Thanks

Since this is Thanksgiving Month and I'm way behind on the daily thankfulness facebook and twitter posts, I figured I'd spend some time talking about who and what I am thankful for.

I am most thankful, today, for God. I know that's such a typical Christian thing to do... to put God first in the list. But it's the truth. We are going through a study in youth group right now called GodView. The study is an attempt to help the teens realize that God is more than just someone who wants you to be good and happy. We subconsciously limit God to this little box and think that he can't act in any way other than how we think he can act. We live our lives on our own and then expect God to show up when we need him to. Then we get upset with him when he doesn't show up in the ways we expect him to. But God is bigger than our expectations. God's ways are not like our ways. God's understanding of what's going on is so much greater than ours. And God is in control, no matter how out of control our lives feel. Some people are scared of that idea but for me, I am thankful.

I am thankful for freedom. I have actually thought about this a lot lately. God must place a very high value on freedom. Think about it... when God, who knows everything, chose to create humans, he wanted us to have freedom to do what we want. So he had to design a system to place us in, where we could somehow HAVE the freedom to make choices on our own, even though he would know what those choices would be, before we ever made them. Some say if God already knows how I will choose, then I'm not actually making a choice. But the genius of God shines through with how he created the dimension of time that we are subject to, (and he is not). Without time, free will is taken away because everyone's decisions are made and we lose our ability to change them. But inside of time, we cannot see the future and therefore we have freedom to make those choices without knowing exactly how those choices will effect the future. Freedom exists because God created it. Some might say it is a false sense of freedom. I say, you are free to believe that if you want and I am free to believe what I believe. :-)

I am thankful for loving people who truly consider others greater than themselves. These people are few and far between, and I confess that I am not one of them. But how refreshing is it to come across someone who truly has a heart of a servant? I am thinking of several in my life who have had demonstrated this at times in their lives, and I know of several others who seem to demonstrate this all the time.

I am thankful for people who value honesty and integrity over self-preservation. These are values that are not taught in our culture anymore. These are values that should be praised and rewarded much more than what they are.

I am thankful for people who do their best to seek unity and not division among all people. Whether it be in religion, politics, ethnic/race, gender, age, opinions, or any other differences, unity is of utmost importance. I saw an astronaut interviewed on TV who said that when he looked down on the earth, he didn't see any differences, he just saw one earth and we are all in it together.

Finally, I am thankful for specific people in my life. I actually typed out all the people I am thankful for and there were way too many. And then I realized how many people I would be forgetting if I tried to name them all. So instead of listing them all, I'll just say that I am a blessed man to have so many friends and family. I will try my best to express my gratitude in person sometime this month. :-)