Happy Thanksgiving, friends! I'll be in California next week but I wanted to do a little something for Thanksgiving this week, noting all the things I'm thankful for from 2024.
Anyone who knows me will tell you that I'm not exactly what you would call a "reflective" person. I don't spend a lot of time thinking about the past or focusing on things that have already happened. I have much more fun thinking about the future and the things that could be. So, exercises like this are sometimes hard for me. What am I thankful for from the past year? I have no idea. I can't even remember what happened last week, much less what happened in January. Still, these kinds of exercises are good for me, so here we go!
Anyone who knows me will tell you that I'm not exactly what you would call a "reflective" person. I don't spend a lot of time thinking about the past or focusing on things that have already happened. I have much more fun thinking about the future and the things that could be. So, exercises like this are sometimes hard for me. What am I thankful for from the past year? I have no idea. I can't even remember what happened last week, much less what happened in January. Still, these kinds of exercises are good for me, so here we go!
- I'm thankful for our pets. Gus is perfect in every way, especially since we changed his substate and his enclosure doesn't smell as bad as it used to smell. Phoebe is still very much a puppy but she's growing and learning and we get along pretty well.
- I'm thankful for our kids having friends. Our kids are pretty popular and I'm OK with that. Ezra has his friends from scouts and soccer (#GoBlackWidows) and is often being invited to playdates. Thaliea has her friends too, including a relatively new best friend and enjoys playing after school. Even JoJo has his buddies from preschool and daycare. He's even starting to remember names! It's so good to see our kiddos being social and enjoying community.
- I'm thankful for Bellevue University. My first few years out here in Omaha, my student ministry interaction was pretty minimal. I would help at a student conference if I could or I would meet with a student or two, but it wasn't anything sustained. The past few years, and this year especially, I've been really involved with Bellevue University and it's been great. I don't actually spend a ton of time with the students but just the fact that there's a chapter that is growing with great student leaders is a huge blessing.
- I'm thankful for my parents making it to 70. Honestly, I don't have a great concept of what counts as "old age." 70 seems old but then again, there are people in the highest levels of government who are older than my parents. I think I'm influenced at least a little bit by the fact that at least 2 of my 4 grandparents (maybe 3?) died before turning 70, so I always figured that 70 was a good goal to hit. I'm sure my kids agree.
- I'm thankful for opportunities to preach. Bridge is a great church and I'm so glad that I get to be a part of it. I'm also glad that they've trusted me enough to allow me to use my gift of preaching. There's a joke at our church that I get assigned all the hard sermons (see last week's post about politics) but the truth is that I really love the chance to share God's word.
I'm sure if I thought about it more, I could make up a whole list of things I'm thankful for. There really are a lot of things, including my health, curling, and of course, Megan. This is just a small sampling so I can get the thankfulness juices flowing. I'm also super thankful for you, dear reader. When I started this blog all those years ago, it was because I wanted to keep people up to date on ministry happenings. It never stayed that way and I've been able to share about other aspects of life and the goodness of God. For that opportunity, and the fact that people actually want to hear about what's going on, I am truly thankful.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
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