Truly Thankful

When life leaves you feeling uncertain counteract it with being thankful.

Just the other week, my son did a Facebook posting where he mentioned ten things most people do not know about him. I would like to put a twist on that and give you a list of thirteen things I am truly thankful for at Thanksgiving:

1-I am truly thankful that I still have most of my hair.  Sounds like a dumb one, but who really gets to choose.  However, if I lose all my hair, I will simply be thankful for baseball hats and wear them all the time.

2-I am thankful God still performs miracles.  I could go on about this one, but all I need do is point to my ten-year-old Chinese daughter and marvel how God brought her into a family, that was not eligible to adopt her, nor could afford to do so.  Yet, God in His infinite goodness, defied the odds.

3- I am truly thankful for every breath that I take.  You just never know when it could be your last.  With that being said, we should all live each day like our obituary will be in tomorrow’s newspaper.

4-I am truly thankful that I have a job.  During these tough economic times, I have been blessed. However, if I were to lose my job, I hope that I would continue to feel as blessed.

5- I am truly thankful that I have heat in my car.  Strange, but at times in the past month it did not work and seemingly fixed itself in the last month.

6- I am truly thankful for my recent birthday gifts.  Which were Duck Dynasty videos, Skittles , Swedishfish, an nice e-mail from son , cash and cards from other  family members.  On Sunday November 24^th, I turned forty-six, but it is the fact people remember, not the size of the gift.

7- I am thankful for Orange Gatorade, red cream soda, Planters’ Peanuts and coffee.  These are my favorite snack items, that are like comfort food and drink to my soul.  Strange how we all develop things that we would rather not do without.

8-I am truly thankful to be a dad and husband. I have mentioned this on many occasions and I still don’t feel worthy to be responsible for five other souls. It is a daunting, yet rewarding tasks I would never trade for the world.

9- I am truly thankful for football games on Thanksgiving.  I love eating too much and then watching professionals exert themselves to entertain me.  I know I am twisted.  Personally I would rather play myself, but at my age, I'd pull hamstring getting up in the morning to go play. 

10- I am truly thankful for a new dog.  Reese, is a ten-year-old Beagle mix my family and I got about a week or so ago from the animal rescue shelter.  His intended purpose is to is to help teach the girls some responsibility and to help Lia get more accustomed to dogs so that one day she can have an seeing eye dog.

11- I am truly thankful to be an American.  I have visited other countries and have always loved coming home.  The Pilgrims were on to something when they sailed over here to make a new life for themselves and their families.

12- I am truly thankful for electricity.  Just two years around Halloween, my family and I lost electricity for almost a week when we had that freak snow storm.  The ability to keep food cold, ourselves warm, and use lights to see at night is a honor which we should be thrilled about every day of our lives.

13-I am truly thankful that Jesus came to save us all, myself included, from our sins.  This list could go on and on, but let me stop here just to remind us all about someone who accepted few privileges.  In about a month, we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ who was born in a stinky, smelly manger, where animals live. It was where he and his family were stuck only after all the inns rejected them. It was devoid of many of the luxuries, I have personally listed and where Mary gave birth to Jesus.  

God, in his infinite wisdom, was not concerned about extras, not even when it came to the birth of His own Son.  On top of that, the king of the land decreed that all the male babies, under the age of two, be killed.  And we think it's  rough if the turkey gravy isn’t just right for Thanksgiving dinner.  Yet, Jesus came anyway, just for us, so someday we might have the chance to be a part of His forever family.

Thankfully, Jesus inconvenienced himself so I wouldn’t be eternally out of luck. 

Happy Thanksgiving, Swavel