Give Thanks With A Grateful Heart

I always like attending church on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. One reason for that is because invariably some portion of the service will be given over to sharing that for which you are thankful. This past Sunday was no exception.

It is always interesting to me the kinds of things people share. Little children are always a source of interesting comments. One little boy is thankful for the "world" while a little girl declares that she is thankful for all the food. I liked the little boy who shouted out that what he was most thankful for was "My mother." I don't know what his motivation was but from just about every angle it was a great answer.

"Thanks" . . . that's what I like about this uniquely American holiday called, "Thanksgiving." It is a national holiday universally recognized by the citizenry that forces us to pause and think about that for which we are most thankful. I actually have the fear that like Christmas this holiday may very well be succumbing to commercialism as the "kick-off" day for major Christmas shopping.

I hope that trend doesn't continue because I think that reflecting on how we have been blessed and sharing that around a family table adds something very important to our national as well as family experience. Something intangible but very special and powerful happens when families gather and break bread together. It becomes especially powerful as we express our gratitude to God and to and for each other.

So, while I think of turkeys past and all the various gatherings over the year I want to begin by Thanking God for my heritage. Both sides of my family came to the shores of this nation before the nation was even conceived in the minds of our founding fathers. The hopes and dreams that they brought with them and all the struggles of each generation since then to bring them to reality are one of the things for which I am grateful.

I am grateful to all the members of my family who defended this nation starting with Samuel Appleby who marched with the Continental Army to help give birth to this wonderful nation and contibuted through every generation since.

I am grateful for the Christian heritage of my family. I know few families who has has so many ministers of the Gospel and teachers of the same over so many generations. It has been said of more than one of them by friends and neighbors that they were the "Godliest Christians they have ever met."

I am thankful to God for giving me my parents. "Boots" and "Syl" as they were known raised me to be kind but strong; independent but cooperative; loyal and accepting; and what it means to be a friend. Not only am I thankful for my parents but for every other person who became a part of my life because they were.

I am thankful for my wife, Susan. She has loved and supported me for 45 years now. That love and support did not require me to be perfect and has sustained me during the infrequent dark hours. I am thankful for the family we have together and the families of our children . . . they are precious in my sight.

I am thankful for my friends. I have many many acquaintances all around the world and I am thankful for each and every one but the people I am most thankful for are the true friends who have stood with me; have laughed and rejoiced when things were good and who have cried and carried me when things were not so good. I am especially thankful for those who have stood in the gap with and for me when many turned away.

I could go on and on. There were my teachers and fellow students; there were my church members and fellow staff members; there were the denominational leaders and missionaries/evangelists; there were my fellow ministers and my colleagues in the travel industry. So many people God has used to touch and shape my life.

As I look back over this list I find that the common denominator for everything I am thankful for turns out to be people. So as I count my blessing I discover they are all the people that God has chosen to weave into the tapestry of my life. I am so blessed. To each and every one I say, "Thank You!" Thank you for being a part of my life. Why not join me in giving thanks?