Happy Thanksgiving...

Many days go by where I forget or take for granted those things that I should be thankful.  While I should give thanks every day, I want to make a point to give thanks today. 

Not a day goes by that I am not thankful for having my parents.  My mom and dad worked hard to raise me with the right values and made sure I never did without for anything.  I am extremely grateful for the time I had with my mother.  She was an amazing person and touched so many people's lives.  I know she felt taken advantage of through the years, but as I grew older, I now understand.

I may not show it every day to Bo and Chloe, but I am truly blessed to have them in my life.  Even though Chloe was my parents' dog, she will always be one of my fur children.  For Bo, I can never change how life was for him the first two years of his life, but I pray that he is now happy where he is.  Both dogs have changed my view on life and what is important and I am very thankful for them both.

I am always incredibly thankful for the friends I have.  I am not quite sure what I would do without them.

I love living in this country.  Sure, I would love to visit other countries, but as I have grown older, I cherish the rights I have in the country.  I know I could never give those freedoms up easily.  It is what makes living here so interesting.  Because of that love for this country, I appreciate all that our troops do to keep and protect our country.  I only wish there was more peace on this earth.

I know that I am frustrated, but I am grateful to have a job.  I realize that there are a lot of people who do not have a job - many with no fault of their own.  While I am trying to avoid going out this evening to do any early Christmas shopping, I realized that some people actually depend on that extra money from a retailer opening early this year.  It wold be nice to go back to that time where Thanksgiving and Christmas were days where you were guaranteed a day off to be with your families.  However, there will always be those jobs where that is not possible.  For those people, I hope that you enjoy what time off you can get and next year, you can take off Thanksgiving.

Today's Message From God to Me:

Today, we believe God wants you to know that ...

shared joy is a double joy; shared sorrow is half a sorrow.

There is no need for you to go it alone. There are people who love you, and who are ready to give you much needed support. There are even more, - way more than you can possibly imagine, people who CAN love you if you give them a chance. Make 'share joy, half the sorrow' your motto for today.