Blog Archives
Thanksgiving and Gratitude
For 20.5 years I’ve been writing news columns and sharing them each Sunday night under the name JenREESources. It was a play on my name and Deanna Peshek, the Clay County Office manager at the time, helped me develop the creative branding.
Several have asked what I’m going to do with my name with my recent marriage. My email and blog will come from Jenny Brhel and the branding as JenResources (but my website url will remain the same). I’m truly honored and humbled with all the information available that there are people who choose to read what I write!
Gratitude: With Thanksgiving this week, I just find myself extra grateful for the blessings God has given me in life. Some of those blessings are my new husband Brian, our families, and all the people who have spoken into our lives and walked alongside of us. We all go through brokenness of some type at some point in our lives. I’m grateful to God for all He brought me from, through, and to where I am today, for the healing, for the flourishing.
Those of you who’ve read my column for awhile know that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, yet I’ve seen the importance and seek to live with gratitude, albeit imperfectly. I wasn’t too grateful for a difficult situation this past year and had to dig deep to find some gratitude in it, but there is always something if we allow ourselves to choose a different mindset. As I talk with and walk alongside of people, it seems like there’s increasing fear, anxiety, stress. For encouragement, Fear and Anxiety can’t succeed in the midst of Gratitude. Gratitude produces Joy! Taking time to write or say aloud something you’re thankful for in the midst of fear or anxiety is a great way to change one’s mindset! So, this Thanksgiving, no matter how difficult the circumstances, may we seek to find Gratitude in the many ways we are blessed. May we then seek to live with gratitude and joy in our lives no matter the difficulties we each face!
Thanksgiving Food Safety: Interesting fact, the day after Thanksgiving is the biggest food borne-illness day of the year. Nebraska Extension continues to do their part to help our clientele remain heathy and have good food safety practices. The following are from Extension Educator Cindy Brison and our Food Safety Team. We also have this information available in Spanish.
One of the most frequently asked questions around Thanksgiving is “How do I thaw a frozen turkey?”…including on Thanksgiving morning! The answer to this question is an important step in meal prep for food safety. Unsafe handling and undercooking the turkey can cause foodborne illness. For information on thawing your turkey and more: https://food.unl.edu/how-thaw-turkey
Do not wash or rinse your raw turkey! Avoid washing or rinsing a turkey (or any eggs, meat or poultry products for that matter) before cooking. Juices can transfer bacteria onto kitchen surfaces, other foods and utensils. If you must wash or rinse your turkey because of brining or other marinating processes, be sure to thoroughly clean and then sanitize all kitchen surfaces to eliminate the risk of cross-contamination. For more safety tips: https://go.unl.edu/washingturkey
Reminder: Cash Lease Workshop in York from 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. (no charge and meal included thanks to Farmer’s National) on Dec. 3 at the 4-H Bldg. in York. RSVP: 402-362-5508.
Also Dr. Kohl is at the Bruning Opera House at 1 p.m. on Dec. 3 (no charge).
Sharing as one of my favorite songs-Have a blessed Thanksgiving!
Gratitude and Thanksgiving 2023
Gratitude and Thanksgiving: What a beautiful fall! It’s been a few years since I remember having the fall colors or the length of beautiful weather we’ve had this year. Grateful also for a little rain this weekend.
This past week was our Extension Fall Conference where we got to spend time with colleagues across the state. I walked in the door and was kindly told about Paul Hay’s (Extension Educator emeritus in Gage County) unexpected passing. It was a shock for many of us that day, yet also so fitting that we could be together with Extension colleagues to share memories with each other through laughter and tears. I’m so grateful for the talented new colleagues who’ve joined us. Throughout the conference we kept stressing how much Extension is like a big family. I’m grateful for that as well. It’s genuinely hard to be an Extension professional and not care about people. As I sat today at Paul’s funeral with numerous pews full of current and former Extension employees, I found myself once again grateful for my Extension family. I was also grateful to celebrate a life well lived. Anyone who was fortunate to know Paul knew he was legendary and such a gift to us all!
I’m also grateful for all the farm families I’ve had the opportunity to serve and the relationships built through the years with them and ag business professionals. So often this past year when I’ve been frustrated with work things, one thing that helped me stay encouraged was gratitude to work with great colleagues and serve great people!
I think many of us are grateful for the end of this growing season! During harvest I was telling everyone that “every field harvested is one field closer to being done with the end of this year!” Perhaps that was a bad attitude to have; I think it’s honestly where many of us were. I’ve never experienced anything like this past year, nor honestly, been so wrong about crops in my life (regarding how long the drought-stressed corn survived vs. me thinking it should have died). But I learned a lot and thank you for being patient and gracious with me in this journey.
This year has most likely held highs and lows for all of us. Whether we’re currently on the mountain top or valley in life, we have so much for which to be grateful! Gratitude can produce joy even when we don’t feel very joyful. I can honestly say there’s times this year when I didn’t feel joyful and had to really dig deep to choose gratitude and joy. But choosing gratitude can allow us to find joy in everyday moments and also share joy with others. I think joy is something we all could use more of!
So, may we experience more joy in the everyday moments as we intentionally seek to live with gratitude. And, may we extend this joy via kindness, grace, compassion to others around us. As I was reminded again today that life is so short, may we also seek to live each day to the fullest. May we tell people how they’ve impacted us for good and thank them. May we tell people how much we care about them. Wishing everyone a very blessed Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving Food Preparation Tips and Resources: https://food.unl.edu/article/thanksgiving-central.
So You’ve Inherited a Farm…Now What? Reminder of this upcoming workshop November 30th from 1-4 p.m. at Cornerstone Bank (529 Lincoln Ave.) in York (Register at 402-362-5508). This workshop will cover Nebraska land industry topics for farms and ranches. Those include evaluating current trends in land values and cash rents, strategies for successful land transitions, lease provisions, legal considerations and managing communication and expectations among family members. Creating and adjusting estate plans will also be covered. The program is free to attend, and refreshments will be provided. Pre-registration is requested by one day prior to the workshop.
Successful Farming Workshop Nov. 30 from 9-11:30 a.m. via livestream link or in person at the Extension Office in Lincoln. Speakers include Brad Lubben with a farm bill update and Jeff Peterson on grain marketing. More info. at: https://lancaster.unl.edu/ag/successfulfarmerseries
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. That may seem strange as the events surrounding Christmas and Easter are far more impactful eternity-wise. Yet, I just so greatly appreciate the fact that there’s a day for focusing on gratitude.
And, while I’m grateful many choose to intentionally give thanks on Thanksgiving Day, sometimes I wonder what it would look like if we chose to live with gratitude. As I reflect on this year, it just seems like there’s increasing divisiveness, uncertainty, fear, anxiety, depression, and stress. Life is so short and not guaranteed. Relationships are so important and can be fragile.
If we chose to live with gratitude, how would it change us and our perspectives? Would we be less prone to complain and get discouraged when things go wrong? Would we be less likely to argue and more likely to extend kindness and grace to others? How would it impact the divisiveness we see in our country, our communities, our families?
Gratitude can produce joy. I think that’s something we all could use more of! It can allow us to find joy in everyday moments and also share joy with others.
So how do we choose to live with gratitude? A start can be to intentionally seek at least one thing each day for which to be thankful. At first it can be difficult and perhaps awkward. For some, it’s hard to even think of one thing. Perhaps a starting point can be gratitude for one’s home, bed, food, vehicle, job, friend or family member, etc.? Over time of practicing this, one’s perspective can change to even finding gratitude as things go wrong. For example, I drive a lot and had several vehicle problems this past year. For the situations when I chose to find gratitude instead of discouragement (such as thanking God that He allowed it to happen where it did instead of elsewhere or thanking God for the times a farmer was in the area to help me), it helped my mindset and provided peace instead of being upset. I’m not good about this all the time, but it sure helps my mindset and increases my perspective when I choose gratitude even when things go wrong. Perhaps others can relate to this?
Ultimately, my hope is that we can experience more joy each day in the everyday moments as we intentionally seek to live with gratitude. And, that this joy can be extended via kindness, grace, compassion to others around us. Wishing everyone a very blessed Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving Food Resources: For your Thanksgiving meal check out https://go.unl.edu/turkey-time for turkey preparation, food safety questions, recipes, and health/wellness topics!
Returning to the Farm: This workshop series is being taught for families that have the next generation of farmers and ranchers coming back to their operations. The workshop helps multi-generations traverse the challenges of successfully succeeding the operation to the next generation. The in-person session will be held Dec. 10-11 in Columbus with follow-up virtual sessions on Jan. 13 and Feb. 10. More information and registration at: https://cap.unl.edu/rtf21.
Ag Budget Calculator (ABC) User’s Workshops (For New and Advanced Users): It’s important to estimate cost of production for our agricultural enterprises, but now with the volatile input and crop prices, it’s even more critical. Knowing your estimated cost of production can assist you in making important management decisions. Ag Budget Calculator (ABC) is one tool to help you enter this information for your ag enterprises. There’s guided virtual workshops from now through February that allow you to be in the ABC program entering your data as instructors demonstrate how to use it and answer your questions. More info. and registration at: https://cap.unl.edu/abc/training.
Reflections & Thanksgiving 2020
This article has been on my heart for several months. It’s reflections from a compilation of conversations. Honestly, it’s been a hard year at times for most, if not all people. Interweaving this with Thanksgiving, there’s perhaps a variety of thoughts, perspectives, and feelings as we approach the holiday. It may be tempting to want to skip it and perhaps be easier to complain than find gratitude or feel thankful!
The challenges with COVID, markets, livestock harvesting facilities, trade, weather impacts to crops, online schooling and virtual meetings, societal and family tensions and divisiveness, the election, and many businesses and farm operations hurting financially added much stress to 2020. (Insert a deep breath after reading all that!).
With these above-mentioned challenges come the feelings and realities experienced. I’m so blessed with individuals’ trust through conversations and the vulnerability in sharing…conversations around mental wellness, stress, family and financial struggles…
So many hurting. So many conversations involving hurt, anger, regret. Common threads have included ‘just wanting to be seen’, ‘be heard’, ‘be appreciated’, ‘be useful’.
We often don’t know what’s going on in others’ lives. If you are struggling right now, please know you’re not alone and there is ALWAYS hope and help! Please do reach out to someone. It would be wise for us all to program the following in our cell phones: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-8255 and Rural Response Hotline: 800-464-0258.
This isn’t a direct quote but had recently read something along these lines: Why is it that we often wait till people’s funerals to share gratitude of how a person impacted us? Made me think.
For me, perhaps a blessing this year is a renewed realization of how quickly time passes and each day is not guaranteed. Been processing and praying through all this.
Who are the people who’ve positively impacted my life that I need to tell?
Who are the people in my life I tend to take for granted and don’t thank enough?
Who haven’t I connected with recently?
Who could benefit from intentional encouragement during life’s difficulties right now?
Perhaps questions others wish to consider?
We may never know how greatly a smile, kind words, a visit, a genuine ‘thank you’ can impact another person’s life, especially since we often don’t know the struggles others are experiencing. But these simple acts may just help someone in the midst of a dark or difficult time. They may also save a life.
Last November I mentioned there’s been a lot of research on gratitude. Harvard University shared, “In positive psychology research, gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness.” Summarizing several studies I read, most would say finding a way to count one’s blessings or focusing on gratitude greatly improved a person’s sleep, health, attitude, focus, and relationships.
A simple way to start is to write out or send a text each day of 3-5 things for which you are grateful. If that’s hard, start with one! For example, what are the ordinary every day things we take for granted (ex. bed, food in pantry, vehicle, etc.)? I’ve found the written account helps me with remembering my blessings and is encouraging to re-read in the difficult times. And, over time, it becomes easier to find gratitude even in the things that go wrong! I’ve also found one of the best ways to help my heart when feeling down is to find a way to encourage someone else. Additional ideas for expressing gratitude, particularly for those with children, can be found at: https://go.unl.edu/q04v.
My hope and prayer in writing this is that we seek kindness, seek connection, choose to more intentionally seek gratitude, and share with others how they’ve positively impacted our lives. Also hoping something shared here helps if you find yourself struggling today. Wishing everyone a very blessed Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving Food Resources: For your Thanksgiving meal check out https://food.unl.edu/article/thanksgiving-central for turkey preparation, food safety questions, recipes, and health/wellness topics!
JenREES 11-24-19
I’ve often thought about two words the past few months: Grief and Gratitude. It’s been a hard year for many with grief coming in the form of various losses. The stories I’ve been blessed to be entrusted with this year included losses in the form of livestock, land, fences, feed, finances, crops, homes, health, relationships, family members, pets, farms, jobs…
It’s important to take the time to grieve and acknowledge the losses while not getting stuck there. I think sometimes we want to push forward and avoid the mess of grief, but there’s healing in acknowledging it. At our Extension Fall Conference, we spent time talking through 2019 and the experiences we had as Extension faculty with boots on the ground serving people. While it was uncomfortable for many, there was healing in the discussion and sharing, in the tears and triumphs of helping others during a really difficult year. I would encourage us all to acknowledge losses we’ve experienced and ultimately keep talking with others instead of isolating.
Our keynote speaker at our conference was David Horsager who wrote the book The Trust Edge. One thing he asks his audiences, “What is the most endearing quality a person can have?” What do you think? Often people say kindness, compassion, generosity, being positive, humor, etc. His company does a great deal of research and they’ve found the most endearing quality is…Gratitude…sincere gratitude. According to Oxford’s Dictionary, gratitude means “the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness”.
There’s been a lot of research on gratitude! Harvard University shared, “In positive psychology research, gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness.” Summarizing several studies I read, most would say finding a way to count one’s blessings or focusing on gratitude greatly improved a person’s sleep, health, attitude, focus, and relationships. Many of those studies didn’t involve individuals who struggled with mental wellness. However, one study in Indiana focused on 300 adults who suffered from anxiety and depression. The researchers wanted to see if focusing on gratitude could help with mental health concerns. Adults were split into three groups and each group also received counseling. One group wrote a letter of gratitude to someone each week (but wasn’t required to share it). Another group wrote down negative thoughts and experiences while the third group didn’t do any activity involving writing. Individuals who wrote the gratitude letters were found to have significantly improved mental health 4 and 12 weeks after starting the activity (in spite of only 23% actually sending the letters). The gratitude activity on top of receiving counseling resulted in better mental wellness for the individuals than counseling alone. Regardless of if one is in the midst of a difficult time or not, research ultimately shows the benefits of seeking gratitude!
Grief and Gratitude. With Thanksgiving this week, for what are you and I grateful? Perhaps there’s someone who came alongside you this year during a difficult time or someone who showed you an unexpected kindness that you wish to thank in some way? Perhaps you choose to make a list of things for which you’re thankful or jot a few things down each day? Perhaps you choose to write one letter or note to someone each week expressing thanks? Or perhaps your family starts a tradition of expressing gratitude in some way during Thanksgiving dinner? Additional ideas for expressing gratitude, particularly for those with children, can be found at: https://go.unl.edu/q04v. Here’s wishing everyone a blessed Thanksgiving!
UNL Thanksgiving Food Safety Resources: https://go.unl.edu/ji8p
UNL Thanksgiving Food Preparation Tips: https://go.unl.edu/7rwi
Thanksgiving Reflections
Thanksgiving is upon us and every day I’m reminded I have so much for which to be thankful! It seems like there’s such a rush to go from Halloween to Christmas and it’s sad to me that Thanksgiving seems to be lost in the shuffle. Today as I gather with my family, I’m thankful for so many things God has blessed me with: salvation, my wonderful family, all our men and women serving overseas, my home/career/dogs, wonderful food and our farmers who grow it, so many things! May you have a blessed 
Thanksgiving reflecting on the blessings in your life as well!
Sunday night was our 4-H Achievement program. Watching the youth receive their awards, I was thankful for the parents, grandparents, leaders, and volunteers who helped those youth achieve success in their projects. I’m thankful to work in a county with such wonderful people! Every organization or board our office works with understands that the 4-H program and fair are about the youth-developing life skills and successful young people for the future. I’m so thankful for these relationships and the fun we all have at 4-H activities and the fair! I’m also thankful for all the sponsors of our 4-H program and the youth and parents appreciate you as well! It was a great night with a great turnout and a nice conclusion to the 2011 4-H year.
Speaking of being thankful, IANR released a special feature entitled “Feeding the Future”. It shares a Thanksgiving message from Dr. Ronnie Green and how IANR’s research, teaching, and extension efforts are helping to ensure success in feeding the future throughout Nebraska and around the globe. Check it out here: http://www.unl.edu/ucomm/ucomm/special/20111115/
JenResources 