Thanksgiving

I was sitting here thinking of what I was thankful for and I thought I'd list a few things that I'm thankful for. When you sit down and think, it's amazing how blessed we are, isn't it?

• I'm thankful for my loving wife. The way she always makes me laugh and the time we share together. She knows my struggles and my weaknesses but she loves me anyway.


• I'm thankful for both my sons. Eric and Ryan, I'm thankful that both of them have given their lives to Christ and even though both are not in church right now (reminds me of myself when I was their age) I know that they have the Holy Spirit living inside them and one day they will come to the point that they turn back to God and live their lives for Him. I'm thankful that God never leaves us or forsakes us and He's a God of second chances... and more.


• I'm thankful for my Mom and Dad and the examples they gave me growing up. How to treat each other with respect and love. They were great models for me to imitate and copy as I got older. The way my Dad treated my Mother was a wonderful example for me. I'm thankful for the lessons they taught me to shape into the person I am today.


• I'm thankful for my loving sisters and their families. I don't tell them very often at all, but I love them both dearly and miss them so much because we live so far apart. But I have the best sisters anyone could ever have.


• I'm thankful for my friends that God has placed in my life. It's amazing how they change over the years, but they're always there for me and my family. It's hard to live without good friends and I'm thankful for them.


• I'm thankful for my job, my career. How often we think work is a burden, when it's the very thing that sustains our livelihood. How often we take it for granted. How often we complain, but how thankful I am that I have it. God has blessed me with this job and I ask for forgiveness when I forget that. And too often I do forget!


• I'm thankful for my Church family. My Pastor and the staff at our church. The body of believers that I've had the fortunate opportunity to fellowship with. I'm thankful for their prayers and their love they have shown me and my family.


• I'm thankful that I have a home, and I have a car, and I have food to eat every day.


• I'm thankful that I'm fairly healthy.


• I'm thankful that I have a Lord that loves me so much that he gave his life for me and anyone one else that believes. Thank you Lord Jesus!


• I'm thankful that God had allowed me to enjoy music so much and the friends I've made through music. What a blessing music has been in my life!


• I'm thankful that God delivers us through difficult times and trials. The trials I've faced lately would be too enormous to handle without Christ's Love. I'm thankful that he's walked with me through these storms in my life. I'm so thankful for that.


• I'm thankful for eternal life!


• I could go on and on.... the air I breathe, the sunlight, the rain, the breeze, the mountains and the trees and the lakes and the grass! I'm thankful for my pets, and the unconditional love they always give me. I'm thankful for my sight, my hearing, my ability to walk or run! I'm thankful that I'm alive another day and that God has a purpose for me. I'm thankful for many things and everything.

Thanksgiving, a time to reflect on the things we are thankful for in our lives. I realize I don't thank the Lord enough. It's so easy to ask for things, to request this or that, to pray for healing to pray for a special need, but to just say thank you, seems to put this all into perspective. It's when we say thanks, we realize we have rather than what we don't have. I know so often I focus on what I think I need rather than what I've already been blessed with.

Thank you Lord, for allowing me to be reminded of how greatly blessed I truly am. Thank you Lord Jesus, thank you, thank you, thank you!

May God bless you as you too give him thanks this Thanksgiving Holiday.

Steve