Thanksgiving 2015

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭100:4-5‬ ‬‬‬‬‬‬
     This year, as with most years, I like to spend time and give thanks for the things God has blessed me with. Of course, it’s easy to just name off things we are thankful for, so I decided to give a reason I am thankful for every thing I list here. Without further delay, here are twenty things that I am thankful for in 2015 (in no particular order).

1. New restaurants in my area: I know this sounds a bit weird to have on a list like this, especially since it is the first thing, but I really am thankful. I love eating food, but eating the same things over and over can be monotonous. Having new restaurants in town changes things up, and the food is quite good.
2. New headphones: I bought a new pair of headphones a while ago, and they have totally embarrassed my old Apple earpods. I listen to a lot of music, especially while at work, so having a nice pair of headphones makes the experience more enjoyable.
3. The Gaither Vocal Band: The GVB is a gospel singing group who have been around for a very long time. Their leader, Bill Gaither, has written a lot of famous songs, including “Because He Lives” and “He Touched Me”. I have really gotten into their music this year, even though they are kind of an “old person” group. However, I really enjoy their style, and I always like listening to hymns because they have such a strong message.
4. Smartphone: At the beginning of this year, I finally got a smartphone. While it often can be a distraction, it is also a very useful thing to have. I have used my phone to record vocal team practices, tune my guitar, take photos, check the weather, and so much more. I am thankful that I have upgraded from my old flip phone.
5. New clothing: This year I bought some new clothes, and got rid of a lot of my old stuff. I recently started taking an interest in wearing good clothing, which I never really had before. Granted, my sense of style is still fairly bad, this year I think I have made better purchases in regards to my clothing. In any case, I am thankful.
6. New watch: A watch is something that I think is so important for me to have. I hate having to pull out my phone in order to check the time. It can be seen as disrespectful, and pulling out your phone to check the time is too cumbersome. This year I bought a new watch that I really like, and I hope to keep for many years.
7. Car mechanics: Unfortunately my car has experienced a lot of issues in the past year. In fact, the car is at the mechanic at the time of writing this post. However, I am thankful that there are people who are able to fix these problems.
8. School: This may come as a surprise to you, because it sure is a surprise to me that school made this list. This year, I found a new interest in learning, which I believe comes from the fact that I am a senior and my classes are more focused. I’m learning more about how knowledge can be applied to the real world, which makes school so much more bearable. Of course, school will always feel like a chore, but I thank God that I am enjoying it more.
9. Mechanical keyboard: For those that don’t know, a mechanical keyboard is a keyboard for your computer that implements a different type of mechanism than most keyboards these days. In layman terms, a mechanical keyboard is easier to type with. This keyboard has made my life just a little bit easier.
10. Eyesight: This may sound weird at first, but let me explain. I have worn glasses for a large portion of my life, and every year since I have started, my eyesight has gotten worse. However, this is the first year that my eyesight has not gotten worse than before. I am thankful that I don’t have to purchase new glasses, and that my poor eyesight hasn’t gotten any worse.
11. New job: I got an internship over the summer, which continued through the fall semester. The work I do is more related to my field than my last job, and the pay is better as well. I am thankful for the experience that I am getting, and of course, the money.
12. Friends: Many friends that I have had sort of faded away when I entered college. It was just due to people going to different colleges, and the fact that my college is huge. I don’t get to see some friends as often as I’d like, but I am thankful that there are still people that I get to see on a regular basis.
13. Church: Springing off of number 12, I am thankful for the people at my church. The church is not just the building, but the people. I am so grateful for all the people that God has placed in my church, who continually support each other and believe in God.
14. YDJ: YDJ is the name of my church’s young adult group, for those that don’t know. I am thankful for all the people in this group, who have come together during the semester to study God’s word together. I am also thankful for the other YDJ leaders that I work with, who have been faithful to serve even when we lost a key member last year.
15. The vocal team: This year, my church’s vocal team has sung a lot of songs. Being a part of this team has been so much fun, because everyone is willing to spend time to make sure we sound good. Every person on the team is so talented, and singing with them was a great way to worship God through music.
16. My Bible teacher: He has been a friend of mine for a couple years now, and we have learned a lot about each other over the years. He also happens to be the leader of the praise team, and we often bump heads when it comes to that. However, I am thankful that God has used him to bless me and our church in so many ways, and I hope God continually blesses him.
17. Praise team: I have been a part of the “adult” praise team for around 3 years, after being in the youth praise team for a long time. We have grown a lot in terms of music, which I am incredibly grateful for. While we still make many mistakes (myself guilty), I think that we have come to a point where we can place the focus off of music and onto God. I’ll probably write a post explaining this point in more detail, but for now, suffice to say I am thankful for the worship team.
18. Opportunity to give a message: I was privileged to give a message during my church's summer Bible conference. While I struggled a lot writing and rewriting the message, I thank God that I had great people around me to support me and guide me. I learned a lot about what it means to meditate on God's Word, and also how to effectively communicate His Word.
19. Reading the Apostle’s Creed: I forget when exactly, but our church started reading the Apostle’s Creed at the start of every Sunday worship service. I think this is a great way to declare what we believe as a church. The Apostle’s Creed has really made me think about the core of what I believe, and I am thankful that every week I am reminded of who it is that I have come to worship.
20. Family: Any thanksgiving list would be incomplete without some mention of family. My family has shaped the person that I am today, so if you don’t like me, it’s their fault. In all seriousness though, I am so grateful for my parents and brothers, who support me and help me grow.
21. God: Nothing on this list would be possible without God. God is the provider of all things, and I would be nothing without Him. Through Jesus Christ, He has given my life everlasting. What else can compete with that? I confess that I don’t always give thanks to God for what He has done. It should be so easy to be grateful to God, since He has blessed me so much, but I am weak and sinful and forget His goodness. I pray that in the future, I will follow the wisdom in Psalm 100:4-5, “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”

-Smart