During this particular year, in this particular season, I am most thankful for the opportunity to serve.

I am so proud to say that my wife coordinates the Chickasha Community Thanksgiving Dinner, which will feed close to 500 people again this year.  It is such a joy to serve alongside her, our friends, church members and fellow volunteers.  With only a relatively small amount of work (on my part anyway, since Ashley does most all the coordination) and a relatively small amount of money we are able to make an impact on so many.  This particular event I find particularly encouraging because I see so many churches, businesses and people come together behind the cause, as no single organization takes credit.  We simply call it the Community Thanksgiving Dinner.

I am proud to serve the employees at HSI. I sincerely love the business and the people that make it a success.  During this season, we pay a portion of our profits out as bonuses.  The joy and excitement that come along with this even are always a highlight of the year.  But my dedication and love of serving this particular group goes way beyond just success sharing.  It happens on a daily basis.  Then what really excites me is getting to see employees accomplish things beyond what they thought possible.  Some of my favorite conversations are those in which we reflect on the progress people have made or when they ask me what I have in mind for them next, as if to say “I conquered the last challenge, now onto the next.”  Business success is one thing to be proud of, but being part of a business that helps make better, more successful people is a greater level of achievement.

I am proud to be a friend.  I am so fortunate to have a network of friends that build me up and I draw strength from every time we get together for lunch or coffee.  I am truly grateful for those moments when I can return the favor and provide some strength back to them.

I am thankful for the opportunity to serve my family.  Being in a family business provides a unique chance for me to contribute to our family’s legacy through my work.  Still the greatest joy is to serve my immediate family.  I think if parenting doesn’t feel like service, you may be doing it wrong.  This doesn’t mean I cater to their whims, but it does mean that they receive my attention and focus.  They do demand my thoughts and answers to their questions about life.  I think often about their growth and development as high character people.  Investing this time, effort and dedication to them does take away from other things I may selfishly prefer to do, which causes me to place it in the category of service.  I feel the same about my spouse who also invests so much into the care of our children.  She also puts an immense amount of thought and effort into taking care of me.  How unfair if I were to think of everyone else, but not her.  She deserves to get the best from me and not what is left.  They are also the first three people on the list when I think of who I need to invest in today.  They are also the only three people that make the list every single day.  Serving my family comes very easily since it is done out of love.

Going through this year, which has been the one in which I have probably thought more about others and the lived out concept of service more than any other in my life has also been the most rewarding.  Sometimes it was the hardest.  Maybe not the most tiring since my kids are 6 and 4, which means they sleep through the night unlike when they were newborns.  Sometimes the most mentally trying, but still the most rewarding.