GAZETTE-MAIL METRO PUTNAM
November 21, 2007
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BY Shelby Young GAZETTE-MAIL METRO PUTNAM November 21, 2007 |
The Rev. Dr. Melissa L. Pratt, pastor of Teays Valley Church of God, was the keynote speaker for the 13th Annual Putnam County Thanksgiving Dinner at the Sleepy Hollow Golf Club on Nov. 13.
West Virginia's only living Medal of Honor recipient, Woody Williams, also was recognized, as all other veterans were presented and honored by Putnam County Chamber of Commerce President Marty Chapman.
Williams retired from the U.S. Marine Corps with the rank of Chief Warrant Officer 4 and is widely recognized as one of our nation's authentic heroes.
Pratt and her family moved to Putnam County from Cincinnati last February, and she told the crowd she was pleased by the warm welcome they have received.
She said she was glad that there is actually a holiday that provides an opportunity to stop and focus on giving thanks.
"I believe if we pause to think, we'll have cause to thank," she said.
But Pratt believes that being thankful and showing our gratitude is somewhat of a lost courtesy.
"We are much like the little boy who was given an orange by a man," she said. "The boy's mother asked, 'What do you say to the nice man?' The little boy thought and handed the orange back and said, 'Peel it.'"
"The key thought I want to focus on comes from the Bible and it simply says, 'I thank my God every time I remember you.' In Philippians 1:3, the Apostle Paul was speaking about people in the Philippian church that had helped him and partnered with him on his particular mission. He was thankful for them. They were literally enabling his ministry," Pratt explained.
She talked to the dinner crowd about being thankful for people who have invested in them and inspired them.
"Whether it was a pastor, priest or teacher, a friend or coach, a boss, baby-sitter, neighbor or relative, I venture to say that each of you has several people that you could say, have 'raised you up'," Pratt said. "You are better because they have come into your life. This Thanksgiving season, I encourage you to express your gratitude to those who have given something to you that has built you up as a person."
She pointed out that during the course of history some great things have happened that might not have taken place without some person who was willing to blaze a new trail.
"I am thankful for those people. They have raised us all up, enabling us to be who we are as a nation," she said.
She noted that during the first winter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony's settlement at Plymouth, the Pilgrims were in bad shape.
"They had no food. They didn't know how to hunt. They seemed doomed," she said. "Had it not been for an Indian named Squanto, who taught them how to hunt and fish and in the spring raise crops, the Pilgrims would never have made it.
"There are people who have gone before us whose lives and sacrifices have paved our way. They have built foundations that we are building upon. We need to be thankful as Americans for all who have blazed history's trails in order to secure our freedom."
She noted that there are those whom we know personally who have inspired us to new heights by their example, their influence or their investment in us.
Pratt recalled her parents "who raised me to know and love God. They raised me to value hard work and honesty."
She said they raised her to think and speak well of others.
They recognized musical and dramatic gifts that she possessed and took her to lessons to develop her skills.
"They raised me up and I am who I am today largely because of their influence. I am thankful for them," Pratt told the audience. "They gave me faith and positive experiences.
"I am grateful for a principal who attended my fifth-grade choir concert. I was given the privilege of singing 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' all by myself.
"Knees knocking, I went out on that stage and sang my guts out.
"The next day, I received an unbelievable personal letter from my principal that was so much more than 'You did a nice job!'
"It was the kind of compliment and encouragement that I framed and still have today. After reading that, I believed I was a singer.
"I am thankful for that principal. He gave me confidence," she said.
She mentioned her high school music teacher, with whom she remains in contact today.
Pratt noted that "he gave me private voice lessons once a week after school and in one of our talks, he said to me, 'You know why I can work with you and see progress? Because you are coachable." I have never forgotten that talk. I am thankful for him. His lectures gave me life lessons."
Pratt said her best friend, a dentist who practices in New Boston, Ohio, gives her courage for which she is thankful.
Pratt said she is thankful, too, for her husband, Thom, whom she termed "amazing."
"He is steady, patient and wants to me to succeed at whatever I feel called to do," she noted. "He has taken a back seat many times in order to see me fulfill my God-given destiny. He is my biggest cheerleader. I am thankful for him. He gives me strength."
She said she is also thankful for her parishioners' encouragement.
Pratt noted that Alex Haley, the author of "Roots," had an unusual picture hanging on his office wall.
It was a picture of a turtle on top of a fence post. When asked, "Why is that there?", Haley answered, "Every time I write something significant, every time I read my words and think that they are wonderful, and begin to feel proud of myself, I look at the turtle on top of the fence post and remember that he didn't get there on his own. He had help."
"Who helped get you where you are today? Who can you say you are thankful for?" Pratt asked the Thanksgiving dinner attendees. "When it comes to thinking about special people you are thankful for, I want to challenge you to do three things. I'll call them the ABC's of Thanksgiving.
"Appreciate those who have helped you.
"In her book, 'Hidden Powers of the Heart,' Sara Paddison said, 'The word 'appreciation' means to be thankful and express admiration, approval, or gratitude. It also means to grow or appreciate in value. As you appreciate life, you become more valuable - both to yourself and others."
"Mother Theresa said, There is more hunger for love and appreciation in this world than for bread.' Why withhold it? You know how much you have benefited from others building you up; why not reciprocate and build them up in return by expressing your appreciation?
"In the book 'A Window on the Mountain,' Winston Pierce tells of his high school class reunion. A group of the old classmates were reminiscing about things and persons they were grateful for.
"One man mentioned that he was particularly thankful for Mrs. Wendt, for she more than anyone had introduced him to Tennyson and the beauty of poetry. Acting on a suggestion, the man wrote a letter of appreciation to Mrs. Wendt and addressed it to the high school. The note was forwarded and eventually found the old teacher.
"About a month later, the man received a response. It was written in a feeble longhand and read as follows: 'My dear Willie, I can't tell you how much your letter meant to me. I am now in my nineties, living alone in a small room, cooking my own meals, lonely, and like the last leaf of fall lingering behind. You will be interested to know that I taught school for 40 years, and yours is the first letter of appreciation I ever received. It came on a blue, cold morning and it cheered me as* nothing has for years. Willie, you have made my day.'
"How sad that an impressive teacher who had poured her life into hundreds of students for 40 years had to wait until the end of her life to hear some words of appreciation."
Pratt mentioned that the apostle Paul, in the book of Romans, wrote an appreciation note for two people that countless people have now read about, Priscilla and Aquila.
"When someone has impacted bur lives, why not let them know?" Pratt asked. "I have written such appreciation letters, and it is a blessing to be an instrument that provides encouragement, delight and satisfaction to people who have poured their lives out for others.
"I have also, on occasion, been the recipient of such a letter, and it inspires me to continue to invest in others."
She encouraged her listeners to "brag on those who have made a positive impact on your life to others."
No matter what accomplishments you make, remember somebody helped you, she said.
Tell someone else what a mentor has done for you, she suggested, adding that "you extend that appreciation for what someone has done when you talk about it with others.
I called my husband's workplace last week rather than calling his cell phone, and the gal who answered said, 'It's nice to talk to you. Thorn talks about how wonderful you are all of the time.'
"Talk about making my day! To have my husband appreciate me by bragging on me to others is such a boost to me.
"It lets me know that what he tells me in person is genuine. He really thinks I am great. Knowing that he had bragged on me to someone else caused my love and respect for him to go deeper for him in that moment, giving me another reason to appreciate him in return^*
She also urged those in attendance to "concern your life with raising others up, and, one day, you'll be someone that someone else is thankful for.
"Each of us has something to give that is of value to someone else. It might be a smile, some advice, some help with something tangible, some kind word or compliment, but each of us has something to contribute when it comes to raising others up.
"Fifty-one years ago, on June 18, 1956, a freak accident happened on a lake in New York. A speeding motor-boat bounced on a wave and shot into the water two of its passengers, a 50-year old man and a little girl. To keep her from drowning, the man held her head above water while the boat circled back. They rescued the girl. But the man sank and drowned.
"That's how Dawson Trotman died, the founder of the Navigators, an international Christian discipleship ministry. According to a quote in Time Magazine, 'He lived to save others. His death was just the way he would have planned it.'
"I read somewhere that his obituary reads like this: 'Dawson Trotman, always lifting someone up.'"
Pratt noted that few athletes have had more fans than American sports' superstar Michael Jordan. Yet when a reporter asked him why he liked his dad to attend his games, Jordan replied, "When he's there, I know I've at least one fan!" "Everybody needs encouragement, right?"
She said she read about a university football coach in the United States who each year would privately talk to a new player at the beginning of the football season.
"He told him, 'I'm very impressed with your ability. If you work really hard this year, I think you're good enough to make it to the National Football League,'" she said. "He told this to every player on the team! You know what happened? He had the highest percentage of players of any university to make it into professional football. We all need someone to believe in us and spur us on.
"When we raise people up, we give them perspective," Pratt said. "They see obstacles as opportunities, mountains as motivators and stumbling blocks as stepping stones.
"Who are you raising up?" she asked. "Thinking again through our ABC's. Who are you thankful for? How can you express your appreciation? Who could benefit from your story as you brag on how someone else has raised you up? Who can you concern your life with right now in order to help them go higher, run faster and be better than they have ever been before?
"The truth is, giving thanks, thanksgiving makes us all better. We increase the value of those around us and we all increase in value when we raise others up."
Following her graduation from Anderson University in Anderson, Ind., Pratt served several years as a special assignment missionary on the island of Cyprus where she worked as a school teacher and a music director for a large church.
She received her master's degree from Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Ky. Her doctorate is in music and worship.
Her husband, the Rev. Thom Pratt, is a certified counselor and also specializes as a coach and mentor for pastors.
The countywide Thanksgiving dinner is the one service which brings a large cross-section of the Putnam County community together. It started in 1995 when Rotary, Kiwanis and Lions clubs joined with the Chamber of Commerce to invite all the citizens of the county to join together for this special annual Thanksgiving luncheon.