Here is my 12th consecutive year’s list of things I’m thankful for…
1. Jesus- No surprise here right? The more I get to know Him the more I realize I need Him. The more I get to know my self, the more I realize I need Him. I continue to be amazed that not only does He forgive me but He also wants to partner with me to make a difference in people’s lives! Me! Little old sinful me! A child of God! Forgiven! Set free! An ambassador for Him!
2. Lisa- Speaking of being amazed…I don’t deserve her and she could have done a lot better than me but yet she continues to love me more and more each year. The way that she loves and serves me is beyond comprehension. This is our 25th Thanksgiving together and I couldn’t be more thankful for God blessing me with such an incredible wife.
3. Family- As the years go on and more and more pass away it’s made my time with my remaining family members all the more special. Just yesterday I was able to spend time with my cousins, a few days after spending time with other cousins and aunts and uncles. Today will include immediate family members on my side and Lisa’s side. Families aren’t perfect but I thank God that mine has remained close for all the years of my life and we genuinely enjoy getting together.
4. Friends- I traveled yesterday back to the town where I grew up for the funeral of one of my childhood friend’s dad. It was great seeing my 3 closest friends from that time period. We shared many wonderful stories together of our time together. Later as I was reflecting on the day and being with them, it reminded me that I have been extremely blessed through the years with some close friends who have had my back, while I’ve had theirs. While Jesus, Lisa and family have been great, life would not be complete without people like, Jamie, Troy, Kevin, Joe, Andy, Gayle, Bill, Nicole, Aaron, Brian, John/Drew, Bill and Meghan. I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention that many at Exponential have become great friends as well and are too many to name. Thank you all for being a part of my life.
5. Exponential Church- We are now 8 years into the church plant and it’s been the 8 hardest years of my life. At the same time though I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I have personally grown so much and the people and the entire experience/process has transformed my life. Right now I believe in what we’re doing more than what I ever have. We have really caught the vision of a disciple isn’t just someone who is discipled themselves but rather is someone who disciples others who in turn disciple others. This will result in slower results to begin with but ultimately will lead to the Exponential impact that we are named after.
6. Nate and Alison Buck- The Buck’s have been a part of Exponential for the past few years but this past year doubled down on their commitment to helping Exponential make as big of a difference as possible. Both Bill and myself are grateful to have them partnering with us in our respective areas to accomplish more than we could do on our own. Oh and it’s more fun to do it this way…the laughs and goofiness have made all the hard work that much more enjoyable.
7. Our new house- When we moved to Harrisburg 8 years ago we weren’t able to sell our old house right away so we settled on a smaller house here in to begin with. For 2+ years we had 2 mortgages. Finally we sold the other house but decided to continue living in the smaller house until we had a better idea where the church would find a more permanent location than the movie theater. Once Exponential bought and renovated our current location we knew it was time for us to move. Now this is so 1st world problem, but essentially even though it’s just the 2 of us, we “need” a 4 bedroom house. Since we both work out of the home, we both need a home office, then we need a bedroom and it’s nice to have a guest room. Our first house in Harrisburg was a 2 bedroom…meaning we both had an office and then we slept in the basement with no space for guests. Our new place has everything we “need” and more. We love the location, all the wildlife that hang out in our yard, that we’ve already had multiple guests stay with us and the addition of a hot tub to the pool we were already used to.
8. Many other things- As always this is just a small sample of the many ways we’ve been blessed over the past year. I always try to remind myself that I have been blessed to be a blessing to others. I am so thankful for everything God has entrusted to me and I want to share that with others. Thank you for reading this and if there is any way I can serve you, please don’t hesitate to ask. Happy Thanksgiving!