There is a scene from the old Disney movie, Pollyanna. Pollyanna, you may recall was the little girl who comes to live with her rich aunt. She gets everyone agitated by playing what she called the, "Glad Game." Simply put, the game goes like this: you try and find something to be glad about in every situation, even the hard ones.

She learned it from her missionary father. Once when they received a barrel of things sent by a local church, they were disappointed to see that someone had sent a pair of crutches instead of something more useful (like a doll, Pollyanna thought).

When her dad reminded her about the Glad Game, Pollyanna piped up and said, "Oh I know, let�s be glad that we don�t �need� the crutches!"

This Thanksgiving I suppose we could focus on the economic woes we are facing. I suppose we could get all stressed out trying to figure out how we might be affected if the markets keep falling. Or, we could do something totally unexpected. We could give thanks.

My Canadian wife taught our kids another game, called "I Spy." (A great diversionary tactic during long car trips in between episodes of car sickness.) One child says, "I spy with my little eye . . ." and then describes the object without naming it. The other child had to guess what the first one is describing.

Here�s one. "I spy with my little eye . . . three people who prove to me that God is good and gives us more than we could ever deserve. One says "Eh" a lot and the other two make the sun come up for me." Guess? You got it: My wife Judy, my daughter Hannah and my son Peter.

Here is another. "I spy with my little eye . . . something made of cloth. It is red, white, and blue. It has stars on it and stripes too." You nailed it again. Yes, it is the flag of our country. Every time I see it, I am reminded that we live in the most amazing place on earth. Even in the depths of a depression, we still have the freedom to work our way out of it.

Okay, one more:

"I spy with my little eye . . . something horrible. It�s a cross. A man is impaled on it, slowly suffocating to death. He is nude. His tormentors are hurling insults at him. His mother is standing helplessly by watching. Yes that�s right, it�s Jesus and He went through that horrible experience so that we could be saved from an eternal Hell.

Forgive me for being a bit of a "Pollyanna." However, I sure am "glad" that He did it and because He did, I get to live forever. Why, it�s enough to make a person thankful. Happy Thanksgiving.