Thanksgiving Day

A big day in America. So many reasons to be thankful!

This Thanksgiving is the first time that I can ever remember staying home with just my wife and kids. We normally head to San Antonio to be with Teeka's parents and siblings, but this year her sister had a baby in Houston and sort of put a wrench in familial festivities. Still, it will have worked out to be a blessing to be able to enjoy a "private" Thanksgiving with our kids, Justin and Chelsea, because it will be the last time Chelsea will be with us as a single young lady.

My "boyfriend-in-law," Eric, became her fiance some months ago and they'll be getting married in just three weeks, so it's pretty hectic around here. The time not traveling down I-35 will be put to good use here at home.

Since it's just the four of us (Eric went home to East Texas), we're just roasting a turkey breast with the trimmings, but Justin really wanted a smoked turkey, so I lovingly threw a 13 pounder on the smoker last nite and it's coming along quite nicely.

It's more of a relaxed day than most Thanksgivings. The turkeys look to be ready to eat in about 3 hours. Justin stayed up most of the night with three of his friends playing Battle Field II, so consequently he's catching up on sleep. Teeka and Chelsea couldn't wait to see Pride and Prejudice, so that's where they scurried off to.

I'm happily monitoring the kitchen activities while listening to a terrific Dennis Prager program on the "specialness" of this day here in America, simultaneously blogging and reading some really outstanding columns online. It's a great day!

The gist of Prager's show is a theme of which he has spoken on many occasions; the ideals which set America apart from the rest of the world and have contributed to our greatness. They are the three precepts found on our coinage; Liberty, In God We Trust and E Pluribus Unum. Prager is expounding on the genius our foredads had in building this country on these values and the incredible blessings we have as a result. Unfortunately, if we don't fight to uphold these values, we will lose the precious blessings and opportunities which have been afforded us.

Lest I continue to ramble, on this special day, I need to link just a few of the good Thanksgiving columns I came across.

First up is Christopher Hitchens who puts it this way:

Concerning Thanksgiving, that most distinctive and unique of all American holidays, there need be no resentment and no recrimination. Likewise, there need be no wearisome present-giving, no order of divine service, and no obligation to the dead. This holiday is like a free gift, or even (profane though the concept may be to some readers) a free lunch--and a very big and handsome one at that. This is the festival on which one hears that distinct and generous American voice: the one that says "why not?" Family values are certainly involved, but even those with no family will still be invited, or will invite. The doors are not exactly left open as for a Passover Seder, yet who would not be ashamed to think of a neighbor who was excluded or forgotten on such a national day?

You owe it to yourself to read the rest of it...It's not too lengthy.

Next, you must read Tony Snow's column. Here's a morsel:

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- If there's a theme to Thanksgiving, it's humility.

Think back. When the earliest American settlers surveyed the rough and resplendent land around them, they could have cursed their fates. They could have groused about the raging rivers and dense dark forests, or bemoaned the loved ones claimed by harsh weather, illness, hunger or simple loneliness. They could have thought of the comforts they left behind.

Instead, they gave thanks. They gave thanks for the family and friends who transformed a wilderness into home. They gave thanks for their freedom.

It says something about our national unselfishness that the first men and women who fled to our shores didn't take credit for taming the chill winds and angry beasts. They thanked God for helping them turn a jagged, thicket-strewn continent into an idyll called America. Indeed, if you sift through the layers of history, you find something stronger than human will at America's foundation. You find faith.

Be sure to read the whole piece.

Lots of great reading out there about this special day. Lots of reasons to be thankful.

Thanks to all my readers for stopping by! Thanks to my precious family and our wonderful friends! Thanks to the amazing men and women who voluntarily put themselves in harms way to protect our way of life and most importantly, Thanks to our loving Father and elder brother, Jesus Christ, who are the source of all our blessings.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!