able to come home to smiles and cheers and spend some time with everybody having fun. It's tough to describe but those of you out there who've been treated like the man of the year and felt that good ol' love at home know what I'm talking about. That said, this is a great country to enjoy that kind of feeling for a couple of main reasons: Number one, I can worship the Lord in a way that invites those loving feelings and deep changes into my home. The official stance of the country is that I should be able to do that. cool! Number two, for more than 200 years thousands of men have fought and died in brutal, painful ways to allow me the safety and security to enjoy my home life and rights of worship. I understand that many men and women have contributed in other ways to military protection of our country but the vast majority of those who have sacrificed their lives and futures have been young men about my age. I've always had a feeling of gratitude for these men, but now that I've had a taste of the pure joy life can bring, I understand more what these brave men have actually sacrificed. Their opportunity to see what I see and feel what I feel and do what I do has been set aside for mine and others' benefit. My prayer and trust is that the Lord will look on their sacrifices and those of their families will be honored for eternity and in many of them reveals a true conviction and love for God's children which will serve them well in the eternities. They can count on my gratitude when I meet them.