I continue with a brief look at one way you can get into proper perspective the matters in your life through brief reflections on Psalm 23.

Verse 5 states, "You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings."

This coming Thursday is Thanksgiving Day. It is a time that many will gather as family and friends to enjoy a meal together, remembering the goodness and generosity of God.

When someone invites you to their home for dinner, what is one of your inner reactions? Usually, in my case, it is one of feeling honored for being invited. The invitation means the host is opening their home, their private space, and letting you in. It says the host feels you are worth their special attention and is willing to go out of their way to prepare a special meal, and to spend some special time with you.

And it doesn’t matter to them who may, or may not be at odds with you, or the frustrations you might be dealing with. The invitation is a way of saying, “You matter to me. Let me take care of you for a little while.”

God does the same thing. To him it doesn’t matter who your enemies might be — whether they be real persons or difficult situations with which you are dealing.

God shows his love for you in the face of those challenges and frustrations. He shows you honor by setting aside those matters and caring for you as though you were the only one at the moment for him to care for.

He blesses you by giving you exactly what you need when you need it. You simply need to open your eyes to recognize just how much he does care and provide for you.

God blesses you in so many, many ways. As Thanksgiving Day approaches, open your mind and heart to reflect on the ways God has blessed you.

You will discover that there may have been a few “large” blessings. But you will also come to realize there were countless “small” blessings that have filled your life but may have gone completely unnoticed.

Give thanks with a grateful heart!

The Rev. Mark Broadhead is pastor at Laurel Hill Presbyterian Church and First Presbyterian Church of Crestview.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: God blesses you in large and small ways

To help achieve your long-term goals, such as a comfortable retirement, you should save and invest regularly. But that’s only part of the picture. You also need to protect your financial assets in various ways.

One such method is guarding your personal information — especially any information that could be linked to your financial accounts. It’s obviously important to be vigilant at any time, but you need to be even more on your toes during the holiday season, when fraudsters are particularly active.

To help keep your important data under wraps during the holidays, consider these suggestions:

•Extend your protection to all mobile devices. Identity thieves can now compromise your mobile devices by installing spyware that steals usernames, passwords and credit card information. Fortunately, you can fight back. By doing a little research online, you can find the best mobile security software for your needs.

•Use multiple passwords. Online security specialists recommend that you use different passwords for each new online shopping site you visit during the holiday season. Although this might seem like a hassle, it can be helpful, because even if identity thieves were to grab one of your new passwords, they still couldn’t use it for other sites you may visit. And you can even find a free online program that can help you keep track of all your passwords.

•Be suspicious of “huge savings.” It happens every holiday season — identity thieves develop fake sites with attractive graphics and stunningly low prices on a variety of items, especially digital devices. If you fall for these pitches, you won’t get any merchandise, but you might get a handful of headaches once the bad guys have your credit card number and other personal information. To prevent this, be wary of any deal that sounds too good to be true, and do some digging on the websites that offer these mega-savings.

•Watch for fake shipping notices. During the holidays, when you may do a lot of online shopping, you will probably receive some legitimate shipping notices. But the bad guys have gotten pretty good at generating fake notices designed to resemble those from UPS, FedEx and even the U.S. Postal Service. If you were to click on the link provided by one of these bogus notices, you could either take on some malware or get taken to a “phishing” website created by the shipping notice forgers. Your best defense: Only shop with legitimate merchants and only use the tracking numbers given to you in the email you received immediately after making your purchases.

•Keep your Social Security number to yourself. As a general rule, don’t give out your Social Security number online — to anyone. No legitimate retailer needs this number. Finally, be aware that not all attempts at stealing your personal information will come online. When you’re out shopping at old-fashioned, brick-and-mortar stores, consider bringing just one credit card with you — and protect that card from prying eyes.

By following these precautions, you should be able to greatly reduce the risk of being victimized by identity thieves and other miscreants. And the more comfortable you are in doing your holiday shopping, the more you can enjoy the season.

This article was written by Edward Jones on behalf of your Edward Jones financial adviser.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: During holidays, be extra vigilant about protecting financial data

Before I jump into the continuation of my look at Psalm 23, I wish to offer my heart-felt thanks to all veterans who have served our country, putting themselves in harm’s way in order to help keep America free and great. Thank you!

Verse 4 in Psalm 23 says this: "Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me."

Everyone has had times when they were afraid — military persons in times of battle, first responders in the midst of a crisis, people facing health issues and drastic changes in life.

Whether the fear was because of a real danger facing you, that of a friend, a time of deep loss, or great anguish over a dumb mistake that was made, dark times have been real.

These kinds of events are a part of life, unfortunately. But as you go through them, you can teach yourself to remember that God never leaves your side. He is beside you every step of the way. He guides you just as a loving and caring shepherd uses the shepherd’s crook to keep sheep in his charge safe.

The shepherd’s crook is used to pull a sheep from danger. It is used to nudge a sheep that may be stubborn, not paying attention, or wandering away from the flock.

God does the same with his sheep. When God nudges you, it is a reminder that he is watching over you. He neither slumbers nor sleeps. He never takes his eyes off you.

God provides his protection and his comfort. All you need do is remember he is there and you will feel his presence. You will feel his love. And you can then trust he will provide the right guidance to lead you out of any darkness that may try to surround you.

The Rev. Mark Broadhead is pastor at Laurel Hill Presbyterian Church and First Presbyterian Church of Crestview.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: God watches over us

Thanksgiving is almost here. Ideally, this day should be about more than football and the imminent arrival of Black Friday mega-sales. After all, the spirit of the holiday invites us to be grateful for what we have and for the presence of our loved ones.

But it's important to look beyond just one day in November if you want your family to take part in your "abundance."

If you want to ensure your financial resources eventually are shared in the way you envision, you will need to follow a detailed action plan, including these steps:

•Identify your assets. If you haven't done so already, it's a good idea to take an inventory of all your financial assets — your retirement accounts (401(k) and IRA), other investments, life insurance, real estate, collectibles and other items. Once you know exactly what you have, you can determine how you would like these assets distributed among your loved ones.

•Get professional help. To ensure your assets go to the right people, you will need to create some legal documents, such as a will and a living trust. The depth and complexity of these instruments will depend a great deal on your individual circumstances, but in any case, you certainly will need to consult with a legal professional because estate planning is not a "do-it-yourself" endeavor. You may also need to work with a tax professional and your financial advisor, as taxes and investments are key components of the legacy you hope to leave.

•Protect your financial independence. If your own financial resources were to become endangered, you clearly would have less to share with your loved ones, and if your financial independence were jeopardized, the result might be even worse — your adult children might be forced to use their own resources to help support you. Consequently, you will need to protect yourself, and your financial assets, in several ways. For one thing, you may want to work with your legal professional to create a power of attorney, which would enable someone — possibly a grown child — to make financial decisions for you, should you become incapacitated. Also, you may want to guard yourself against the devastating costs of long-term care, such as an extended nursing home stay. Medicare typically pays very little of these expenses, but a financial advisor may be able to suggest techniques or products that can help.

•Communicate your wishes. Once you have all your plans in place, you'll want to communicate them to your loved ones. By doing so, you'll be sparing your loved ones from unpleasant surprises when it's time to settle your estate.

And, second, by making your plans and wishes known to your family well in advance of when any action needs to be taken, you'll prepare your loved ones for the roles you wish them to assume, such as taking on power of attorney, serving as executor of your estate, and so on. And you'll also want to make sure your family is acquainted with the legal, tax and financial professionals you've chosen to help you with your estate plans.

Thanksgiving comes just once a year. Taking the steps described here can help ensure your family will share in your financial abundance as you intended.

This article was written by Edward Jones on behalf of your Edward Jones financial adviser.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: How to share your financial 'abundance' with your family