Thanksgiving is one of my favorite times of year! It is such a good thing to pause and be thankful for what we have. It is such a good thing to have time with family and friends as we celebrate the blessings in our life. It is without a doubt a good thing to pause and reflect on the good in our lives.

Why do we need a holiday for this? That is good question. I would like to say I live thankful, every single day, and I do, at least most days, sort of…

And there it is! Maybe we do need a holiday for this! I think we all get so caught up in getting through the day, or improving on the things that aren’t so good, or just living life that we often forget about what we do have. I am blessed beyond measure. As I think about those blessings, they are many, and maybe as you read, you can relate, or at least they will inspire your own voice to thankfulness!

I am blessed with belief in an Almighty God and Savior who died for me and cares about the very intricacies of my daily life and for that I am thankful.

I have been married to my beautiful wife for 25 years and she is a true friend, a partner, a woman who leads by serving, who challenges me and makes me better, who encourages me, and who still makes my heart skip a beat or two. I have 5 wonderful daughters. I love my girls and am so blessed by what they have become and are becoming. Each of them has a heart to serve, to help, and a heart of compassion for those around them.

I am thankful for the freedom I have experienced in this great country. I have been afforded the opportunity to get a great education. I have been blessed with the privilege to work from the time I was 15 and parents who taught me how to work. Sometimes those jobs were hard physical work. Some of them eventually inspired me to go to college. I’ve sanded UPS trucks in a body shop, worked on boats at a marina, built houses on a construction crew, assembled steel parts for a metal fabrication shop, worked at a hardware store, helped students in a computer lab, developed software, and coordinated software development projects. And, eventually I’ve been able to own a business, which in spite of and yet because of its challenges is a great privilege.

It is at that business, CTaccess, that I have been privileged to learn and am learning so much. Leading a business to succeed and grow is a journey. Learning to lead by serving, learning to build a team, learning to help people grow, and creating vision are all things I am still learning. And, I am blessed with a great team of people. Our team is truly extraordinary. Because we are in the technology business, everything is changing continuously. The CTaccess team is constantly working to learn the new stuff, recertify, improve, and be ready to help our customers with that new thing. We are working as a team to define new processes and procedures to help us excel at serving our customers. In addition, we communicate and work together to help each other and make each other better in way that improves the whole team.

No expression of thanks would be compete without saying thank you to the CTaccess customers. I am thankful for those of you, new and old, who have chosen to trust us to help you improve your people by providing better technology. Thank you for your trust. Thank you to those of you who have referred us to your friends or associates. Thank you for letting us into your corner of the world and helping us understand your business, and be a part of your growth and success. We value the people and friendships we have created in the process of doing business.

Finally, I want to say thank you for those of you in the community who serve the people who have not experienced the opportunity and blessing that I have. We are surrounded by such abundance, and yet some need our help and encouragement. Thank you for serving the homeless, the cast off, those who are in trouble, those who through their choices or through bad circumstance, or for simply need a helping hand for whatever reason. It is a blessing to help lift up those in need. Thank you for what you do every day to reach out in compassion and love.

Happy Thanksgiving! Thank you. I would love to hear a word or two of thanksgiving from you! What are you thankful for?