1) The grace, love, patience, wisdom, and goodness of God in my life. He is the reason to breathe and live. I cannot imagine any kind of passionate life without His peace, power, purpose, and Presence.
2) My parents. With each passing year, I realize that my "normal" upbringing - of two loving parents who don't constantly fight, who are unconditionally loving and yet corrective, who actually stay married, who don't have crazy issues, who raise up me "in the fear and admonition of the Lord," who support me in every adventure God sends me on - actually isn't so "normal" after all. I believe the emotional health and confidence I enjoy in life can be contributed to them.
3) For friends. I believe your life is enriched by the friendships you enjoy and cultivate and I have long acknowledged that God has for whatever reason blessed me with the greatest friends on earth.
4) For bridgeCHURCH. I hear people say on a weekly basis that they have searched all their life for a church like this, and even though I was privileged enough to help start it, I am well aware it is much bigger than us and that we are simply along for the ride. We have many faults and have much room for improvement, and granted I am biased, but to me it is the dream church. I love who we're becoming, what we're learning, the impact we're having, what God's Spirit is doing, and the kind of community that we are creating.
5) Coffee!! Oh let me count the ways...
6) Good food. I love food.
7) For all of my family. I have the greatest family and as I mentioned with my parents, it is something I grow more and more fond of and grateful for with each passing year, and bemoan the fact that I can't be around them more.
8) Good books. The person who said no one's life can be changed by a book is a fool. A book can do much damage or much good. It can enrich one's faith or shipwreck one's faith, and I am so thankful for the wealth of good books available to us today. From spiritual blessing to financial management to nutritional value to simply refreshing recreational fiction. Reading has been a daily part of my life since first grade and has shaped much of who I am.
9) Music. Oh, what kind of magic would be lost to life without music. From anointed worship to punk angst to relaxing melodies to uplifting rifts - anything and everything for every mood, purpose, and season. It is the soundtrack of our lives.
10) For the change of seasons. We often take this for granted. But God has given us varying scenes and colors and temperatures and atmospheres for our own emotional good, and so that we may more keenly appreciate the opposites and extremities.
11) For the many opportunities I have had for vacation and travel.
12) For living in a free country.
13) For my Pastor. He is a best friend, mentor, spiritual leader, and father figure.
14) For Greenville, SC. A rejuvenating place to always come back to with great friends and family and warmer weather.
15) For bridgeGROUPS.
16) For the many opportunities God has given me to operate out of my "sweet spot" - in leading, teaching, preaching, writing, and drama.
17) Speaking spanish.
18) My health. You tend to take this for granted until it is in jeopardy. But I am so glad for every working limb and for energy and wholeness. I am also thankful for fitness and for a gym to work out in.
19) Having everything I need. I may not be rich compared to those who shop on Rodeo Drive in LA, but compared to the vast majority of the world, I am unworthily filthy, filthy rich. I have food, clothing, shelter, medical care, and many, many extras that I do not need. I am thankful.
20) A job. (Actually, two.) Though I am quite restless for the day that church work is all that I have to concern myself with, I am well aware that there are many people who would simply like to have a job at all.
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ADDITIONS FOR 2012
21) A dream job. I'll kick off this year by piggy-backing off of and expanding on last year's last topic. It's so easy to dream of a day when "this happens" and then take it for granted. I don't want to do that. I am thankful that I am getting paid to do what I'm most passionate about doing. I'm thankful that I'm in full-time ministry at the dream church with the dream boss with the dream schedule.
22) Massages. You laugh. But there are few things I enjoy more. I am perhaps a little too grateful for this gracious tool from the Lord to knead out my stress, loosen my shoulders, drive the knots from my aching muscles, bring pleasure to my every nerve, and release the toxins that would keep my body wound and tight.
23) Accountability. I am grateful for this painful but beautiful gift from God. "Iron sharpens iron" and a loving rebuke from a friend can be like oil on the head. I am thankful for friends God has placed in my life who "speak the truth in love" to me. There is no telling what my life would be like if God had placed no divine gardeners in my life to help prune the branches, spot the weeds, and spur on growth.
24) Gym and fitness. This could tie in to the health I enjoy, but I don't know what I would do without regular exercise or the luxurious but inexpensive gym I enjoy. We all know the benefits are endless, but regular exercise gives me energy, confidence, achievement, stress reduction, health, fitness goals, and an overall sense of well-being.
25) I am very thankful for my girlfriend Kayla! She loves Jesus, loves me, and is breath-taking to look at it. The trifecta! She has been my companion to watch Train and Matt Kearney, go to church, take Ikea trips, explore Charleston, cook and shop, watch LOST, learn how to play with babies, and have fun with! And she puts up with me!
26) Diesel Jeans. Allow me to be materialistic for a minute. God "has given us all things for our enjoyment," and this is one of them I do enjoy. I don't purchase clothes like I used to, but I still come close to lust when it comes to a good pair of jeans that fit perfectly, and Diesel delivers! They are softer than imaginable and stretchy, but yet don't stretch out - they retain their shape perfectly. They last longer than gold, conform to perfection, the sizes and fits are on point, the washes and details are classic and precise, and they look and feel amazing! If you literally live in jeans like I do, a good pair can be a good investment. Diesels are a bit pricey, and so I have yet to ever pay full price for a pair, but they are worth the extra penny!
27) LOST and The Office. I am not a TV watcher by any means, but through DVD and Netflix, these are two shows over the last 5 years that I have gotten into. Make fun of me as you wish, but my emotional, character, and storyline attachment in LOST runs deep. And The Office is one of those few shows I can watch over and over and still laugh until I hurt!
28) The United States of America. I touched on this briefly last year, but it bears repeating and expounding. We could all sit for days and list the spiritual, social, economic, political, and moral problems and concerns of this nation. But I am grateful for every life and price that has been paid for the freedoms that we do enjoy. This is still a land of opportunity and liberty. I can still go worship every Sunday and Wednesday at my church and not fear for my life. I can still have a voice and speak out concerning what I wish. As has been said before, our bumper stickers should no longer read "God bless America." God already has. Indeed He has.
29) Creation and Nature. I don't know about you, but I take the vast and expansive sky above my head for granted almost every day. But one of my New Year's Resolutions for this year was to get outside more and I've done it. I'm grateful for the swallowing and mysterious ocean that I stood before last month. I'm grateful for nearby mountains that I've escaped to on weekends to sabbath and replenish my spirit. I'm glad for the nearby arboretum and its intoxicating solitude in which to read, meditate, and pray. I'm thankful for the multiple times I've stepped hurriedly out of a building only to be stopped in my tracks by the sunset - terribly beautiful hues painted straight from God's canvas - splendor so striking that it hurt. God gave us wonder as a way to worship, and sometimes it's easy to forget that we built buildings and prisons and God made landscapes much better and worth stepping out to explore.
30) Preachers. This is one of God's primary ways of speaking and I'm so thankful. Thankful for my pastor who rightly divides the truth and dispenses hope like a dealer every week. Thankful for modern technology that allows me to hear men like Francis Chan, Jim Cymbala, Steven Furtick, Leonard Ravenhill, Paul Washer, and others on a regular basis to convict my heart, encourage my spirit, instruct my mind, change my life, and challenge my soul. Thank you Lord for these instruments.
I spoke again on a grateful spirit this week at bridgeGROUPS. I'm thankful for a positive outlook that I naturally possess, but I want more than ever to not only grow in an "attitude of gratitude" but express it more and more - to God and to those around me. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
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