You know, this is my favorite time of the year! From now until Christmas just makes me feel good. Thanksgiving has always been a time for family, friends, food, fellowship and thankfulness.

When I start making my list of people and things I am thankful for, the first thing on the list is the fact that Jesus died for MY sins and the third day he arose from the dead and now he sits to the right of God Almighty and is preparing a place for me! Yes, me! That’s a miracle! For those of you who are close to me, you know it’s a miracle and you know I still mess up but thank goodness I am forgiven.

I could stop right there but there is so much more. I have a wonderful wife who loves me unconditionally, two fine young men that are my sons that truly are my friends, two daughters-in-law that I could not have picked myself and done any better, and then last but not least, four grandchildren who all make me smile.

I have also been blessed with friends. When I was mayor, I had lots and lots of friends but after retiring from mayor, it honed down to the “you can count your true friends on one hand.” I may can get on the second hand a little bit but what I have found is that sometimes fewer are better. I certainly do consider my friends as a blessing.

I have been blessed with a good community. It’s hard to explain Dublin and its people if you don’t know it. I have always said, “Dublin will give you back three times what you give it.” It’s true. There are a lot of good people in Dublin, GA. Dublin and those people have been more than good to my family and me. We all live here and that is a blessing to me.

I have been blessed to enjoy what I do. I hate even to call it “work.” I have the opportunity every day to learn more about each member of my work family and business associates. I truly believe God has put all these people in my life for a reason. Whether it be Premier Properties, Garbutt Construction or others that I work with daily, it’s just fun! We are put here to help other people solve problems and these companies provide me with that opportunity.

I am blessed to be part of a wonderful church community. We have two great Pastors, great staff and people who truly care about the Lord, and it shows outside the walls of the church building. From what I’ve heard, that’s where it is most important to show.

This isn’t all about me. I think I could go on with many more things I’m thankful for, but you could do the same.

Why don’t we spend this Thanksgiving thinking about our many, many blessings? And I can’t help but believe that if we do, we will have less time or desire to think about the negative and more about the positive.

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours.

Phil Best, Sr.