{"id":560,"date":"2014-11-19T15:11:11","date_gmt":"2014-11-19T15:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/safeplacewithruthgraham\/?p=560"},"modified":"2014-11-19T15:16:29","modified_gmt":"2014-11-19T15:16:29","slug":"being-thankful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/safeplacewithruthgraham\/2014\/11\/being-thankful.html","title":{"rendered":"Being Thankful"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I \u00a0got this some years ago. It is by an unknown author. It&#8217;s all a matter of perspective.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Being thankful for:<\/p>\n<p><em>The mess to clean after a party because it means I have been surrounded by friends.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The taxes I pay because it means that I am employed.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The clothes that fit a little too snug because it means I have enough to eat.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>My shadow who watches me work because it means I am out in the sunshine.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>A lawn that needs mowing, windows that need washing and gutters that need fixing because it means I have a home.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>All the complaining I hear about our government because it means we have freedom of speech.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The space I find at the far end of the parking lot because it means I am capable of walking.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>My huge heating bill because it means I am warm.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The lady behind me at church who sings off key because it means I can hear.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The piles of laundry and ironing because it means I have clothes to wear.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day because it means I have been productive.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The alarm that goes off in the early morning hours because it means that I am alive.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Getting too much email bogs me down but at least I know I have friends who are thinking of me.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of this world! We have many reasons to be thankful. Not the least which is we don&#8217;t live in fear &#8211; we live in freedom. I am thankful for those that protect our freedoms.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I \u00a0got this some years ago. It is by an unknown author. It&#8217;s all a matter of perspective. &nbsp; Being thankful for: The mess to clean after a party because it means I have been surrounded by friends. The taxes I pay because it means that I am employed. The clothes that fit a little&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":466,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57,40,8,16,33,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-choice","category-gratitude","category-holidays","category-personal-thoughts","category-prayer","category-thanksgiving"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Being Thankful - Safe Place with Ruth Graham<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/safeplacewithruthgraham\/2014\/11\/being-thankful.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Being Thankful - Safe Place with Ruth Graham\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I \u00a0got this some years ago. It is by an unknown author. It&#8217;s all a matter of perspective. &nbsp; Being thankful for: The mess to clean after a party because it means I have been surrounded by friends. The taxes I pay because it means that I am employed. The clothes that fit a little&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/safeplacewithruthgraham\/2014\/11\/being-thankful.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Safe Place with Ruth Graham\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-11-19T15:11:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-11-19T15:16:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ruth Graham\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Being Thankful - Safe Place with Ruth Graham","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/safeplacewithruthgraham\/2014\/11\/being-thankful.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Being Thankful - Safe Place with Ruth Graham","og_description":"I \u00a0got this some years ago. It is by an unknown author. It&#8217;s all a matter of perspective. &nbsp; Being thankful for: The mess to clean after a party because it means I have been surrounded by friends. The taxes I pay because it means that I am employed. The clothes that fit a little&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/safeplacewithruthgraham\/2014\/11\/being-thankful.html","og_site_name":"Safe Place with Ruth Graham","article_published_time":"2014-11-19T15:11:11+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-11-19T15:16:29+00:00","author":"Ruth Graham","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/safeplacewithruthgraham\/2014\/11\/being-thankful.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/safeplacewithruthgraham\/2014\/11\/being-thankful.html","name":"Being Thankful - Safe Place with Ruth Graham","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/safeplacewithruthgraham\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-11-19T15:11:11+00:00","dateModified":"2014-11-19T15:16:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/safeplacewithruthgraham\/#\/schema\/person\/76d20e190c3b83823997a9f422b86975"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/safeplacewithruthgraham\/2014\/11\/being-thankful.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/safeplacewithruthgraham\/2014\/11\/being-thankful.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/safeplacewithruthgraham\/2014\/11\/being-thankful.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/safeplacewithruthgraham"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Being Thankful"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/safeplacewithruthgraham\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/safeplacewithruthgraham\/","name":"Safe Place with Ruth Graham","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Ruth Graham","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/safeplacewithruthgraham\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/safeplacewithruthgraham\/#\/schema\/person\/76d20e190c3b83823997a9f422b86975","name":"Ruth Graham","description":"\u201cTransparent\u201d is the word most people use to describe Ruth Graham. No stranger to heartache, she seeks to provide a Biblical perspective to her journey of faith. She is warm and talks openly about her own need for a safe place as she journeyed through her husband\u2019s infidelities, her subsequent depression, her divorces, her teenage daughter\u2019s two unplanned pregnancies, another daughter\u2019s bulimia, her son\u2019s battle with drugs, grandson's special needs and returning to school at age 40. Although born into the \"famous\" Graham family Ruth did not feel she had a safe place to unburden the secrets of her life. She felt she had to project and image and wear a mask that she \"had it all together\". She had to meet others' expectations of her. It was not until a mid-life crisis did that she fully discover the unconditional love and grace of God. Her life's passion is to connect people to that same grace and love she found, no matter who they are or what sin. Ruth is an experienced conference speaker and Bible teacher. She has appeared on a variety of radio and television shows including: Good Morning, America, The Hour of Power, Focus on the Family, Moody Broadcasting, Fox &amp; Friends, CBN, Life Today and CNN. She has worked in publishing for over 14 years and is the founder of the Ruth Graham &amp; Friends Ministry. Ruth has three grown children and nine grandchildren. She lives in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. 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