Happy Thanksgiving

Upon seeing this, you may realize that it has been quite some time since I have posted anything on this blog. That would be a very astute observation for which I commend your cognitive prowess.What with Facebook being so readily available to post pictures and updates, this blog has to a large degree become virtually obsolete.

However, today is a little different. While I certainly could write something on my Facebook status regarding Thanksgiving (and perhaps will do so), it seems to me that this blog would be a better place to get more into (and out of) this topic.


One common thing that happens among American households every third Thursday of November is that people spend at least a few moments reflecting on the things for which they are thankful. We've done it at my house and, in fact, this year we even got a decorative wall hanging that looks all Thanksgivingy and has 30 little pockets and a bunch of small pieces of paper so that we can write down what we are thankful for and read one item every day.


It is a pretty cute idea, so you should be able to infer from that the fact that it wasn't mine. I always look forward to seeing what Kyle is thankful for because, for a five year old, he can get pretty deep. (Not sure where he gets that!)

With all of that, I must say that I was pretty convicted the other day when I happened to be listening to the podcast of the weekly Stand to Reason radio show. Normally, it is hosted by Greg Koukl though this past week it was hosted by J. Warner Wallace, founder of Please Convince Me, an organization dedicated to training people to better understand/weigh/consider the evidence in favor of Christianity. He works as a cold-case homicide detective for the LAPD, so he has some interesting insights to bring to bear on the subject.

What struck me was in Wallace's opening comments on the show, during which he discussed Thanksgiving at length. I won't get into everything he said but wanted to point out the one thing that really hit home with me. He talked about how often we are thankful for things. However, he also pointed out that, while it's good to be thankful for things, we often seem to miss another aspect of thankfulness. What he points out is that the idea behind Thanksgiving, historically, was not only that we should be thankful for things, but that we should also be thankful to someone.

For example, I can be thankful for having a good job that helps me take care of my family. But am I thankful to my Creator who made me and gave me the skills, talents and "natural" abilities that qualify me for the job that I have which allows me to take care of my family? Do I take it that one step further? Or do I stop at being thankful for the job and take the credit for the ability to do the job?

I can be thankful for my beautiful wife. And I am. But what about the fact that there is a God who gave us His Word that we could use that as a foundation for a world view that we both can share which helps ground us on common principles, values and priorities? I also have to be thankful that a sovereign God had a plan that worked out in such a way that I should find someone who best compliments me by being good at the things I'm not.

My son, my daughter, my parents, my in-laws, my friends, etc. are all things that I am thankful for. And additionally, I must stop to recognize that I am thankful to God for these people and for the things that I have, because ultimately they all come from Him. "Every good and perfect gift..." is how I should be looking at this. Often, I don't do that.

So, for today, I would like to take a moment and reflect on who I am thankful to for the abundant and wonderful blessings that have been given to me in my life. While this probably seems more like something I would normally post on my other blog, I thought I'd like to target my friends and family to encourage you all to do the same, and may you all have a happy, healthy and blessed Thanksgiving.