Get up, get going, contribute, do your part, do your best, no excuses, no whining, step up to the plate.
All right. All right. I get it. I know it. I know. I truly do: those things on the ends of my arms work just as good as yours. Those blobs on the end of my legs can take me to just as many places as yours do. So I need to use them.
But once in a while, it is nice to sit back and realize I do not have to do everything and to be thankful for that.
I can focus on what I do best while other folks like Mike Dumas, Frank Hash, Mike Loftin and many others keep coming back time and again to serve in various public offices. I am so thankful we have men and women whose interest draws them into the arena to serve in political and public offices. Dumas worked for months on the paperwork and contacts needed for the re-roofing of the facility at Champagnolle Landing. Most of us just wondered why it had not been done and how it could be done. He did it.
I am so thankful that we have road construction crews to build and maintain our highways. As tedious as I find traffic delays and detours of road repairs, I know that not having the Interstate highways, the four-lane highways, the paved streets and country roads would increase travel time exponentially.
I love a well-run meeting and organized church program. I am quite thankful every time I catch a glimpse of the efforts of our current Christian Education director Kim Moye and Awana director Vicky Evans. It takes imagination, determination and commitment to do what they are doing.
After a life time of attending church, I know a well-prepared, prayed-over sermon. The time spent studying keeps me alert and reflecting. So I am thankful for the messages of the Rev. Ben Wasson and other pastors I have heard over the years at home and while traveling.
Nearly every day without much thought, I go to my vehicle and drive to work or town. I drive confident that the tires will hold up and the engine will work. I am thankful for the engineering advancements in transportation providing durability that keeps me out of the shop and on the road most of the time. When I have to have repairs, I am so thankful for the local mechanics who have the knowledge and equipment so that we do not have to do this.
I enjoy Wikipedia, Facebook, cell phones, instant messages and e-mail, and I am very glad that I do not have to maintain the websites and computer systems behind these. I am thankful for folks like my son, Mark, who volunteer their time to keep MediaWiki up and going for the rest of us.
I am thankful for the low cost of these luxuries, because I do remember a time when I had to consider the time of day and cost of making a long distance phone call. I also remember the years I did not have any phone at all and had to write or type out all of my long distance communications. I am definitely thankful for the ease and access of the social network.
After a week of camping out in the woods with no running water and only a campfire, the modern conveniences of running water and electricity definitely must go on my list for Thanksgiving this year. As well as a word of thanks for all the electricians and plumbers who leave their warm beds in the middle of a bad weather to fix the connections that the storm destroyed.
Yes, I could walk to the well, drop a bucket and haul water back to the house. I could make candles, light wood fires and heat irons over stoves. I could take needle and thread and sew everything by hand. I could gather cotton, linen and wool to make fabric but I am so thankful that I do not have to do all that. And I am thankful for the men and women who invented and now run the machines who manufacture these conveniences.
This Thanksgiving, I am truly thankful for all the things I do not have to do because someone wants to do the job, has done the job or has done a great job so no one has to do that job.
For these my many blessings, I thank you, God.