By now, many of you have eaten your fill of turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, dinner rolls, and pumpkin pie. Many of you have taken your post-Thanksgiving dinner nap in front of the TV while the Saints played the Cowboys. And the brave and daring few of you may have already been to the stores and  back to take advantage of the Black Friday shopping deals.

Did you stop to think about what you’re thankful for this year? I hope so!

In the timeless cartoon classic A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, Charlie’s sister, Sally, says, “Why should I give thanks on Thanksgiving? What’ve I got to be thankful for? All if does is make more work for us at school!”

But we’ve all got a lot to be thankful for this year! So let me start:

• I’m thankful to have a job. With approximately 15 million people today dealing with unemployment, I am very thankful to have a paycheck. It’s a bonus that I love what I do and that I get to be involved in an industry that is working to help those people find jobs.
• I’m thankful to be healthy. Watching family members and friends deal with serious and chronic illnesses makes my recent bout with a cold seem like really small [sweet] potatoes. I am grateful to have good health.
• I am thankful to have freedom. In a country where we are free to start our own businesses and have the opportunity to make pretty much anything we want of ourselves, I am thankful to be allowed to pursue my dreams.

So – what are you thankful for this year?

Happy Friday to you and have a wonderful holiday weekend!