Being Thankful With Our Families

This week we will be hearing from family members concerning what they are most thankful for. Today we will hear from Landon Calabello.
~ Rhonda Calabello

Thanksgiving, originally a day farmers celebrated the fruitfulness of their harvests for that season, was a day the Pilgrims celebrated with the Native Americans for their help in teaching them to plant crops and hunt wild life (1621). Formerly established as a national holiday by George Washington, Abraham Lincoln later changed the date to the third Thursday of November in order to lengthen the Christmas shopping season. This was an attempt to unite the nation in an effort to show thankfulness for all the good things we, as a nation, have.

Christians have many good things to be grateful for. Two things that I am grateful for, apart from my family, are freedom to walk out my faith and the opportunity to glorify God in my future career.

Firstly, it is easy to take for granted the freedom we have in this nation to worship the one, true God. If we were only to remind ourselves daily of the persecution Christians face in hostile countries everyday because of their faith, I believe we would truly praise him all the more for the wonderful blessing he has given to us by allowing us to live in this wonderful country. I have recently read stories and seen pictures of attacks on Christians in India. I saw a picture of a girl who was burned to death. In the ashes, you could make our her head, hair, and nose, but the rest of her body was completely charred. One girl, who was probably once beautiful, had a marred face after she was tortured. I ask myself, “Would I still follow Christ if I had to face such horrific persecution?” I am thankful for the freedom I have to praise God, but have I truly been tested?

Secondly, I am thankful for the opportunity to pursue a college education that will aid me in my future career, whatever that may be. God calls us to work. It is my desire to work hard in my career, and not only to work hard, but to be successful. Many argue that the pursuit of money is wrong and hinders us from glorifying God and giving our entire selves to Him and His service. I would argue that it is God’s desire for us to pursue this very thing. Not everyone is called to great success. But it is my desire, God willing, to be successful in order to further the kingdom of God. I can be poor, become a missionary, and serve God by reaching the lost. This is a good thing, something that God calls many to. However, I can also be relatively well off and give money and support orphanages, children, the poor, the oppressed, and so on. If I can further the kingdom with what God has blessed me with, then I can hopefully impact more lives than if I had not worked hard and taken an easier path in life. I want business to be my mission, where I will have the opportunity to glorify Him through hard work and charity.

I am thankful to live in the U.S.

Landon Calabello