By Susan Shinn
Salisbury Post
Even in times of uncertainty, there is much for which to be thankful.
Alice Perry listed a multitude of reasons that her co-workers should have an “attitude of gratitude” Wednesday morning at F&M Bank’s annual Thanksgiving breakfast.
Perry is employed at F&M’s North Main Street branch. She’s also an associate minister at Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church Boyden Quarter in Mount Ulla.
Perry said that she was thankful and honored to speak to some 50 of her co-workers ó and nervous.
Perry opened her remarks with two thought-provoking questions: “How can we be thankful in a time like this?” and “How deep is your gratitude?”
Thanksgiving, Perry noted, is “more than just a holiday, more than turkey and gravy, more than family and friends.”
Yes, there is much to worry about these days, she said ó taxes, debt, the stock market, our jobs and more.
But Perry reminded her co-workers of the story of Job, and how he lost everything to his enemies.
“Talk about having a bad day!” Perry said.
Yet Job still worshiped God.
“We still have a lot to be thankful for,” Perry said. “The more we trust in God and hold onto our faith, even in difficult times, being perpetual in Thanksgiving … God will eventually turn our situations around and restore us to more than we had before ó just like he did Job!”
It’s easy for us to praise God and give him thanks when all is going well, Perry said, but when things change, we ask God, “Where are you?”
“And God’s response to us, I have been here all the time!”
“For those of us who have a relationship with God, we must stay focused and steadfast in our faith,” Perry said, no matter what season of our lives we find ourselves.
Perry then repeated one of her opening questions, “What do you have to be thankful for in times like these?”
She guessed that she’d be 100 percent accurate if she answered for her co-workers, by saying, “for life, for love, for hope, for family, for friends, for co-workers, for a new day, another chance, for food, for health, for strength, for the blessings too numerous to count.”
Perry closed by saying, “Remember this: Thanksgiving is not just saying thank you with our lips, but saying thank you with our lives, by honoring God through serving our fellow man.
“So if God blesses you like he did Job with plenty, just remember there are still some folks out there who don’t have any.”