Having just passed the extended Thanksgiving Holiday and read many expressions of thanks it seems appropriate to add mine.
I am thankful for many things. First, that I was baptized in Christ by faithful parents and thereby marked with the Cross of Christ forever. I am thankful for their continued example of faithfulness throughout their lives. I am thankful for all that they gave me in my life. I have kicked away more opportunities than most will ever have and I owe that blessing to them.
I am thankful for all the wonderful educators I have had in my life, those in formal teaching roles and all those who taught me by example. Teachers, coaches and mentors who exhibited the patience of Job to teach me what I so clearly did not know and continue to do so today.
I am thankful to God that He continued to call me even while I was deep in the wilderness of unbelief. Those He put in my life continued to exert a pull on me that brought me back to the Cross. Most notably my wife whose faithful example did so much to reflect the call of God. Also, a myriad of religious figures; pastors, ministry and lay volunteers all who have been and are continually critical in my faith walk.
I am continually thankful for my family, both immediate and extended. My children are a continual source of wonder as I am always amazed what incredible people God put in my life. I am also thankful for my health and all the material blessings that God has given me.
This means, of course, that I am thankful to have been born in this country, to parents who cared and were afforded the opportunity to be successful. For all the criticisms that I level at where this country is and what it does, I would clearly not have the life I do anywhere else. That thankfulness, by the way, is why I criticize. How could I not strive for a more just nation considering all that God has given me.
I am therefore thankful for the opportunity to speak my mind and to be able to give witness to my beliefs. I recognize that many, if not most, in this world do not have that opportunity. I am most of all thankful that God graced me with the faith to openly praise and worship Him and to, as feebly as I can, give witness to that gratitude in all that I am and everything that I do.
So, it is indeed right and just that we all give thanks, not just on the third Thursday in November but every day of our lives.
Praise Be to God
