My 2015 Thanksgiving List

Last week I talked about the spiritual discipline of learning to thank God on a regular basis. Thanks-giving to God on a regular basis gives us another portal to maintain our spiritual wholeness--to maintain our joy, peace and faith (confidence) in Him. I believe that if you want to experience joy, peace and faith regularly and at a deeper level in life, add to your daily routine the act of simply walking in ongoing thankfulness. Demonstrating to God often that we are thankful for what we have, rather than what we don't have or maybe have lost, can be the difference in recognizing and experiencing all the blessings He has for us or not.

I also challenged my readers to jot down at least 15 things in their life they were thankful for, regardless of how big or small. I completed the exercise as well and thought I would share with you the things I have been praying through recently:

Personally, I am thankful for:

• My family and friends who make my life so rich with joy
• My wife who continues to demonstrate her love for me in innumerable acts of kindness and care
• My mother who is still going strong and finds time to shell and freeze peas for my family to enjoy throughout the year
• My co-workers who know how to share food and a laugh even when the work schedule is so hectic and overbearing
• The God-given wisdom of the human soul that knows, deep down, that God is, and that He is good
• The eternal and unchanging promises of God--that I am His and He is mine, now and forever
• That there is a sure day coming when I will know Him fully, just as I have been known, and I will see Him face to face

For my children at Buckhorn, I am thankful and hopeful:

• That on restless nights when they cannot sleep, they know that they are not abandoned or forgotten by the One who created them, who loves them perfectly and knows them perfectly
• That they know the stars shining across the night sky is a gift from God, sent to remind them of the vastness of the universe
• That when they don't know how to pray, God's Spirit intercedes for them with groaning too deep for words
• That they realize it is not their job to fix their parents/guardians or peers
• That they learn that life is short and long, sweet and difficult, all at the same time
• That they learn that we are not meant to understand everything
• That they learn that their past cannot define who they are or define their future unless they allow it
• That they are surrounded by selfless, committed and compassionate staff