Thanksgiving is much more than a big meal with family and friends. It's a time to reflect on, and be thankful for, all of the good things you have. Even with all of the uncertainty and turmoil in the world, you have so much to be thankful for. It's important to be grateful, not just on Thanksgiving, but each and every day. Rather than lamenting what you feel is lacking in your life, begin each new day by developing an attitude of gratitude. Take inventory of your blessings and you will be surprised at just how much you have to be thankful for.

If you have enough to eat, a place to live, a way to get around, people who care about you, or people you care about, then you are wealthy. If you lack any of these elements, you must still be grateful for what you do have, while striving to obtain whatever is absent.

Mortgage Financial Group, Inc., of Franklin, sponsored an essay contest last week at Trimont Christian Academy focusing on “Thankfulness.” First place went to Rose Tallent, a 5th grade student for her essay on “Trusting God.” She will receive free pizza from Papa’s Pizza for one year.

Second Place went to Canaan Drake, a 4th grade student for her essay on “Thankfulness.” She received a $50 Wal-Mart Gift Card.

The staff at Mortgage Financial Group would like to congratulate the winners and thank each student who participated as well as the judges, teachers and administration for helping us provide this opportunity to the community.

You know about Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when people line up outside the big department stores and discount stores in the middle of the night to buy cheap Christmas presents. Black Friday is a big day for retailers, but I don't think it's nearly as important as Small Business Saturday.

That's because small business is the heart and soul of our economy.

Small Business Saturday is about Main Street, not Wall Street. It’s about the entrepreneurs and families who have put everything into stores that offer what the chains and ecommerce companies don’t – something different, something special, from handcrafted gifts to genuinely friendly service.

The young boy was having a hard way to go as he played his father in foosball. Finally, the lad exclaimed, "That's not fair!" Apparently, he expected to face an equally skilled opponent and the fact that his father had game experience as well as superior hand and eye coordination, constituted an "unfair" advantage.

The boy's definition of “fair” is not all that uncommon and that's part of the reason I limit my use of the word. Fairness and equality are elusive and elastic concepts, often times meaning quite different things to different people. Our national identity is framed by the words in the Declaration of Independence that states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal ...” It's well and good to claim that equality is “self-evident” because you would be hard pressed to actually prove it. Also, at the time Thomas Jefferson penned those words, I don't think he was thinking about slaves and Native Americans, let alone the other half of the population – women.