We are only a few hours away from Thanksgiving Day so I thought I would list some of the things that I’m thankful for. Outside of the top 10, these are in no particular order.

1. God

2. Salvation

3. My beautiful wife Miranda

4. My first child that will be born in  January – I can’t wait to be a dad 🙂

5. My Family who helped make me the man I am today

6. The measure of health God has blessed me with

7. The Church Jesus purchased with His blood

8. The Bible

9. Church family at Karns who treats me not as a minister, but as a part of their family

10. Friends (past and present)

11. My  Job

12. The amazing young people I am privileged to work with on a daily basis

13. Working under a tremendous eldership who loves the Lord, loves the people and continues to love and support me even when I make mistakes

14. Freedom (both physical and spiritual)

15. The wonderful roof over my head which Miranda and I (along with baby Morton) call home

16. The ability to read and write

17. Education

18. America

19. Being raised in a godly, Christian home

20. The people who have invested time in me along the way

21. Books that inspire, challenge and educate me

22. The many clothes I have to wear

23. The food I have to eat even when I don’t need to eat 🙂

24. Abilities God has given me

25. Teachers who challenged me to always dig deeper

26. Grandparents who loved and still love me

27. Parents who, outside of my wife, are my biggest supporters

28. My in-laws who treat me as they would their own son

29. The relationships I’ve made over the course of my time in ministry

30. The young people I have met and worked with at camps, retreats and youth rallies over the years

31. The Christian examples I have learned from over the years

32. The challenges I have faced that have made me turn to God

33. Sports which allow me the opportunity for some down time

34. The ability to think and reason so that I am able to choose for myself

35. Every physical, material and spiritual blessing God has richly blessed me with

I could go on and on, but I will stop here because I’m sure you get the point. We all have so much in our lives to be thankful for. Let’s not take our blessings for granted, but always give God the praise and glory He is due.

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17).

Now that’s Something to Think About!