With Thanksgiving being tomorrow, I thought I’d list a few things I’m thankful for. I encourage you to think about it and make your own list!

Family. I have had more opportunity this year to spend time with my brothers, sister, and parents than I have in several years. What a blessing to have a family that loves each other, loves God, enjoys making music together and living life together, and has so much fun doing all of it. Closer to home, nay, at home, we are one more in number than we were last Thanksgiving; it’s hard to believe little Addie Grace is over 8 months old now. What a blessing to have a loving wife and precious daughters.

Skilled Doctors. This one hit home a couple of weeks ago when I had to take Becky to the ER. It was one in the morning, she was very sick, I was very concerned and tired. What a blessing to have a wonderful nurse and doctor who were skilled and kind. That someone would pay for years of education just to get a job where they have to work overnights all so they can care for hurting people? Blessings on them.

God’s Provision. The leadership at Noelridge planned and encouraged a special Thanksgiving offering this year. We were all encouraged to seek God’s guidance in what He would have us give and then to trust Him to supply it. Our goal was $12,000, which is more than 3x what we receive on a normal Sunday, over and above regular giving. We took the offering last Sunday and the Lord provided over $15,000 in the special offering, on top of the regular offering. Praise Him!

Old Friends. Lydia and I were friends back in Jr High. When our family moved to Texas it pretty much put the damper on that and we drifted apart. I last saw her in 1994, and hadn’t heard from her in several years. But she tracked me down a couple of years ago and we have corresponded from time to time. Finally, last Sunday, she and her sister Candace made the three-hour trek from Illinois to Iowa to visit for a day. It was fun to meet Candace, to introduce Lydia to Becky and the girls, and to spend an afternoon catching up.

Good Music. Did you really think I could write a blog post without mentioning music of some sort? I will ridicule all the radio stations playing wall-to-wall Christmas music already, but I must confess I have had Christmas music of a sort playing repeatedly over the past few weeks. The sort in question isn’t your traditional Christmas stuff, but rather is Andrew Peterson’s wonderful Behold the Lamb of God. (You can stream the whole album from his website. Go listen to it.) The truth of the Christmas story told in an original way. Becky and I are headed to Omaha on December 1st to see Andrew and his huge cast of friends perform it. I can’t wait.

This is only the beginning of what could be a really long list. Lord, remind me to be thankful every day, not just once a year.