Today is Thanksgiving Day and all of us have so much to be thankful for. When I start thinking about the things I am thankful for, I hardly know where to begin or end.
My earliest memories are of growing up in a little home in Marlboro County, S. C., and then, at the age of 7, moving to another very small home in Chesterfield, S. C. Our means were modest, to say the least, but I look back now and realize that I had so much to be thankful for — a loving Mother whom I am convinced came as close to being an angel as it was possible to be on this earth, and a Dad and brothers and sisters who truly loved and supported each other.
When I hear the song “Precious Memories,” I think of those days.
And all through the years since then, my blessings have been plentiful — a loving and wonderful wife, Emma, our three very special children — Jessica, Reece and Jason — along with their (also very special) spouses, Bob, Lisa, and Christie, and our precious grandchildren.
Folks, we need to recognize and count our blessings every day. I am so thankful to have been born in this great land of America. Just look at the power in the words to the Preamble to the Constitution: “We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and to our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for The United States of America.” these words have truly stood the test of time.
One of my favorite authors, Alan McIntosh, said this: “I still get a lump in my throat every time I hear ‘The Star Spangled Banner,’ and I feel a certain sense of pride when I hear the chilling
high notes of the brassy trumpet as Old Glory reaches the top of the flagpole.”
It is often how we look at things that really makes the difference. You have probably heard the expression, “Two men looked out from behind bars; one saw mud and the other saw stars.”
I am reminded of the blind boy who sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said, “I am blind, please help me.” There were only a few coins in the hat. A man walked by, took a few coins from his pocket, and dropped them into the hat.
He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words on it. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words. Soon the hat began to fill up.
A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were going. The boy remembered the footsteps, and asked, “Were you the man who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?”
The man said, “I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way. I added the words, ‘Today is a beautiful day, but I can't see it.’ ”
Both signs told people that the boy was blind, but the first sign simply said that he was blind. The second sign told people how blessed they were to be able to see.
Moral of this story: Let's be thankful for what we have, be creative, and think positively.
When life gives us 100 reasons to cry, let's show life that we have 1,000 reasons to smile. Then we can look back at our past without regret, handle the present with confidence, and face the future without fear.
One of the most beautiful things in this world is to see a person smiling, and even more beautiful is knowing that we were behind it.
May God bless you and your family on this wondrous Thanksgiving Day!
Reece Gardner is the host of “The Reece Gardner Hour,” which airs on TACC-9 on Mondays at 9 p.m., Tuesdays at 8 p.m., Thursdays at 11 p.m., Sundays at 10:30 p.m. and on-demand anytime at TACC9.com. You can reach Reece at rbgej@aol.com.