I’ve been celebrating Thanksgiving for 85 years and still counting my blessings | Opinion

So, here I am celebrating my 86th Thanksgiving. What a blessing. A line in one of my favorite contemporary gospel songs goes like this:

“God, I’m still counting my blessings ... I know that I’ll run out of time.”

That, my friends, is just about how I feel. I’m not being morbid. I’m just thinking of the many blessings I have been given, and although I can try to count them, there’s just not enough time for me to count them all. I just have to trust the Lord to know my heart when I say, “Thank you, Lord.”

Like millions of others, I thank the Lord daily for His blessings. However, the Thanksgiving season — the preparations, the turkey and all the trimmings that go along with a bountiful dinner — makes me stop and think. I think about the homeless people who have to stand in line for a Thanksgiving meal. I think about the elderly who must spend the day alone, tucked away in some nursing home, surrounded by other lonely elders.

And although Thanksgiving Day is an American celebration, I can’t help but think of the people who are dodging bombs and bullets in other parts of the world. They are running for their life, trying to find a safe spot to be in, if only for a little while. But there is no place to hide. Think about that and give thanks for our peace.

I arose this morning to the sound of blissful birds chirping in the trees outside my window. I slept through the night, without a phone call waking me with sad news. What a blessing!

I woke up knowing who I am and where I am. That makes me, dear friends, truly blessed.

As a driver on these dangerous Miami streets, I don’t take it for granted when I make it back home safely. I am aware of who gave me a safe trip, who held me back inside my house for a few minutes longer because of an unseen danger on the streets.

And I am thankful for friends – young and old – who call me from time to time to make sure I am okay. I am thankful for good neighbors and for living peacefully among each other.

I am thankful for my church family at The Church of God Tabernacle (True Holiness), where I have worshiped for over 63 years. Many of the old saints have gone home to be with the Lord.

But I am thankful for their guidance, for their help when I was a young Christian single mother who didn’t know the way. They patiently taught me how to lean on the Lord, to trust Him for everything. And, so, I did. Trusting God has gotten me to this point in my life.

I am thankful for my mother, who loved me enough to bring me out of rural Williston, Florida, where she was in an abusive marriage. I think about her a lot. She was young and beautiful and could have had a much easier life had she left me and my baby brother Adam with our dad. Thank you, Lord, for putting us in her plan of escape.

I am thankful for the women who helped her escape and for my aunt Thelma and Uncle Morgan, who gave me and my brother a safe place to be until Mom found housing and work here in Miami. And I am thankful for the surrogate extended family we found here — the Dorsetts, the Rogers, to name a few.

Why am I telling you this? I simply want to give you a reason to search your own life and find some reason or reasons to give thanks. This is because I know many of you don’t feel very thankful right now.

Disappointed with the election outcome, you don’t see how America can move forward in a healthy way. You are worried about the ugly racism and the hateful rhetoric that seeped out during the four years Mr. Trump served as president.

Let me give you a bit of advice: Ask the Lord to show you how to trust Him. Regardless of who was elected president, this is a season of thanksgiving and trusting God and His plan for America.

Let’s use some of this Thanksgiving season to send up prayers for our elected leaders. The Bible tells us:

“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people – for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in godliness and holiness”. I Timothy:2, 1-2 NIV

This includes President-elect Trump, and all those he appoints to serve in his cabinet. Although he doesn’t know it, God has a plan for his life, too.

I’m not trying to preach to you. I just want to give you something to think about during this season of giving thanks.

You say you don’t have a reason to give thanks? I’m here to remind you that you do. Just start counting your blessings and see how far you can go. You will find, like the song says, “… God I’m still counting my blessings ... knowing I can’t count that high…”