Thankful

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving here in the United States and I certainly have a lot to be thankful for. I have a home and a job and enough to eat and I am healthy and I have wonderful friends and extended family.

I am especially thankful that I am safe and secure and loved in my own home. I am not afraid of what may happen when I walk through my door - or when my husband walks through the door. I look forward to seeing him and sharing our day every day. He is an amazing and wonderful individual and I am thankful to God each and every day for the gift of having him in my life.

But - I know this security and safety and love at home is not true for far to many people in the US - and around the world.

On November 25, many around the world observed the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. It also marked the beginning of the United Nations’ Sixteen Days of Activism Campaign Against Gender Based Violence. The campaign which culminates with International Human Rights Day on December 10, 2008.

This lack of being safe and secure and loved takes many forms for many around the world -- whether domestic abuse, sexual assault, sex trafficking, harmful cultural practices, or abuse in the context of war and conflict.

So as I am being thankful for my home and family and my wonderful husband, I remember those who are not so safe, and I join with the rest of our world to do what I can to make a difference for them where I can and when I can.