Merry Christmas to my 1.82 million readers, well maybe I exaggerate a bit, actually a whole lot.

I thought I would take some time and write a piece on what we have to be thankful for.  There is so much bitterness in our nation and ideologies that are 180 degrees apart that I think now is a good time to write this.

This is a very special holiday if you are a Christian.  On this day 2018 years ago God gave us his Son so that through him our sins could be forgiven by accepting Him as our savior.  I fully realize that there are other religions that do not believe in this; and that’s okay, because they all believe in some common truths.

The 10 Commandments are an example of truths found across all religions, they may not say it the same way but these words and meanings are common to many religions around the world.

In our country I worry that those who believe in God are getting fewer with the passage of time.  Actually, there are many people in America that ridicule people of faith and hold it against them.  In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with being a person of faith.  At least people of faith know right from wrong and like it or not, many of our laws were derived from religion.  I hope that we as a society can get back to where laws mean something and are enforced consistently.

If you are reading this hopefully your health is good.  Be thankful if that is true for there are many that are in the hospital right now perhaps fighting to live.  Having your health and being able to do what you wish is a blessing in and of itself.  I have lost loved ones to serious diseases and I know the pain this causes and it made me appreciate my health.  Be thankful for your health and do your best to maintain it.

Be thankful for your family.  There are so many distractions nowadays, being a family is difficult.  I challenge you to never forget how important your family is.  If you are parents, try and have at least two family meals a week where everyone sits at the table with no phones or tablets and just talks.  Wow, what a concept that is.

I could go on and on about what to be thankful for but I want to end this by saying how thankful we should be for living in the last free country on the planet.  We should be thankful to the hundreds of thousands that have sacrificed their lives and to the twice that many who have been wounded to give us this freedom.  Freedom is precious and that is why so many people from around the world want to come here.

It has been said that you never realize what is precious to you until you lose it and this is very true with freedom.  We have always enjoyed individual freedom in this country and I fear that many take it for granted.  I fear that many want to give their freedom away in exchange for perceived security from the state.  In countries where the state controls much of the society, individual freedoms are few; and isn’t it ironic that those are the very people that want to migrate here to enjoy those very freedoms some want to relinquish.

Take this time to be thankful for the blessings you have and look at life from the perspective of the glass being half full because I assure you many around the world wish they could take a drink from the glass you hold.

May God bless you and your family and may God bless America.

Freedom is not Free