Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Yes, I know I'm posting this at 10:00 PM, and that Thanksgiving is nearly over and everything, but I really haven't had a chance to sit down at my computer today. I had to work from 4:00 to 10:00 this morning in order to get the store prepped for tomorrow's oh-so-exciting rush, then I went to bed after turkey-time because I had been up for about 27 hours.

I still love Thanksgiving. It still feels "right" to me; a day set aside where one can truly relax and reflect on everything that one has to be thankful for. I've actually grown to despise the month of December and all that Christmas has become. It seems impossible to have a quiet and reflective Christmas any more; the true meaning becomes buried deeper and deeper every year in all the high-value productions and greedy shopping sprees. Thanksgiving is the calm before the storm; all hell's about to break loose tomorrow (I'm really not looking forward to my 5:00 to 2:30 shift), and it really saddens me to see the "happiest season of all" be what it has become.

There's a lot to be thankful for this year. I feel better about my personal life-situation than I've ever felt, and am thankful for the support from my family and friends in my decision to enlist. The thing that I am most thankful for, and the thing that I will always be most thankful for, is the fortune of being born into a Christian home and being raised by parents who instilled in me a high sense of morality and values. I came to know my Savior at an early age, and without Him I am nothing. Christ is the one constant in my life; the only part of me that can never be taken away. He is the reason I have a future; He is the reason that the future need not be feared. I know that as long as I listen to and obey the Spirit's leading, I will always be where I'm meant to be. And that's a comforting thought, and a great truth for which to give thanks. The fact that I was born into a situation whereby I am able to live this life of freedom is the most wonderful thing in the world.