What I'm Thankful For Today...

I posted this on our "prayer blog" and thought it was important enough to put wherever I could:

Even though Thanksgiving is not a day celebrated in France, and even though I’m working today, and even though the kids are in school, I’m still celebrating. I’m overwhelmed by all that I’m thankful for and by the God Who has blessed me in spite of myself.

So, here they are, in no particular order:

I’m thankful for the sound of my wife singing “Your Grace Still Amazes Me” along with a Phillips, Craig, and Dean CD while she fixes pecan pie in our little kitchen.

I’m thankful for three healthy children who get up every morning loving their Daddy in spite of the fact that I’m not always what I want to be.

I’m thankful for the sound of my children praying.

I’m thankful for thousands of churches and individuals who give from their blessings so that I can do what God has called me to do.

I’m thankful for our partage biblique group, which has become in so many ways what church ought to be.

I’m thankful for my Mom and Dad, who chose me and took care of me and raised me right (even if sometimes I don’t show it).

I’m thankful for a rich heritage given me by my family -- a heritage so foundational that it holds me up whether I live in the US or in another place. I’m thankful for little phrases that are a part of me, like “I only like two kinds of pie: hot pie and cold pie.” (That’s one from my Granddad).

I’m thankful for memory -- of holidays and regular days, of grandparents and cousins and aunts and uncles and in-laws and friends.

I’m thankful that I’m a new man, re-made by God, who gave His Son so that I could live and know Him forever. I’m thankful that He doesn’t change and that He’s faithful even when I’m not. I’m thankful for His Word and for the Holy Spirit, left to encourage me and convict me, explain things to me and correct me.

I’m thankful for beauty -- my childrens’ smiles, my wife’s eyes, a freshly-plowed field, music, art, a Cathedral, whatever it might be. It’s a reminder of how God wants things to be.

I know there’s so much more. And I’m thankful for that, too.

Happy Thanksgiving.