These past few years have been stressful. On Sunday, Pastor George Lumpkin said he felt like there was a societal shift that affected everything in March of 2020. As deaths from coronavirus rose, we all dealt with the angst and misdirected anger from a stressed and fearful people. (We were, as well.)
We small businesses wondered how we would survive. How would our shrinking revenue cover our expenses? When would this pandemic end?
But Pastor George reminded us on Sunday that the words “fear” or “afraid” are mentioned more than 500 times in the Bible. Yet we are constantly reminded, “Do not be afraid. I am with you.”
Pastor George’s words have brought me no small amount of comfort during these strange few years. And I am trying my best to focus on gratitude instead of our industry or worldly challenges. After all, I’ve been privileged to lead an interesting and fulfilling life.
One of my good friends in the newspaper industry is Leonard Woolsey, publisher of the Galveston County Daily News. He gifts his readers with his positive insights, and his column this week got to the heart of gratitude. He wrote it’s “a year-round opportunity,” not one just reserved for Thanksgiving.
“Gratefulness is about learning to listen to your heart,” he writes. “Too often, we get caught up in our voices or interests to pay the proper attention to what matters most: those who make our lives rich with love and warmth.”
That hits home, especially when I focus too much on issues out of my control.
My wife, Christine, has been such a support through good times and tough times. I’m grateful for her love and her strength. We have managed to raise two young men who are finding their way into the world. These three are my anchors. One son is a sharing soul who wants to better the world, the other a teacher with a heart to help others.
I’m grateful for my parents — Bill and Peggy Cooke — who are still in good health in their mid-80s. I’m grateful for their example of love, patience and hard work. I’m grateful for my siblings, brother Kyle, who runs our family weekly in Rockdale, and for my sister Kathy and younger brother Kevin who have gone to their reward. Nothing is guaranteed, but we squeezed in lots of good times while they were here.
I’m also grateful that I was asked 11 years ago to lead one of the best community newspapers in Texas in the best market. I’m thankful for the people I work with and those I worked with in the past. All taught me something and hopefully this descendant of stubborn Scotsmen is not too hard-headed to learn from them. I like the high standards set by my predecessors, Art Kowert and Terry Collier. I like being challenged by the work and I hope I’m finding a fraction of their secret sauce to providing this community with strong publications.
I’m grateful for the differences and a world of opportunity to meet and learn from others. Thinking of how others view things enriches our lives and understanding of our own. And I’m especially grateful to the readers and advertisers who indulge our efforts each week.
I’m also proud to be here in this most beautiful part of our great state, to learn from and work with amazing people in Gillespie County. Not every small town has a full roster of leaders, but Fredericksburg has leaders in spades. I try to learn from them all.
I’m thankful for the long-timers and newcomers here, who provide the tradition and the new ideas, respectively. This mix helps make this community better.
I’m grateful for our freedoms and that I am able to exercise the First Amendment that was part of the genius of our founding fathers. I’m especially thankful to those who have deployed around the world to protect it and our way of life.
And I’m thankful for Willie Nelson, Robert Earl Keen, and for all artists musical, visual or culinary, who enrich our lives.
And I’m grateful for a God who is as giving as he is forgiving.
Our world is never without its problems, and neither is our country. But we are the most fortunate people in history to live here.
I’ll accept Leonard’s challenge to carry this gratitude with me throughout the year. And I’ll keep Pastor George’s words top of mind to look past the fear of our challenges and be thankful and secure.
Blessings to each of you this Thanksgiving week. And thank you.
