Thanksgiving is the great and uniquely American holiday in which we show our thanks for all our blessings. For America’s Future, it’s a time to re-confirm and recommit to what we stand for — faith, family, community, country, and our constitution. And that’s because Thanksgiving brings them all together.

Remember the core values that America’s Future promotes:

• To educate American citizens on the importance of the US Constitution, with a strong emphasis on individual liberty.
• To revitalize the role of faith, especially the Judeo-Christian values that our nation was founded upon.
• To build strong families, the core of strong communities, and emphasize the role of women and mothers, who are vital to the success of our republic.
• To commit to the virtues of industry and enterprise, especially small business, the engine of our economic system and a key part of the American Dream.
• To protect American Values and the ideals of American Exceptionalism.

So maybe you’re wondering, How does Thanksgiving embody all of those values? Well, first let’s remember what we’re commemorating on this holiday. The Pilgrims gathered to show gratitude to God for His grace and bounty, and the beautiful land that He led them to. Here our forefathers found not only God’s majesty in nature — our hills and mountains, streams and rivers, fields and forests, and the roots and herbs and game that gave them sustenance — but most importantly, the religious liberty denied them in England. That liberty is enshrined in our constitution, guaranteeing all of us freedom of religion and freedom of speech. We’re thankful for those early Americans, our forefathers, and grateful for their strong faith in Almighty God who landed them on these shores.

And, Thanksgiving reminds us we share in their great faith each day, but especially on Thanksgiving Day as we gather around the Thanksgiving table with our families and dearest friends. Take a quiet second to look around at the Thanksgiving table, from grandparents or even great-grandparents on down to the youngest member of the family, maybe a newborn, just home from the hospital. These are those you love most, the husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters who celebrate your greatest feats and support you when things get hard. We show our gratitude for them, especially for the women, the mothers who do our country’s hardest, most valuable, and most loving work — raising the strong families that surround and sustain us.

Other families in your neighborhood and town will be gathered the same way around the Thanksgiving table. You know them, these are your friends and neighbors who together make our communities vital and safe. The men and women in uniform who protect us, the carpenters and bricklayers who build our homes, the butchers and grocers who feed us, and all the rest of those men and women whose enterprise and industry makes Thanksgiving possible. On Thanksgiving Day, we are especially thankful for their work.

Millions of American families will sit at the Thanksgiving table, some better off than others. This year especially, we pray for those in need, those who are out of work, or ill, or separated from those they love most. Their trials are ours, too, for as members of one great family from sea to shining sea, we share together our disappointments and losses as well as our victories and joys. For we are an exceptional nation, an exceptional people. And that’s because our country was founded on the idea that all men are created equal. We are all made in the image of God. So on Thanksgiving we give thanks that we are blessed to be part of this extraordinary family, our exceptional nation.

We thank America, our communities, our families, and God. And America’s Future wishes you and all of your loved ones a very wonderful Thanksgiving.