THANKS GIVING
I first shared this on Freedom Fighter in 2005. I trust you will be blessed as you read it:
"I will never forget that Thanksgiving. I will never forget standing erect in my classroom, my handover my heart, as I repeated the Pledge of Allegiance to our flag. Our nation was at war and times were hard.
My teacher lost her husband on the blood-washed shores of Normandy. After we had saluted the flag, we bowed our heads for prayer. As we did, she began to weep. I did too. All the class joined in. Then she stumbled through one of the most moving expressions of gratitude and praise that I have ever emerged from a soul in pain.
At that moment in my young life I fell in love with Thanksgiving. Lost in sympathy and a boy's pity for his teacher, I walked home very slowly that afternoon. Although only a child, I had profound feelings of gratitude for my country . . . my friends . . . my school . . . my church . . . my family. I swore before God that I would fight to the end to keep this land fee from foes who would want to take away America's distinctive and the joys of living in this good land.
I have never forgotten that childhood promise. I never shall. Thanksgiving puts steel into our patriotic veins. It reminds us of our great heritage. It carries us back with humbling nostalgia to that first dreadful winter at Plymouth where less than half then a handful of people survived.
Thanksgiving speaks in clear, crisp tones of forgotten terms like integrity . . . bravery . . . respect . . . faith . . . vigilance . .. dignity . . . honor . . . freedom . . . discipline . . . sacrifice .. . godliness . . . Its historic halls echo with the voices of Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Adams, Henry, Lincoln, Lee, Jackson, and (Reagan -- I added!), who challenged us to trim off the fat of indolence, compromise, passivity, and the stigma of strife.
Thanksgiving . . . mark it well. It is a day of eminence, a day of memories, a day of commitment. May it not be eclipsed behind the shadows of our national aches nor beneath the passing pain of personal hardship.
May it arrive with forceful and throbbing impact upon our lives . . . and the lives of our children. May we all, indeed give thanks." from THE FINISHING TOUCH by Chuck Swindoll published by Word. – Bill Welte is President and CEO of America’s Keswick
Compass Pointers: To give thanks sincerely, one must give more than thanks.
Anchored to the Rock: There is no burden of spirit but it is lighter by kneeling under it. F. B. Meyer
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