What better way to start the Holiday season than to be thankful. With Thanksgiving being this week I have had this on my mind a lot. Sometimes we get so caught up in life that we forget to be thankful. But, I think it is very important to stop and think about what we have to be thankful for.
When I think about being thankful, I first have to ask myself where I put my priorities. I used to be thankful for stuff. I was thankful for the things I had. I was thankful for the things that money had bought. While I still enjoy those things, as I have gotten older I realize that those things are just “stuff”. Our preacher talked this morning about Matthew 6:19-24. It deals with our treasures and what we place emphasis on. Having the wrong treasures leads to our hearts being in the wrong place. Matthew 6:21 says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” It is easy to put our treasures in the wrong things and that effects a lot of other things in our life. That can throw our priorities in a tailspin if we aren’t conscious of what we are putting emphasis on.
I’m thankful for my parents. They raised me in a good Christian home. They were, and still are, great examples of what a Christian should be. As I have talked about in here, I wasn’t always the best Christian I could be. But as Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” This was the case for me. For the way I was brought up and the things my parents taught me I am forever thankful. But, I am also thankful for my grandparents and great grandparents. I’m thankful for the generations of Christians on both sides of my family that not only guided my parents down the right path, but I also got to learn those lessons from having known them as well. Holidays are hard for people when they have lost loved ones. I’ve still got one grandpa that’s living and am so thankful for the time I get to spend with him. I’ve have lost three of my grandparents over the last few years. But I am so thankful for the time I got to spend with them and the memories of them that I will have forever. Nothing can take those away. It is now hunting season. As I sat in the hunting blind yesterday morning with my two boys, I couldn’t help but think of when I was a kid. My dad and grandpa used to take me hunting. I remember one day sitting in the deer stand picking at the plywood on the inside of it. Grandpa said, “I hope you shoot a deer soon.” I responded with, “me too”. He then told me, “because with you picking at the plywood like that, if you don’t shoot one soon there may be nothing left of this deer stand by the time we are done.” He was just joking but it made me stop picking at the plywood quite as often. I think about sitting in the deer stand with my boys and how my dad and grandpa were so patient with me. My dad is one of the most patient people on the planet. They tell me my boys are just like me when it comes to a lot of things. I’m guessing my boys movement every 4 seconds and their sniffs every 10 seconds to go along with their question of what time is it every 12 seconds was handled better by my dad and grandpa. Although I try, I’m not the most patient guy there is. But nevertheless, I’m am so thankful for these things I get to pass on to my boys. My daughter tried hunting last year. By the end of the one and only hunt she went on she informed me that she had no idea why we would sit there that long for absolutely nothing and would not be attending another hunt because she couldn’t stay in that box any longer. I guess I’ll have to play more dolls.
After we got in from hunting last night we ate supper. Then we sat down and started watching the OU game. During the game I got up and made popcorn. While eating it I told Kristin it reminded me of grandma and grandpa’s house. Deer season and OU football with popcorn. All we needed was Dr. Pepper to have the complete reenactment. My family is special to me and will forever have a special place in my heart!
I am also thankful for my church family. I am thankful that we have a great congregation with great leadership. They help motivate us each week to be the best we can be and to reach out to those in need. Those needs may be material things and they may be spiritual or emotional things. But it is a congregation focused on reaching people. Our church family is an integral part of our life which we are very thankful for.
Friends are sometimes underestimated in life. We sometimes don’t realize how important it is to be a good friend until we need that friend ourselves. We all have those friends that we see often and are close to. Then we all have those friends that we won’t see for 6 months, but when we do it’s like we saw each other yesterday. We are all thinking about both those types of friends right now. We can picture those exact people in our mind right now. How special are those people? How great is it to have people like that in our lives? We all have those friends that are brutally honest with us. The things they say to us we wouldn’t take too well from just anybody, but it’s ok if that person says it to us. We take it better from them. Those are special friends. We also all have those friends that get on our last nerve sometimes, but they are our close friends so we tolerate their imperfections. These are the things that make friendships so special. Kristin and I are blessed with great friends that we are so thankful for!
I am thankful for my own little family as well. I am so fortunate to have the wife and kids that I do. Now if you have read other post on here, or the deer story above or heard stories about our kids you might not think we are thankful. Having my patience and sanity tested at times does not diminish the thankfulness I have for them. It’s for good humor really, although there is some truth to what is written too. I just hope that we can raise them in a way that they will love the Lord and follow the right path. They are blessings from God and I am so thankful for them.
Most importantly, I am thankful for God and my relationship with him. It has had its ups and downs just like anything else. But the one thing that hasn’t changed in all of it is God. And thank goodness he hasn’t. He always has and always will be there for all of us. That’s what makes him so special. We all have people in our life that will be there for us. We also all have people that, when it comes down to it, might not be there for us, depending on the situation. Sometimes we don’t know until we are in the situation. But the situation doesn’t matter to God. He isn’t going anywhere. That is what is so awesome about being a Christian. We know without a doubt that God is there for us. I’m sure there have been times in all of our lives when we sit back and think, it’s hard to believe that God still loves me after I’ve done whatever it is. It’s hard to believe that God can really forgive me of whatever it is and he doesn’t even have a recollection of it. That’s crazy to me. But that’s our God.
These are just some of the things I am thankful for. They are some of the most important parts of my life. As I wrote this I realized that all these things have one common denominator = relationships. Relationships are so important. We are called to love God and love our neighbor. Both of those things are relationship oriented. We can’t love God and our neighbor without strong relationships with both. We can have investments while here on earth. We have things we invest our money into. We have things we invest our time into. We have things we invest our energy into. The list could go on and on. But perhaps the greatest investment we can make is in relationships. Relationships with God and fellow man.
I encourage all of us as this holiday season approaches to take a deep look at what we are thankful for. Look at what we put our emphasis on. Where are our treasures? What do we look at as important here on earth? Sometimes our treasures get out of whack and we have to make adjustments. That’s ok. That’s normal. Sometimes there are things that happen that make us realize that. Sometimes there are things that happen that change our priorities or make us realize that maybe they are not where they should be. Everyone has different interest and different things that are important to them. But in the end, if we love God and love our neighbor as ourself, relationships will be a very important investment in our life. I challenge everyone to take some time over the next several weeks of this holiday season and take a close look at where our treasures lie and realize how much we truly have to be thankful for!!!