Greetings!

It’s November and we all know what that means…Thanksgiving, then Christmas, then New Year’s Day, then….then…. yes, winter snows and cold and wind and…..  I actually like winter…for the most part.  Being a tractor/trailer rig driver getting out of bed in the morning to challenge ice and snow on the road can be a rather daunting endeavor.  But, I am thankful I have a job.  Thankfulness.  Isn’t it one of the fruits of the spirit laid out in Galatians?  Nope, I just looked it up.  Maybe it’s one of those characteristics that is a should-be in a Christian’s life.  In Kenton, OH where I make my last mail delivery every morning there is a church that has for its sign slogan, “Thanksgiving is good; thanksLIVING is better.”  Thanksliving.  Hmmmm.  Just what is thanksliving?  I pondered on this thought driving back to Columbus one morning.  Saying thank you to God for all of our “whatevers” in our prayers is a should-be each day. But thanksgiving without thanksliving is empty.  I said I was thankful for my job.  I need to be thanksliving in my job by doing the best job I can for my company.  Being on time, being pleasant to my customers, maybe going the extra mile with no expectation of reward should be part of my job’s thanksgiving-thanksliving.  I am thankful for my wife and kids.  My thanksliving should be to provide the best life I can for them by being faithful in my husbandly and fatherly responsibilities.  I am thankful for my home.  My thanksgiving-thanksliving should be to take care of my home.  Make sure it’s clean, maintained, and warm in the winter and cool in the summer.  I am thankful for the food I make each night for my family.  My thanksgiving-thanksliving should be to provide them with the tastiest but also most nutritious meals my skills allow.  You see where this is all going.  Each one of us has to define his/her own thanksgiving-thanksliving life.  But remember, while thanksgiving is a should-be in our prayers; thanksliving is a should-be in our Christian walk.

Peace

Paul