Thankful

I have much to be thankful for today. Of course, as a follower of Christ, I'm thankful each day for the grace and mercy that he has extended to me. But today on Thanksgiving, I want to pause and thank God for His many blessing to me and my family.

I'm thankful for Sharon, God's special gift to me. I'm thankful for Ryan, Jason, Josh and Jon. And of course I'm thankful for Natalie, our new daughter-in-law. I'm thankful for my dad and for caring family. I'm thankful for our New Covenant church family. And I'm thankful for the many awesome family times we got to experience together this past year - from Jason's graduation from Moody, to trips to the state Track Meet and Baseball Tournament, to a family vacation to Chicago, to Ryan and Natalie's wedding. You can watch a short slide show of some of these events by clicking on the above picture. What an awesome year. What an awesome God!

But why limit giving thanks to just one day a year? Hebrews 13: 15-16 talks about continually offering a sacrifice of praise. And the passage goes on to describe what a thankful heart looks like. A lifestyle of thanksgiving involves doing good and sharing with others. Thankfulness begins in my inner world and demonstrates itself through how I live in my outer world.

Today is a day of thanksgiving. This afternoon we will gather with friends and family to celebrate God's abundant provision to us this past year. Today is a day to recognize God's goodness and grace. Today is a day to be thankful!

Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them. We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat. Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise–the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. Hebrews 13:9,10, 15, 16