Dear Friends,
Today is Thanksgiving, and a wonderful time to reflect on all the blessings we have as Americans and Idahoans. Even amidst the challenges and struggles we face, there are always reasons to be grateful. I hope that as we gather with our family and friends around the table, we keep those reasons in the front of our minds.
It had been noted that the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished or deprived than those Pilgrims who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving. Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life and is the cornerstone of all other virtues.
It doesn’t take much to recognize those blessings, especially when we remember those families whose Thanksgiving table may be sparse, or families whose members are serving in our Armed Forces and deployed far from home, or our first responders working on holidays and away from their families. Please keep them all in your prayers.
Just the other day, I met with one of Idaho’s Gold Star mothers who lost her son in Afghanistan, in 2012. The freedom of our country is something every single one of us enjoys, but only a few pay such a monumental price to sustain it. Surely, this family and others deserve our thanks and gratitude, in addition to our prayers for comfort.
Thanksgiving is more than just a meal. It is a mindset for daily living; a way for us to confront the challenges of life with courage, sincere gratitude, and the humility of living in a state and nation so richly blessed by God and the hard work and sacrifice of those committed to maintaining these blessings for generations to come.
I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving today, and every day. May your tables and hearts both be full, may the conversation be as rich as the food, and may love bind you as you gather together.
