Be thankful for what you have.... A personal reflection

Always, and especially on days like today with the bone chilling cold weather and wind chills, my wife and I try to impress upon our daughters how fortunate we are as a family to have a nice home, food on the table, clothes on our backs and a nice warm bed to retire to at the end of the day. Our daughters are 7 and 4 years of age, but they are beginning to realize that not all folks out there are doing as well as we are. Even at their young ages, they know that many in our country, the greatest country in the world, go to bed every night hungry, without adequate shelter and clothing, with many losing hope and living in quiet despair.

We have begun a family tradition at the nightly dinner table where we say grace and each of us will add something that they are specifically thankful for on that particular day. Most nights, our four year old Sophie sticks to the basics, enthusiastically annoucing, "FOOD or DESSERT!". On a day like today, they realize how fortunate we are with a warm comfortable home, and my older daughter will ask questions about where the homeless people will sleep, how will they will stay warm, etc. It is our hope that our girls will remember these nightly reflections as they become adolescents and then adults and will incorporate these types of family values as they move on in their lives as citizens of this great land.

I was fortunate to be able to take both my daughters out today to lunch and for some toy shopping as my older daughter Caitlin had saved up some of her allowance money and Sophie had received a gift card for her birthday. We went to McDonald's, which was a special treat for the girls, as we rarely eat "fast food", prefering for many reasons to make something at home and sit down for dinner as a family, which was a tradition for both my and my wife's family when we were growing up. I thoroughly enjoyed my hours today with my ever growing girls and look forward to many "date" days with them as they continue to mature and thrive.

I'll sign off now, and ask that all who read this post say an extra prayer for those in need, especially the homeless, as this frigid weather continues to grip the nation. Let's pray that those in need find work worthy of their abilities and a chance to prosper in the coming year. I know they'll be in my thoughts and prayers tonight.