Thankful Thanksgiving

I guess its Thanksgiving? With crops to harvest yet and cows to get out on stocks the work end of things seems more like October but the cold and snow make it seem more like January. When I look at the calendar, it tells me that this week is Thanksgiving whether I think it is or not. I have been threatening to go out and work after we finish lunch on Thanksgiving, but I know better, that and it’s supposed to rain.

Every year I like to take a little time to reflect on my life at Thanksgiving and do exactly what the holiday was designed for, to give thanks. I am not going to lie, this year it is a little harder for those of us in agriculture to give thanks, its no secret that this has been a tough year for most of us. Between the markets and the weather, it seems as though every time we get back up, we get knocked right back down. On the surface it may not seem like we have much to be thankful for.

However, we all know better than that. Even with these tough times I feel more thankful than ever to be an agriculture producer. Tough times have a way of reminding you why you chose to farm or ranch, it makes you look at your soul and remember what makes you get up every morning and face the challenges. I have been a part of agriculture all my life, so I guess the eternal optimism is just a part of me. Sure, there are dark moments when we all question what we are doing and wonder what else is out there. Those moment are fleeting and are always replaced with a determination to keep on plowing forward no matter what.

Tough times also remind us that farming and ranching is a family affair. I am not just talking about our blood relatives but also our agriculture community. Our neighbors and friends who are always there with advice and help, ready at any moment to jump in and help. More importantly they are there to talk to, vent when things are going well and to help celebrate the good times. Friends and neighbors are one of the best parts of the lifestyle we all chose.

We do have a lot to be thankful for in agriculture, even in these tough times, I know I wouldn’t trade my life for anything else. I would like to think I could do something else and make more money, but money is not what happiness is about. Could I find a job where I would have more free time and maybe a weekend or holiday off? I am sure I could, but we all know that agriculture is not about a job, it is a way of life that most of us were born into and some of us chose.

I am truly blessed and very thankful to be farming even in this most challenging time. I grew up wanting to be just like Dad and Grandpa working the soil, tending my animals and growing food. Time and years have not done anything but increase my love for what I do. It has been tough, and I am sure there are many more tough days ahead of me too. I also am equally sure there are some good days in my future too and it is those days I will cherish. I am thankful to be able to be a part of agriculture and even if it suddenly came to a crashing halt, I would not have traded or changed a moment.

I am thankful to work with my family each day on farms that the generations before me sacrificed and paid for with their blood sweat and tears. I am thankful to look forward to the future and have the hope that I can some day pass this legacy to the next generation and with any luck I will be able watch the generation after that come aboard. I am thankful for the good and deep friendships of my neighbors and friends.

Most of all I am thankful for a God who has made me caretaker over his land and animals. It is my deep hope that I am a good and faithful servant in all that I have been entrusted with. I am not sure why I have been given what I have, and I know that I do not deserve any of it. I am only a caretaker who hopes to leave things better than the way I found them.

This year has posed challenges like no other and at times, I must admit, it has been hard to be thankful. I suppose that is an indication of how I take my life for granted but I hope that even in this most hectic of years I will take a moment to pause and reflect on how thankful I am for all the blessings I have been given and I hope each of you will be able to do the same thing.

Thankful Thanksgiving

This week is Thanksgiving and to many of us it is an excuse to stuff ourselves with turkey, stuffing and all the fixings and take a long nap while pretending to watch football on TV. That is OK and it is certainly in my plans. Thanksgiving has also become known as the start of the Christmas shopping season with some stores opening during the holiday. I will leave that rant for another time and all I will say is that Christmas Season should not start until at least the day after Thanksgiving.

I think Thanksgiving should be more than a day to stuff ourselves, watch football and start our Christmas shopping. Those things are all fine but they should not be the focus of Thanksgiving and they are certainly not what was intended by setting aside a day to give thanks.

We have just come through one of the most contentious years in my lifetime. I am sure there were other years in the history of this great nation that were just as tense and full of controversy but I don’t remember them. I certainly don’t remember an election cycle this acrimonious. That gives this Thanksgiving even more meaning and purpose.

I don’t care which side of the elections you were on; we all have a lot to be thankful for this year. We have proven that we could come through the most unpleasant election season and emerge on the other side still holding our place as the greatest nation in the world. Sure, there will be many more bumps, heartburn and worry but I have complete confidence that we will come out stronger and better for all of it.

Instead of worrying about what is wrong with our nation, we should celebrate and give thanks for what is right. Most of us have shelter, food and clean water. Everything after that is gravy. We live in relative peace and safety. Just having the basic needs is something a great majority of the rest of the world doesn’t take for granted like we do and we should be thankful for all we have.

I would also like for us to take this day of thanks giving to reflect upon just how good we have it and carry those thoughts into the next year. We live in a land of abundance and we take that blessing for granted. Recently I had the opportunity to work with Rick McNary. Rick has dedicated his life to helping those who are not as blessed as most of us and who do worry about having enough to eat each day. You can’t be around Rick and not want to do something about hunger.

I am quite certain that food is something most of us take for granted. We have always known that we will have our next meal and that there will always be food in the pantry and the refrigerator. We are blessed to have enough that we turn our noses up at certain foods and often a large percentage of what we do have goes bad before we can eat it. We should be thankful enough for what we have that we start working on this problem.

I am not trying to make you feel bad because my house is just as guilty about wasting food. I just want us to think about how good we have it and what we can do to try to pass some of our blessings on to those who are less fortunate. Just think about what we could do if, instead of wasting that food, we used that money to help feed those who don’t know where their next meal is coming from.

Dealing with hunger is an overwhelming task if you look at the totality it. However, if we all do small things to help we can chip away at the mountain one stone at a time. Those of us in agriculture know about doing our part. I am also just as sure knowing that many people do not have enough food and that we need produce even more in the future is a part of what motivates us to do our jobs.

I will leave you with this wish. I wish that for one day we would put our differences aside and not worry about the events of the past year. Let’s celebrate the abundance and blessings of this great nation with a day of rest, relaxation, food, family and fun. During this celebration, I hope each one of us will take time to give thanks for all that we have and reflect upon how we can be good stewards of all we have been given. I ask that you think about how you can share those blessings with others. Then maybe one shared blessing at a time we can start to mend fences. That would be something we could all be thankful for.