Fall weather, fall leaves, the trees alive with color,
the air full of a chill.
It makes you want to pull a sweater over your head
and socks over your toes.
and socks over your toes.
It motivates you to warm cider on the stove and it seems like a good idea to use spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves.
Pumpkins stop being used for jack-o-lanterns,
ending up in pies and as beautiful centerpiece displays.
ending up in pies and as beautiful centerpiece displays.
On these days we prepare to gather together and
pause to give thanks.
To reflect on what we have come through and
on the people that took that same journey too.
pause to give thanks.
To reflect on what we have come through and
on the people that took that same journey too.
It is traditionally the time turkeys check their passports
and plot to leave town unannounced before they are
pronounced the main course on this set aside day.
and plot to leave town unannounced before they are
pronounced the main course on this set aside day.
I keep running into this feeling that we are skipping
over this traditionally American celebration.
A foundational memory that we all share as it has been passed down as part of the fabric of who we are,
both as individuals and as a nation.
both as individuals and as a nation.
People believing for a better life and free existence
full of choice and potential.
They were willing to work hard, risk everything
and imagine anything was possible.
full of choice and potential.
They were willing to work hard, risk everything
and imagine anything was possible.
A country built on hope and grateful hearts filled to overflowing with determination, tenacity, and grit.
For future generations they did this,
not because they were asked or conned into it.
For future generations they did this,
not because they were asked or conned into it.
Only for what they believed wholeheartedly
did they willingly give their all.
did they willingly give their all.
America the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Have we turned into the land of the clueless and the
home of the unmotivated and ungrateful?
It appears so, but I stand in the hope that at the heart of the people beats the pioneer with creative imaginations, ingenuity plentiful enough to carve a nation out of a wilderness and open hearts enough to appreciate and value the things of life that are genuine..
This tradition we have held to pause in gratefulness.
To collectively put a halt to the hullabaloo.
To cease contributing to the chaos and to say,
"Thank You."
Let us hold fast and make it last.
The idea to pause in gratefulness is an American apple pie kind of thing, but anyone, anytime can adopt the concept and make it a contagious habit.
Gratefulness is a free gift, we can all have it.
To collectively put a halt to the hullabaloo.
To cease contributing to the chaos and to say,
"Thank You."
Let us hold fast and make it last.
The idea to pause in gratefulness is an American apple pie kind of thing, but anyone, anytime can adopt the concept and make it a contagious habit.
Gratefulness is a free gift, we can all have it.
All we have to do is reach out and grab it.
