Karla's Kolumn: Always something to be thankful for

Thursday is Thanksgiving. Many of you may be wondering in the world we live in today if there is anything to be thankful for. I would say yes, there is plenty to be thankful for today.

No, I'm not blind to the fact that this county is more divided than I think it has ever been, save for the Civil War. As frustrated as I am at times with the federal government, I still wouldn't live anywhere else, as long as the Constitution is upheld, including the First and Second amendments.

Which brings me to one thing we can all be thankful for, something I mention every year at this time. I am thankful I live in a country that provides freedom of speech. I know that specific freedom has been under attack from a variety of different areas, but regardless if you like what I say or not, thankfully, I have the freedom to say it. I have the freedom, as do you, to criticize our local, county and federal government, without fear of prosecution.

I am thankful for the freedom to worship as I choose and not how or what the government tells me to worship. And for those who say that that freedom is disappearing, I witnessed high school students earlier this week exercising that freedom – on their own – during lunch.

I am thankful that my parents raised me to respect others' opinions. I may disagree with you on who or what you worship, or how you vote, but I respect your right and your freedom to do just that.

I realize it can be hard to be thankful when you listen to news about how a family scammed their neighborhood and community out of money reportedly for their cancer-stricken child, who wasn't sick; or about three people who scammed people across the world with their GoFundMe account by spreading a false heart-warming story about a homeless man helping a woman and then she helped raise over $400,000. They all face multiple charges now.

But, I am thankful for the roof over my head, for my job, for my family and that my parents taught me morals and values and valuing other people so that I myself didn't turn into one of those scammers.

I am thankful for parents who loved me in spite of my flaws (there were a few growing up).

I am thankful for a husband who loves me with those same flaws (my father warned him).

As always, I am thankful for our three dogs and two cats, for the bunnies the dogs get to chase, for the birds in the summer who come to the bird feeder, for the fox who runs along the hillside behind our house, for the deer who visit, until they ate my strawberry patch, for the frogs who found their way into the yard this summer and all the critters around

Except skunks .... Unless they stay outside my fence.

And spiders, I am not thankful for spiders.

There are times in our life when it can be hard to find things to be thankful for.

The Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians to be thankful in all circumstances. Yes, that is easier said than done. When you find spiders, you can be thankful for Raid or even peppermint oil.

When you're cursing while shoveling the snow this winter, you can be thankful we do not have hurricanes in Wyoming.

When you get a flat tire on the way home from visiting a friend in Powell you can thank the stranger who stopped to help you change the tire (because without the headlights from his pickup it was way too dark since someone forgot to keep a flashlight with fresh batteries in the vehicle), or thankful for a husband who meets you halfway to make sure you make it back safe on that "spare" tire.

It may take work, but if we think hard, perhaps we can all find things to be thankful for "in all circumstances" and if we are all busy being thankful, then we won't be busy being divisive.

Happy Thanksgiving.

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NOTE: The Northern Wyoming Daily News will not be publishing a newspaper on Friday, Nov. 23, due to the Thanksgiving holiday. We will be publishing editions on Nov. 20, Nov. 21, Nov. 22 and Nov. 24 next week.