This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon (Les AuCoin), as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.  I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

This is a good day – there are others, too – to avoid getting into the mud of today’s form of politics in this country.

Better to remember why I am thankful this year as we celebrate one of the best holidays of the year, Thanksgiving.

My wife read this from “Jesus Calling” this morning and it is a “just right” reflection on Thanksgiving:

“As you sit quietly in my presence (God’s presence), let me fill your heart and mind with thankfulness.  

“If your mind needs a focal point, gaze at God’s love poured out to you on the cross.  Remember that nothing in heaven or on earth can separate you from that Love.  This remembrance builds a foundation of gratitude in you, a foundation that circumstances cannot shake.

“As you go through this day, look for tiny treasures strategically placed along the way.  God lovingly goes before you and plants little pleasures to brighten your day.

“Look carefully for them and pluck them one by one.  When you reach the end of the day, you will have gathered a lovely bouquet.  Offer it up to God with a grateful heart.”

So, with those thoughts, I head toward one of my favorite tactics, which is to create a Top 10 List, this time of my reasons to be thankful.

1. My wife, Nancy, who is still with us this year despite having a heart procedure last month, which I add, saved her life.

• Just in advance of that in October, celebrating Nancy’s and my 50-year anniversary on an overseas trip that started with four great days in Santorini, Greece.  Hard to believe where all the time has gone.

• Watching our two kids, Eric and Lissy, continue to grow up to be responsible adults.

• Watching our three grandchildren head into their final years of high school before heading off to college – and know that they have great opportunities for higher education based on their abilities and skills.

• Reflecting on the fact that I have many friends in our main home in Salem, including those who tolerate me on the golf course.

• Reflecting on the fact I also have a great group of golfing friends here in La Quinta where we are fortunate to spend our winters.

• Remembering 15 good years in leadership at Salem Alliance Church in Salem, Oregon, our home church which emphasizes a relationship with Christ while studiously avoiding involvement in politics – a good thing when so much of what comes across as Christendom today focuses on right wing, “white only” stupidity.

• Treasuring my relationship with the senior pastor at Salem Alliance when I served on the Governing Board of Elders.  His name — Morris Dirks and he and I became brothers as we allowed God to work through us in the church.

• Treasuring a group of men at my home golf course, Illahe Hills Golf and Country Club in Salem who meet every Friday to study God’s word.  Through this experience, which is based on Links Players National, an organization that promotes God and golf, I have learned that more folks at Illahe than I knew value a relationship with God.

1. And, treasuring my own relationship with God, which is based on what God has done for me – his grace — not on my performance to earn his approval.

I’ll stop at 10, though I could add many more.

So, focus today – and perhaps every day – on what you have to be thankful for, including what may be relatively small things in life that add up to bigger things.