I Have More than I Deserve to be Thankful for

November 25, 2010

It's that time of year again. The time for history classes to talk about pilgrims and Indians and little kids to dress up for school plays. The time to travel and visit family and cram too many people in one house around one table and fight over who gets the drumstick. A time for turkey and stuffing and pumpkin pie. A time for eating way too much and then sitting around, watching football, and slowly slipping into a food coma. Whatever other family traditions take place across the country today, most, if not all will pause for a moment to think about or share what they are tankful for. A lot of people will be posting statuses about such, but there is just so much that I'm thankful for that a status wouldn't do it justice. I am so blessed that it's difficult to accurately describe and I'll probably leave out a lot, but I figured I'd give it a whirl anyway.

I am thankful for life and my health. I wake up every morning and get out of bed. I can do that without any help. All I really have is the breath in my lungs, and I am not entitled to that much. But I thank God everyday for giving it to me.

I'm thankful for my family. Some days they drive me absolutely crazy. But every day they are there for me and they love me and take care of me. Dysfunctional as they may be, I could not ask for people who support me, encourage me, treasure me, and love me more than they do.

I am thankful for my friends. They are the ones who know me, understand me, see all my faults, flaws, and insanity, and still choose to be seen in public with me. They make me laugh, hold me when I cry, and love me just the way I am. They don't have to put up with me, but they do and I am so grateful for that.

I'm thankful for the big things in my life. For freedom, for having a place to call home, for having food to eat and clothes and shoes to wear every day, for being able to afford an education (and that is only by the grace of God), for having a car, for hot water, electricity, and all the other little things I take for granted every day.

I am thankful for the little things as well. For music that I can hear and sing, for the beauty of nature- changing leaves, a starry sky, a sunny day, or fresh fallen snow. I'm thankful for coffee and chapstick and Taco Bell and walking barefoot and hugs and laughter and crunchy leaves and incense and good cooking and acoustic guitars and long talks and late nights and all the little things that make life beautiful...

Last, and most importantly, I am thankful for my salvation. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God means I don't have to be separated from God, even though that's what I deserve. Christ made the ultimate sacrifice for me and there aren't words sufficient to express how thankful I am for that.

This is just a small slice of the rich blessings God has poured out in my life. I could sit here for hours and come up with more and more that I have to be thankful for, but I will save us all the time and trouble and just say that I am blessed beyond belief and I thank God and all the wonderful people in my life for that. Happy Thanksgiving.