Thanksgiving, at its heart, was created for one purpose. To thank God for His blessings.

The Pilgrims knew hardship well. They had survived disease, starvation, harsh winters, and the loss of loved ones. When the harvest finally came in, they stopped long enough to give thanks to God for His mercy and His provision.

That spirit followed generations of Americans all the way to small towns like Ashdown, Arkansas, where I was born and raised. In the 60s and 70s, families there ...

My sister and I always looked for the caboose. That unmistakable red car at the rear of the train that held the men who always waved to us. We were drawn to the caboose because it seemed like the ultimate playhouse.

The train itself looked almost desolate. It headed down the tracks on its way to a destination unknown to us. But then the caboose appeared. The man in the window and the man in the raised lookout on top. What ...

There’s a scene in The Grapes of Wrath when two children ask for candy in a store and it costs more than the grandfather has. The candy canes were a nickel apiece, but the clerk sells them two-for-a-penny. The penny was a symbol of kindness. During the life of our country, pennies have symbolized a lot of things.

The U.S. Mint is ceasing production of the penny. It now costs more than one cent to make it. The coins are mostly ...