Happy Thanksgiving! This has been an unusual year. Normally,  we all get together with family and friends this time of year.  But this year will be quite different for many of us. 

So many are canceling their family Thanksgiving dinners to stay safe and well.  Others will be at home with immediate family, and some, if we’re lucky, will get to zoom with our extended family and friends.

Because this Thanksgiving is so different, I decided to do a different type of blog this year.  Instead of just my take on what I’m thankful for, I’m sharing a Braden’s baker’s dozen from a range of people to remind us all of what we should be thankful for this Thanksgiving Day! 

As serving leaders, the Thanksgiving holiday is an important day. I found Kaylene Mathews’ blog Does Your Leadership Communicate an Attitude of Thankfulness? inspirational.

If you have your own favorite quote of thankfulness and thanksgiving, please share it with the rest of us.  I think we’re all in need of some inspiration this year!

• “If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough.” – Meister Eckhart

•  “ ‘Thank you’ is the best prayer that anyone could say. I say that one a lot. Thank you expresses extreme gratitude, humility, understanding.” —Alice Walker 

• “I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” —Gilbert K. Chesterton

•  “When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.”—Willie Nelson

• “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them.” – John F. Kennedy

• “Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.” – Oprah Winfrey

• “He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not,  but rejoices for those which he has.” – Epictetus

• “In life, one has a choice to take one of two paths: to wait for some special day–or to celebrate each special day.” – Rasheed Ogunlaru

• “This a wonderful day. I’ve never seen this one before.” – Maya Angelou

• “Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out.” – John Wooden

• “At times, our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” – Albert Schweitzer

• “It is impossible to feel grateful and depressed in the same moment.” – Naomi Williams

• “Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.” – A.A. Milne

Happy Thanksgiving. Remember, it’s not that happy people are grateful, it’s more that grateful people are happy!  Have a great and safe holiday weekend!

Looking for a more traditional Thanksgiving holiday blog from me? Take a look at What Are You Thankful for This Thanksgiving?

See you next week!