It is always easy to spot good news the week of Thanksgiving. From free Turkey and dressing to a group promoting racial reconciliation, positive stories were bountiful. Here is a quick look back at few of those good news stories.

• Mission Mississippi’s Community Thanksgiving Gathering brought together people of different races for one purpose: to promote Christ.

“It’s very important to do this kind of fellowship with one another,” said Patrick Hardy, pastor of St. Paul. “We may disagree, but we can always find common ground in Jesus, and that’s something we need to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.”

“God is not surprised we have conservative and liberals. He’s not surprised we have diversity, he’s not caught off-guard we have these classes and denominations — he just never wanted that for us,” Mission Mississippi President Neddie Winters said. “Your job is to lead folks to the Lord. You can’t lead them to the Lord if you’re fighting over all these other things.”

• Dozens of Junior Ambassadors have begun their duties as the Christmas season was kicked off by the Brookhaven-Lincoln County Chamber of Commerce recently.

• Two churches in Wesson fed the hungry for Thanksgiving — one with spiritual worship and one with a hot lunch. Decell Memorial United Methodist Church opened its doors for a community Thanksgiving service featuring the Ambassadors from Copiah-Lincoln Community College. Then, on Thanksgiving Day, Wesson Baptist Church served a sit-down holiday feast at noon.

• Sullivan Ford was recently named the Brookhaven-Lincoln County Chamber of Commerce’s Business of the Year. Sullivan Ford generates around $25 million in sales each year and pays out around $1.85 million to 48 full-time employees. It also generates close to $1 million in sales taxes in addition to taxes on property and payroll.

“We could probably buy some things cheaper, but our local businesses will reciprocate,” Sullivan said. “We buy oil, tires, repair, wrecker service, auto parts, even paper towels — all kinds of things from other businesses around Brookhaven.”

Industrial Development Foundation Chairman Stan Foster urged all Chamber members to follow Sullivan Ford’s example.

“In an environment where online shopping dominates the way we shop, these local businesses support their communities,” he said. “It’s tempting to buy everything from Amazon or elsewhere online, but remember — Amazon hasn’t bought the first fish plate for a local fundraiser, hasn’t employed the first worker from Brookhaven, hasn’t paid a dime in property taxes. Next time you think about buying something, think about what these small businesses do for our community.”