Thankful Thoughts This Thanksgiving

Today is Thanksgiving.

A festive day filled with food, laughter, parades, and long naps. A day where delicious aromas are pumped from the kitchen throughout the rooms of the house. Where those who are cooking battle to keep those who will be eating at bay until the table is set. It is a day where many of us reflect on what we are thankful for. We reflect on our blessings. On what God has done for us in the past year or years. Like many of you, I have so many things to be thankful for this year. Here are a few….

1. First, I am thankful for my wife. She shows me love, encouragement, and commitment every day. She honors our family and does not speak negatively about me, even when she could. She does not gossip. She does not flirt. She dresses modestly and still looks amazing. These are the things that make being her husband easy. My wife is also an anointed worship leader. God uses her in an awesome way but even though He uses her to do great things, she remains humble and gives Him the glory for it all. There is no better wife than mine out there, I am sure of it. And I love her with all my heart.

2. I am thankful for our daughters. They make me laugh, they make me cry, and they even make me angry. But one thing is for certain: they have my heart. It is such an awesome feeling when I come home from work and I am met by 4 beautiful little girls at the front door – all happy to see daddy. They are future mighty women of God. He has a plan for their lives and that’s exciting to me.

3. I am thankful for my parents and sister. I was brought up in a loving, Christian home where my parents showed their love for each other in front of my sister and I. My dad showed me what it meant to love and respect a woman and I could see, in my mother, how a woman would react to such treatment. I knew that they loved each other. (and still do) God brought stability to our home through my parent’s faithfulness to Him. My sister and I are 8 years apart and have some pretty funny stories from our childhood years. One includes yogurt being thrown against the wall. Another includes us laughing so hard that I threw up while we were playing Battleship. Great times! I am very proud of my sister. God is using her in a mighty way.

4. I am thankful for my friends and extended family. While I am not a guy with tons of friends, the ones I that I have are great ones. I have some mighty men of valor in my life who I believe will call me out, if needed. I have some men in my life that sharpen me when I need sharpened. Who I am able to run ideas and thoughts past. Who will pray with/for me when I ask, and even when I don’t, I’m quite certain. Blake, Jerry, Doug, Wilson, Pastor Martin, Pastor Ryan, Gene, Gary, Mike- thank you guys. There are others too but these came to mind the quickest. It’s a blessing to have you guys in my life.

These are just a few of the things I am thankful for this year. I’m sure you’ll be thinking about your own over the next couple of days. Why not make it a practice this year to be thankful each day? As the Thanksgiving left-overs finally run out and you’re running an extra 10 minutes on the treadmill to burn the extra calories, think about all of the ways God has blessed you this year.

Happy Thanksgiving!

What are you thankful for this year?