By Steve Hunley

The time between the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays should be cause for reflection. Certainly, both are wonderful occasions where we celebrate with our family and cherished friends. It also ought to be a time where we reflect upon and think about other things as well. For instance, those family members and dear friends who are gone, yet with us still through our most treasured memories. It is also a time to truly think about the many things each of us have to be thankful for in our lives.

I realize it isn’t politically correct or even popular in many circles to mention God, but for those of us who firmly and deeply believe in the Almighty, we should offer up our thanks for Jesus still remains “the reason for the Season.” All of us have something to thank our Lord for and there’s no better time to do so than the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas. We should offer thanks for our successes and yes, for some of our failures that have taught us a valuable lesson. We should offer up thanks for the health we enjoy and pray earnestly for those of our loved ones not in good health to improve. We should thank the Lord for those small things that brings us happiness daily, irrespective of how tiny they may be. We should thank God for each and every gift He has bestowed upon us throughout our lives and this year.

I have offered up my own thanks for my family, my dear little dog, Opie, my coworkers and my personal friends. I am so thankful for all I’ve been given in this life and don’t want to take a thing for granted. I want each of our readers to know how thankful I am for YOU, because without you The Focus would be nothing. Whatever success The Focus has enjoyed is due to the many folks who read this paper weekly. I am grateful to the writers who fill our pages and hope the things contained in The Focus have brought you some measure of happiness and pleasure.

I pray that each of you will be surrounded by loved ones during this Holiday Season, have good food and friends to enjoy, and that the fire in the hearth will warm you in all the days that are to come. I hope that we all remember the best gifts are not those that are wrapped in bright packages under our trees, but are the things that make life worth living.

Every person here at The Focus joins me in wishing you the merriest of Christmases. Most of all, I pray that God will pour out his blessings upon you and your family. Thank you for all you have given The Knoxville Focus.