For many years now I have posted my list of things I’m thankful for each Thanksgiving morning. As 2014 starts to come to a close, this year will be no different.
1 & 2. These two never change…Jesus and Lisa in that order. It’s not that I’m just thankful for them, they are also my top 2 in every decision in life and every priority that I have. By many standards I’ve had a pretty “successful” life. I give the credit not to just these two for their help but also that I never waver in keeping them the highest priority before anyone or anything else.
3. I’m alive: I guess in past years I’ve always taken life itself for granted. But after my incident back in February where I witnessed the shooting and then was chased myself, I have a new appreciation for each day that God gives me and I’m thankful I get to continue serving Him and His purposes.
4. My Family I’ve been fortunate through the years to have a large and close knit family (Parents, sibling grandparents, aunts uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, etc). Somehow, someway we still, although it’s not very frequent, stay connected together. Add into this mix my in-laws and I’m very blessed to have a family that I very much love and know is always there for me as I am for them.
5. My church Although we are about as small as we’ve ever been, we are also probably the healthiest we’ve ever been. I love each and every one of the people that God has given me to pastor and I’m so thankful that He’s opened up a door for us to purchase our own building.
6. Experiences Within the last few years I’ve made a more conscious decision to spend money not on stuff but experiences. Stuff will break, get stolen, wear out, be replaced by the next new thing, etc. But experiences are memories that can’t be taken from you. So I’m thankful that in the past year I’ve added many more great memories into the mind bank. Whether it be attending the Little League World Series, eating new foods, playing in the World Series of Poker, hanging out on a TV show set, traveling out west for 3 weeks, leading training events, etc., I’ve been so blessed this year to experience some really cool stuff.
7. Technology It’s amazing to think of how far we’ve come in the past 20 or so years. 20 years ago you still may have been using a rotary phone and your computer on your desk was big, slow and not that powerful. Today you carry your phone in your pocket and it’s hundreds of times more powerful than the old computer you first had. Anymore I hardly ever read an actual hard/soft cover book because now it’s all done electronically. Even more amazing is how all my devices sync up to allow me to do that. As an example, I may be listening to an audio book in the car on the way to an appointment. When I get out of the car and I’m sitting in a waiting area I can pull out my phone and continue reading the book at the same place I just left off in the car…but not because I turned to the right place…No it knows where I left off. Later I can do the same thing at my computer or on my tablet…each time it saying, “here is where you last left off on your other device, would you like to continue from there”. I mean how amazing is that? And if that’s how far we’ve come in the last 20 years, imagine what the next 20 will bring.
8. You If you’ve made it this far then you are probably someone that is close to me and I just want to thank you for who you are and your love and friendship. Looking forward to many more years with you where we can make new memories to be thankful for!
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