This Thanksgiving season (I wish it wasn’t just one day) I want to tell you a few things I am thankful for. First, I want you to know that, above all, I am thankful to God for everything I have. As I have said before, everything I have is a gift from God. All the good in my life is from Him. All the bad in my life, that is bad or that God turns to good is a gift from Him. And it is SO little… I hope this Thanksgiving season, you are thankful for all of the blessings in your life, but also thankful TO someone.
My Lord, Jesus, who died in my place, so that I would become God’s son, adopted, saved from wrath, and used as a vessel to display God’s saving grace. Thank you Jesus. I believe, please help my unbelief.
My wife, Jennifer. I cannot imagine a better partner in life, a companion and helpmate, with whom I live and love life with. I love her the best I can, and pray that God gives me the strength and the courage to move deeper into her life and love her “as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.”
My parents, who love me, support me, pray for me, encourage me, and model as best they know how the love of a father and a mother. They are not perfect, and yet God uses them powerfully to show me how to raise children in a way that glorifies God. Thank you, Daddy and Mama.
My sister, who, God love her, is wallowing in sin as an Auburn fan… no seriously… well, okay, maybe not, but anyway. Jennifer’s persistence and stick-to-it-iveness is inspiring and encouraging, Keep at it…
My in-laws. Whoever said that in-laws would be hard to be around have never met Cliff and Deb Meservy. Gracious, loving, giving, supporting, caring, nurturing, and fun-loving… I hope I am half the in-laws they are.
My church, Fellowship Evangelical Free Church in Knoxville. A church that loves, honors, cherishes, pursues, engages, and lifts high the name of Jesus. The Gospel is preached with clarity and grace, and we expect God to do His thing as a result… and He is.
My friends, both near and far. Our lives are meant to be lived in community, not isolation. God has blessed me with people who care for me, love me DESPITE who I am (and thankfully not because of who I am). They call me out when I’m wrong, never tell me I’m right (a good thing, might I add), and give me fun breaks from the real world. For those of you I don’t see often, I hope the random phone calls saying hey, or the Facebook wall posts, or the e-mails find you missing what once was, but knowing the best is yet to be. The Lord bless you and keep you.
My school. I spend more time with schoolwork than I do my wife. I wish that was different, but unfortunately, that’s the way it is right now. And Jen will tell you that I complain a lot about lectures, or not sleeping, or any number of things. And yet there is NO place I would rather be right now than where I am, doing what I’m doing. This is a gift from God. Thank you to Dean Stowers, Associate Deans, our incredible faculty, our support staff (from Financial Aid to our housekeeping staff that keeps our building a place that I am proud to call mine. Thank you to all of you who put in long hours, hard work, time away from your own family… all so that I can succeed.
My health. I take it for granted almost everyday. I hope that the privilege of being entrusted with the care of others will teach me to be thankful, day in and day out, that I can walk, use my hands, and use my mind in a way that serves others. If you are like me, be thankful that you are healthy. And take care care of yourself. Eat right, exercise, and be thankful. We are all getting older.
Technology. My dad always reminded my family of what Samuel Morse said, after inventing the telegraph: “What hath God wrought!” It is amazing to me that God gives us the ability to come with new ways to communicate, more efficient ways to produce, better ways to conserve, and easier ways to live.
Our military. I owe you gentlemen and ladies a debt of gratitude that I can’t repay, and almost everything I listed here is kept that way by your willingness to put yourself in dangerous situations so that I don’t have to, so that our country will still be a place where we can live lives the way we wish, worship the way God leads, speak what we think ought to be spoken, and change what we think ought to be changed. I hold y’all in the highest regard, and I want nothing more than that everyone of you comes home safely, and to a country that honors your work and sacrifice.
There are so many more, and that is the point. This Thursday, enjoy the turkey, and the stuffing, and the cranberry sauce, and the pumpkin pie, and the Sister Schubert’s rolls, and the Lions getting crushed (yet again), and the backyard football games. But Friday, when you’re up at 4 am to go shopping, be thankful for the opportunity to go and buy stuff that you want. On Monday, be thankful that you have a job to go to and earn money by providing something for someone else, and that that job enables you to do the things that you want to do when you aren’t working. Sixty days from now, be thankful for the dreary rain that gives nutrients to the trees that will, like last year, give you beautiful buds in the spring, shade in the summer heat, and those gorgeous fall colors. When you wake up from a bad dream, be thankful it was just a dream, and not actually real life, real life that someone else might be dealing with. When you get the clean bill of health from your doctor at your annual physical, be thankful for it. Be thankful for all the things in your life – they are gifts from God. And tell Him thank you. Tell others thank you for what they mean to you and what they do for you.
Excellence in Everything, and All to the Glory of God 