Before this month ends, I want to give thanks for Thanksgiving.
The holiday gives me an opportunity to recommend reading Psalm 100.
Read it and be thankful.
This morning, I am thankful for my cup of lukewarm coffee that became that way while I considered too many blessings to number.
To name a few: I am thankful for the desire to share – and your willingness to consider.
Far too many households have lost the practice of Thanksgiving. This holiday celebration has lost much of its original religious and spiritual significance.
Thanksgiving is more than a day off.
Let there be no mistake, I am thankful for the turkey and all the trimmings. Cooking and sharing a bountiful meal with family and friends is a huge part of Thanksgiving. Each are synonymous with the holiday. But, there is so much more.
I am thankful for a wife who waits at home a lot of evenings while I am at a meeting. Often times, getting home from one job, only to be called to another. I am thankful for children now grown, and the grandchildren that have followed. I remain thankful for parents, grandparents, other loved-ones and friends now gone.
In times like these, I am more thankful for our rural area and the people who make up the small towns we call home. I am thankful for those who have helped me along the way. That includes my town work-family, who make Marlinton a good place to be.
I am thankful for Star Barlow, who is working her holiday magic again this year. Along with Sam Dunn, Sam Mace, Josh Sharp, Daniel Scarboro and Floyd Hanna. In addition to their normal work, they have decorated for the holidays, while Linda and Olivia held down the office, and Larry Simmons kept the water running.
A special thanks to Dexter Underwood for keeping the “G” out of Marlinton. (Garbage that is).
For our Law Enforcement – Local/County/and State. We appreciate you and give thanks for you. For all our Fire Departments and EMS – who put out fires, save lives and give extra help with Christmas light repairs in their spare time. We are thankful for each of you.
Thank you, to the Lions Club, Rotary, CVB, our business community, volunteers and others. I don’t visit as much as I’d like, but I appreciate your support. None of the things happening in Town now – or things to come – would be possible without each of these groups and volunteers rowing in the same direction.
In closing, I recently saw a picture of old soldiers in their Blue and Grey uniforms. Each had served during the most trying of times. They were shaking hands across a hedge-row at Gettysburg. It was the 50th anniversary of the battle there, a defining moment of the Civil War. The picture gave me hope that our country can survive such great division and move on.
We have our issues, but I am thankful. I am thankful we can work and worry and live and hope in a free country.
O, that people would be thankful enough to seek God’s continued blessings.
Read II Chronicles 7:14.
Happy Thanksgiving
