Thanksgiving

"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good.
His love endures forever" (Psalm 136:1, NIV).

Last month, Canada celebrated Thanksgiving. This month, the United States will celebrate Thanksgiving. As far as I know, no other country in the world has an annual day of thanksgiving.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I am mentioning a few things for which I am thankful.

I am thankful for my job. When I graduated from college, I did not know what I wanted to do. I had a degree in education, but I knew that I did not want to teach. Then, God opened up a door of opportunity for me to work in the U.S. Postal Service. Now, I work with some great people and enjoy a decent salary with good benefits. God has given me the ability to provide for myself and my family. In addition, he has given me opportunities to help people on my job and to share some of my resources with others in need.

I am thankful for my wife. Janet has been a great blessing from the first time I talked with her. She is a very sensitive and caring woman. She is a great wife (and I'm sure Christopher would add "a great mother"). She loves me, and I love her. What could be better than that?

I am thankful for my son. Christopher enjoys life, and he wants to include me in all of it. "Dad, can we play now?" must be his most repeated sentence (even when we have just finished playing so that we could have dinner). He brings a great deal of laughter into our lives.

I am thankful for Jesus Christ. Because of him, I live with hope. I could not make it through life carrying the guilt of my sins and mistakes, and I certainly could not stand before God in that condition. I am thankful that he took my guilt and died for me. I am thankful for his resurrection and for his promised return. I am looking forward to the new heavens and new earth, a new creation without the plague of selfishness and pride, because of what he has done for me.

I am thankful for the Contact Church of Christ. They may not realize it, but I look at the members of the Contact Church as heroes. While others avoid problems, the ministers and members of the Contact Church run toward people in trouble. They are always helping people with drug and alcohol addictions, financial problems, homelessness, relationship issues, and other problems. They inspire me to take risks and to care more than I would otherwise. Through their examples, they have done much more to help me than I have done to help them.

I have so much to be thankful for that I could go on for days, but I should end it here for now. I need to get some sleep.