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Theunicornhunter

Thanksgiving - for what are you thankful?

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American Thanksgiving is about a week away. It seems like it just barely manages to get squeezed in between Halloween and Christmas each year. I know we look forward to the dinner and the chance to see family. But it is also a time to reflect on our blessings or good fortune.

 

Did you know that people that express gratitude experience more happiness in life than those that don't?

 

What are some of the things for which you are thankful?

 

I am grateful that I live in the era that I do - if I had lived in a different time I would have had a lot less freedom than I do now. I am glad to live in a country that is free (I know it isn't perfect but basially we live in freedom).

 

I am grateful I know how to read

I am grateful for the health and safety of loved ones

I am grateful for my mom - who sacrificed a lot to give me the things a teenager thinks she needs - I am also glad for the other things she gave me, especially a sense of humor and the opportunity to grow up in the kind of home where we actually read poetry.

 

I am grateful I know how to read music and used to be able to play at least one instrument.

 

Most importantly, I am grateful that I have a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ and I am grateful for my church. I know some of you have had bad experiences with organized religion. But my association with church has encouraged me to reach higher; not to mention it's been a lot of fun.

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I'm thankful that I still have a full time job and a good place to live. I am thankful that I have wonderful parents whom I can talk to about anything. And I am very thankful that they are still quite healthy..

 

I am quite thankful that Enterprise is still on the air and doing well. And of course I am very thankful that Gene Roddenberry created Star Trek all those years ago..

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i do not celebrate thanksgiving, but i am thankful for all those military personall that put their lives on the line every day for our freedom.

 

I am also thankfull that the toughest year of my life is almost over!

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I am thankful for all the wonderful opportunities my two daughters have had and that they have grown up happy and healthy. Also, for the reasonably good health that my husband and I have.

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This Thanksgiving is bittersweet for me, because it is the first Thanksgiving without my father. He passed February 20, 2003.

 

In spite of his absence, I am filled with gratitude that I had him in my life for more than 46 years, and that the kind of man he was made my interesting and challenging life possible.

 

I am thankful for family and faith in God through Jesus Christ, and for God' faithfulness, in that He sees us through all situations.

 

I am looking forward to my mothers's homemade dinner rolls!

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This Thanksgiving is bittersweet for me, because it is the first Thanksgiving without my father. He passed February 20, 2003.

 

In spite of his absence, I am filled with gratitude that I had him in my life for more than 46 years, and that the kind of man he was made my interesting and challenging life possible.

 

I am thankful for family and faith in God through Jesus Christ, and for God' faithfulness, in that He sees us through all situations.

 

I am looking forward to my mothers's homemade dinner rolls!

mjham, my deepest condolenses on your loss....there is one song that came to me when i read your sad post : "Bittersweet Symphony" by the verve...have you heard it?

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I'm thankful for everything!

 

But most of all I'm thankful to have as many wonderful friends as I do (both online and off).

 

I'm thankful to have a smart, kind and beautiful girlfriend (who loves Star Trek I might add )

 

I'm thankful that I have a good job that I really enjoy going to everyday.

 

I'm thankful that I can afford to eat and have a decent place to live in.

 

And of course I'm thankful to be a member of a wonderful family.

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I am eternally thankful to God for my family and friends.

I have to admit that as I began cooking this afternoon,I became very depressed.My step-father (a man I've known since I was 8-years old) passed away this past July of renal failure after a 10-year struggle with diabetes.He was an awesome cook,and usually prepared the big Thanksgiving meal each year at he and my mother's house.This is going to be the first year since...well,the first year in my entire life that I will not have my dad (my real father passed away 20-years ago) sitting at the head of the table for Thanksgiving.

I always try and find the good in everything,and I can at least say that I am Thankful that he is no longer in pain,and is in a far better place.

However,I am determined to have a merry holiday for my own self,and my family's.

I wish everyone here who celebrate's the American thanksgiving a wonderful holiday,too.God bless.

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We call the holiday next Thursday (in the US) Thanksgiving - although I think in all my years I've only been to one dinner where we actually discussed what we're thankful for in life. So here's your chance - whether your country celebrates a Thanksgiving Day or not - to express what you're thankful for.

 

I am thankful for family and health; I am thankful to live in a country with relative freedom - particularly religious freedom although I qualify that because I am concerned that people want to take that away.

 

In no particular order:

 

I'm thankful that I live in an apartment complex that has a lot of trees.

 

I'm thankful I have a job - it's been a tough year.

 

I'm thankful for my faith and my church.

 

I'm thankful that I can read - you can learn about almost anything if you can read.

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It's part of our family dinner tradition to say what we are thankful for on Thanksgiving.

 

I am most thankful for the family I have. We are not perfect, but there is so much love and genuine concern. My parents were never social climbers, so they did not raise us to be social climbers or snobs, and never let us think we were better than folks who were less well off. One of my mother's favorite admonitions is to never try to build your happiness on someone else's unhappiness, and that has kept me out of a lot of trouble. My parents always made us face up to what was in our hearts, and wanted us to be giving. I am thankful that when we disppointed our parents (and each one of us had at least one whopper of a disappointment for our parents), their love for us did not change, and they saw us through, or are seeing us through, the crises. It said more to me how they repsonded to us when we failed then all the times when they were proud of our successes. It also taught us how to be loving and supportive in situations where a wrong was done, and how, when you love someone, you join in bearing their burdens, even if they brought the situation on themselves. Because of that I have not feared losing their love because of my imperfections, whatever that means. Nor have I ever felt that caring for other human beings requires them to be perfect, whatever that means. ( One thing it does not mean is absence of values.....). I still have a ways to go before I am really as good as my parents are in this, but I am still learning that kind of love.

 

I used to embarrass my dad when he was still alive the last few years of his life, whenever I told him how glad I was that he was my father. He thought I was saying that he was perfect, and he would tell me that he was human and that he had faults. ( I knew that he had faults....he was the baby of his family and he was spoiled, so he liked to get his way. That's a fault.....). I would explain to him that what I meant was that, after having been in the world, and realized how hard it was, that I was glad that he and mom put values in me that would not let me do just anything to get ahead. I saw a lot of things that I was not tempted to do. I was glad of that. And so much more. And I am eternally thankful to God that I was able to tell my dad again and again how I felt about him before he died.

 

I am very thankful that God has blessed my sister's baby to grow up. She died days after his sixth birthday, and he is now about to turn eighteen, and graduates from high school this year. He has a quiet demeanor, and he is such kind, decent guy. The next time I see him I expect him to be taller than his father (his father's side of the family are tall people.). He's so handsome! He looks like her in his color (my sister was a fair-skinned African-American) and his face is a mixture of her and her husband. I am thankful that my brother-in-law, his father, kept in touch with us, even though he remarried, and allowed us to be part of my nephew's growing up. I am glad that everytime I was home for Christmas, I got to spend real time with my nephew, and that he was allowed to call me long-distance.

 

I am thankful for salvation in Jesus Christ, and the opportunity to grow in Him, and learn about the Christian walk, and strive to be better.

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I am thankful for my parents saving the money to send me to college ... it was a huge sacrifice for them.

 

I am thankful to live in this country, where there IS religious freedom, opportunity for all who are willing to work for it, and an open discourse about everything. Sometimes I hate what I'm hearing, but at least I know that I will be heard as well.

 

I am thankful that I have no doubt in my mind that as U.S. citizens, we will all continue to enjoy freedom unparalleled anywhere in the world. And I would wish for everyone around the world that same privilege, as naive as that hope is.

 

I am thankful for my darling son and my outstanding husband. Words cannot describe how lucky I am to have both of them in my life.

 

I am thankful for my husband's job, and his job security, which has enabled us to live well and allowed me to stay home with my son since his birth.

 

I am thankful for my health and the health of my family ... we are extraordinarily hearty people and that is truly a blessing from God as is everything else on my incredibly long list of what I am thankful for.

 

Happy Thanksgiving! God bless everyone.

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Gul nudrog -

 

I don't know if you were disagreeing with me when you capitalized the IS in your post but my concerens are not unfounded

Click For Spoiler
. The SC in a 1990 Oregon case weakened the constitutional standard for protecting the free exercise of religion. Congress responded with the Religious Freedom Restoration Act - which the SC subsequently threw out. So I wouldn't take religious freedom for granted. People are trying to erode it every day in the courts and activist judges because they lack the majority required to do it legitimately through legislation.

 

Nor has religious freedom ever existed in practice as stated in the Constitution - nevertheless we still probably have more in the US than anywhere else. And it was at least one of the reasons that fueled the colonization of this country.

 

MJ, you always give such a beautiful homage to your parents. You seem to have truly been blessed to have them.

Edited by TheUnicornHunter

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I'm thankful for all my great friends that I made this year. Even though most all of them are seniors and will be leaving in one short year I know that we will always be friends all through colledge. I am also thankful that I have my health and my great education.

Just some little things:

-I live in a nice place that is reletivly close to my friends

-That I have been able to let go and move on

-My mom. She is the greatest because she is always there for me whenever I need her and anytime, day or night. She is always helping my with my homework, especially my Algebra and French.

-I still, even after I found a sparring partner who knows how to kill me seven different ways with his index finger, haven't broken a bone or dislocated something.

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I am thankful for all of the blessings God made possible for me through my parents, neither of which is still with me. I am thankful for my son, and for my companion. I am thankful for the good friends that I have. I am thankful that I lived to see another year, and that I have still been able so far to get through the many health challenges that have face me for so many years. I am thankful for my job during a time when so many others are not working. I am thankful for my faith, it has brought me through some very difficult times. I am thankful for the many opportunities that I credit God for providing for me.

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Gul nudrog -

 

I don't know if you were disagreeing with me when you capitalized the IS in your post but my concerens are not unfounded

282774[/snapback]

 

No, no ... just a typo! Sorry about that. It's hard to type when you have a kid hanging off your arm!

 

Go in peace, brother.

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Number one I'm thankful that Jesus came to die for my sins on the cross :congrats::clap::congrats:

number two i'm thankful for my great family and I'm thankful for a lotta other things but I gtg

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I am thankful for the sun that rises every morning. For Jesus's Love. For the moon at night. For this site and the friends I have here. For living in the Greatest Country on Earth. For my breath, my sight and hearing. For music and poetry and art. For the creatures that I share the Earth with and compassion shown to them by my fellow humans. For Star Trek. And for Love. :congrats:

 

Sorry, I'm doing my best, the Holidays are hard for me. :congrats:

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I'm thankful that I have a great job

 

I'm thankful I have a nice home

 

I'm thankful for all my wonderful friends

 

And I'm thankful that VBG has such an great Star Trek fans website!

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There's a lot of little things I'm thankful for but more than anything else, I'm thankful I met Lida this year. She's completely changed my life. :congrats:

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thankful for a loving God who sent his only sins to die for us imperfect beings who don't deserve it.

 

thankful for a loving family.

 

Thankful for friends.

 

thanful for esoteric trivia.

 

thankful for the internet.

 

thankful for books.

 

thankful for freedom.

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im thankful that when my whole life turned upsidedown, that i landed on my feet. i got the job of my dreams, im with family that i used to not be able to see but once or twice a year. ive got good friends, and in general am starting to enjoy my life more and more. :congrats:

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Well, Thanksgiving is almost over, but it is not too late to hope that all who celebrated had a good day, and took at least part of the day to remember what they are thankful for.

 

I am thankful to have my mother here living with me permanently. She loves my place, and I do not have to worry about her being alone anymore.

 

This is the first Thanksgiving I have celebrated in the city I live in, because I usually go home see my family. But since mom was here with me, we invited a guest in and cooked Thanksgiving dinner.

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I'm thankful to have gotten through one of the darkest years of my life. Caring for my mother as she slowly succumbed to advanced colon cancer really tore me apart these past few years, and maybe, hopefully as this year closes I can find some closure/peace of mind and look forward to the rest of my life positively.

 

It's also been trying raising two special-needs kids without the support of the huge family I could once depend on (after mom's passing, all my brothers and sisters basically just scattered across the country to new jobs/new opportunities....)

 

Today was hard. I put on a brave face for the kids, as I could tell they were on the verge of tears celebrating Thanksgiving ("The" Holiday in our house for many generations) without their grandma,mom....but inside I was depressed a large part of the day.

 

I'm resolved, however, that 2006 will be the beginning of the greatest chapter in my life. I'm thankful I'll have the love and support of two special people here at home. I'm not sure I'd be here if not for them. And I thank God for them.

 

:(

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