This has been a year of economic uncertainty and unwanted stress for just about everyone, and it almost seems that Thanksgiving is being overlooked.  It’s beginning to look like Christmas everywhere as you are encouraged to “Celebrate the holidays”… with reminders of Christmas  I love Christmas, but I am sad to see Thanksgiving being given so little attention.  We are truly blessed and what better time to count our many blessing with grateful hearts, and as Samuel Pugh says “as fortunate as we are, when we have food, help us to remember the hungry; when we have work, help us remember the jobless; when we have homes, help us remember those who have no home at all, and destroy our complacency, and raise our compassion to be concerned enough to help, by word and deed, those who cry out for what we take for granted..”   Let’s also not forget to reflect on the role that companion animals play in our lives. Their cheerful spirits, their total loyalty, and their unconditional love are priceless gifts.

• BE THANKFUL when your dog forgets the rules and jumps up to greet you. It means she, though old and stiff, still has plenty of life!

• BE THANKFUL when you have a messed up living room; it means you have a healthy, spirited dog.

• BE THANKFUL when an entire roll of toilet paper is strewn throughout the house; smile as you visualize what fun your puppy must have had.

• BE THANKFUL when your dog clings to you when you leave the house; it means you have unconditional love waiting when you return.

• BE THANKFUL when your dog just wants to lie contentedly by your side, because the day will come when memories will be all you have.

 

Rescued Dogs Everywhere offer their prayer of thanks:

I am thankful that I will never know the loneliness that I hear in the barks of dogs still “out there.” I will never have to shiver in the cold or be afraid, because I am loved and accepted for who I am and not someone’s idea of what I should be. I will feel the sun’s warmth and the rain’s coolness and be allowed to smell all that can reach my nose.

I can trust arms that hold, hands that touch…knowing that no matter what happens, they are there for me. I will be talked to and even if I don’t understand, I can enjoy the conversation, and the honest effort to communicate with me on my level.  I will be taught the things I need to know to be loved by others, and if I do not learn a lesson well, they will exercise patience, not anger.

I will never be cast out because I am too old, too ill, too unruly or just not cute enough.  If ill, I will be doctored. If scared, I will be calmed. If sad, I will be cheered. My life is a responsibility, and not an afterthought.  My heart overflows with thankfulness, because I have a loving, forever home.

 

THANKS for each new morning with its light; for rest and shelter of the night; for health and food; for love and friends; for everything God’s goodness sends.—Ralph Waldo Emerson