Today is Thanksgiving Day in the United States of America. Most families get together to eat a big meal, and the men go off to watch football. Before eating many go around the table saying what they are thankful for. It is a wonderful holiday.

Some times we wonder what we have to be thankful for. This is a short sighted position. Giving thanks for what IS good makes things better. God gave us this planet, this life, new life in Christ, and hope for the future in the here-and-now and in the here-after.

President Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a holiday in the middle of the terrible civil war. He understood that giving of thanks would make things better. First it makes you feel better. Then it receives of God’s good will to give us gifts.

We still have much freedom in our country. I knew a minister named Bill Bazansky. He had grown up in a communist country. Wow, he was thankful to be in America. And he let you know it. He was a joyful man. It was great to be with him. He was an inspiration.

Let’s be that kind of inspiration for our children.