Thanksgiving Thought

Sara and I spent most of yesterday travelling to Moorhead, MN, where a lot of her family lives. Before we flew from Atlanta, however, we had the opportunity to have some Thanksgiving dinner with the troops.

Here's an interesting thing about Thanksgiving: until 1863, it was a church holiday only. In November of 1863, President Lincoln visited the battlefield at Gettysburg and delivered his famous "Gettysburg Address." The sight of that battlefield and the 60,000 casualties of that battle, moved President Lincoln to be thankful for the sacrifice offered. It was this impetus that led him to proclaim the fourth Thursday of each November as Thanksgiving.

I know what he felt. Before we travelled, Sara and I had lunch with the troops. These are men who are at Ft. Benning, GA over the Thanksgiving holiday. Some of them have a lot of work still to do, others were able to take the day off. At least three NCO's will be at the building all day today because they have duty. This is just in America. Imagine the sacrifices that are being made in other places all around the world. All this being done so that you and I can sit around, eat too much, watch too much football, and sleep soundly.

Happy Thanksgiving!