Happy Thanksgiving!

Life itself is worth being thankful for; but how much more then, do we have to give thanks for? The lives we lead are truly incredible, and we have an unending list of things which we should always give thanks for. While I have always recognized this, this year Thanksgiving hit me especially hard as I realized how outstandingly blessed I am. If you're reading this right now, I am extremely thankful for YOU! Every day, I thank God for the people like you, who believe in me and support me in all that I do; I truly would not be here today without you.


My mom's birthday was on Thanksgiving this year, so we held a surprise birthday party for her on Wednesday. We held it at a fun pottery-painting place in Scottsbluff called Create Away. I painted an awareness ribbon shape purple and wrote "Accept Yourself...Accept Others" on it; I'll hang it in my office when it's done. My mom was completely surprised by the party and we had a great time with some of her close friends!


On Thanksgiving day, my whole family went to help with Thanksgiving in the Valley: a free Thanksgiving dinner for the needy in the valley. My younger sister Christine and I delivered meals to the homebound throughout Scottsbluff, and although it was very cold, the elderly people we delivered too were so appreciative of their Thanksgiving meal. Afterward, I headed home to start cooking up our meal! We had another family over, ate a great Thanksgiving dinner, (if I do say so myself - it was my first time doing it myself!) and played lots of games together throughout the evening. Just relaxing with friends and family not only reminded me of the most important things in life, but also why what I do is so important; I was reminded of the people who came to Thanksgiving in the Valley for food, the elderly who didn't have family around anymore, and the many youth across our state who do not have a loving family to take care of them. That's why I love what I do - I hope that through each small thing, I can make a difference in the lives of these people, and give them hope. I pray that throughout not only this year, but every year for the rest of my life, I will be striving to reach out to others and help them when they need it. I have been blessed in so many ways, and have so much to be thankful for! I don't know why this is, and I certainly don't deserve it; I only hope that I can make the most of the life I've been given and use it always to the glory of God.

Happy Thanksgiving!
Teresa