Fill your life with experiences, not things. Have stories to tell, not stuff to show. – Unknown
Today’s topics include:
- MT Lawmakers Pay Raise
- Abuse of Power
- One More Thing
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The Wednesday Read: Pay Raise, Abuse of Power, & Thanksgiving
The Sunday Message
And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. – Hebrews 13:16 (NIV)
I happened to catch this story on CBS News and wanted to share it.
Wanda Dench wanted to give her grandchildren advance notice of Thanksgiving plans this year. And she knew the best way to communicate with “kids” these days: by text. So, instead of dialing up her grandson, the Phoenix-area woman typed a quick message.
Her message was sent to the wrong number. It was received by Jamal Hinton, a 17-year-old high school senior. After some back and forth, Hinton figured out it was not his grandma sending the text, but he asked, “Can I still get a plate tho?”
Dench didn’t skip a beat. Within seconds, she replied, “Of course you can. That’s what grandma’s do…feed everyone.”
So Jamal will be going to grandma Dench’s house for a Thanksgiving meal. I also heard that Dench invited the rest of his family, too.
Hinton posted the messages between the two on Twitter and it has been shared about 190,000 times.
Happy Thanksgiving!
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Wednesday’s Odds & Ends
The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings. – Eric Hoffer
Welcome to Wednesday! If you are traveling today – have a safe trip and buckle your seatbelt. Today is one of those days in which there are several stories out there that I want to comment about – so it’s another “Odds & Ends” day!
Here are today’s topics:
- Montana Lawmakers & Syrian Refugees
- New Montana Campaign Finance Rules
- Montana State University & Peter Fields
- GF Public Schools Superintendent Eval
- Thanksgiving
The Sunday Message
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. – Psalm 107:1
This is Thanksgiving week. Many people will be traveling to see family and friends this week. May your travels be safe!
We have so much to be thankful for here in the United States. Please pray for those who can’t be with their families this week.
There are military personnel on watch across the globe protecting us. There are military families going through this week alone because their family member is deployed.
On Thanksgiving Day there will be first responders standing by ready to help those in need. There will be caregivers in hospitals and nursing homes helping the patients there.
As we approach the holiday season, many families will be facing the season without someone they love because that person died this year. Please remember them and pray for them during this difficult time.
As you and your friends and loved ones sit down this week to break bread, please pray for the people mentioned above. Above all else, let’s really be thankful.
When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude. – Gilbert K. Chesterton
Have a great Thanksgiving!
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Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving to my faithful readers! I hope this day finds you blessed with family, friends, and great food!
Please take a moment to pray and give thanks for our military personnel who are stationed around the world and away from their loved ones this holiday. Please pray for their families, too.
Thursday Numbers will return next week.
## Be Thankful ##
Thanksgiving: Eating & Shopping
I don’t think I have ever shopped on “Black Friday” and I’ve certainly not shopped for deals on Thanksgiving. It’s just not my thing – but best of luck to those who participate!
I watch football on Thanksgiving…and I eat. I eat a lot. On Friday I watch more football and eat leftovers. My biggest trip on Thursday and Friday is from my La-Z-Boy to the dining room table or to the refrigerator.
In today’s Great Falls Tribune I happened to see some of the Thursday and Friday schedules for store openings. Congrats to those businesses that decided to stay closed on Thanksgiving. Sometimes making a buck should take a backseat to family.
The Sunday Message
Thanksgiving is more than eating, Chuck…We should just be thankful for being together. I think that’s what they mean by ‘Thanksgiving,’ Charlie Brown. –Marcie (from “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving”)
It is Thanksgiving week! I hope you are able to spend some time with your family and friends this week.
Please take a moment to pray for those who are away from their families this holiday season – like those who are serving in the military. It’s a tough time for them and their families.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. – Psalm 107
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The Sunday Message
When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself. –Tecumseh
We have it pretty good in the United States of America. You might be asking what I mean by “it” in the last sentence. By “it” I mean life and living. Compared to most countries, we are well off and have wonderful opportunities.
Almost every morning when I rise, I thank God for another day. I don’t know what the day will bring, but I do know that I have been given the chance to take part in it.
One of my favorite quotes is from the 2000 movie “Cast Away” that starred Tom Hanks. Hanks played a FedEx executive who was in a plane crash and survived on a deserted island.
Spoiler Alert: He was rescued after about four years and found out his girlfriend had married another guy. Thinking of making it back to his girlfriend kept Hanks going on that island so much so that he finally decided to build a raft to try and be rescued. After he found out his girlfriend had moved on he said, “And I know what I have to do now. I gotta keep breathing. Because tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide could bring?”
We’re given a gift each day.
Psalm 100:4 (NIV)
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
Have a very Happy Thanksgiving.
## Be Thankful ##
The Sunday Message
We are about to enter the holiday season. Are you pumped up? It’s that time of year when life gets a little crazy for some and most of our thoughts turn to family, gifts, and starting the New Year off new.
Sometimes we even think about Jesus.
I am normally deeply depressed during the holidays. Don’t get me wrong, I love the holidays, but it’s just so darned depressing for me. I know it’s going to happen, so I just deal with it the best way I know how. It does not matter if I’m with tons of family or by myself – the holiday funk tries to take over my life.
To fight my depressed state of mind during the holidays, I try to go walk in the mall a few times between Thanksgiving and Christmas to hear the sounds and see the sights of Christmas. My family also goes for an annual drive around town to look at Christmas lights, after we’ve attended a Christmas Eve service at church. These things help cheer me up.
I also pray a lot.
I pray for those who won’t be with their families over the holidays. I pray for those who have lost loved ones during the past year and this will be their first Christmas without them. Last year was a sad one as 20 children and six staff members were killed at Sandy Hook elementary school about 11 days before Christmas. I also think about those who are homeless – especially children. (more…)
Making Montana Proud
Today (Wednesday) is one of the biggest travel days of the year, so if you are traveling have a great time out there on the highways or in the airports as you make your way over the river and through the woods to your destinations! The Associated Press reports, “Around 43.6 million Americans were expected to journey 50 miles or more between Wednesday and Sunday.”
Wear your seatbelts and please don’t drink and drive!
Today I write about three recent issues in the news which has cast Montana in less than favorable light. Although I titled this column and the three paragraphs “Making Montana Proud,” I’m being sarcastic…
