Thank God

That phrase, "Thank God," is too abused.
- Thank God I found that parking place.
- Oh, you've got lemon rice soup today? Thank God.
- This day is over, thank God.
- Thank God the Colts won Sunday!

Don't get me wrong, I am all in favor of giving thanks to God. Sadly, I don't know if there is a lot of truth to many people using the phrase "Thank God." In no way am I saying that it is being used in a cursing manner, however, I don't think it is being given the proper respect it should.

When thanking God for something, it should be sincere. It is ok to give a quick thanks to God, but not in a flippant or sarcastic way.

I thank God every day in different ways. I must admit, I have been guilty of an "oh thank God," plenty of times. I have been thanking God each day when my car starts. Lately that has been an issue, it actually starting, so I am very thankful when it starts. Many times when I pass a furnace vent and feel the warm air blowing out, I thank God for a working furnace.

Giving thanks to God is easy. It can be done for big or small things, just the attitude in which we give those thanks is the critical matter. Here are a few more things I am thankful for:
- A great job and Pastor to work for. I am so blessed to have the position I have. I am also blessed to work for a Godly man who loves me and helps me to grow and gives me freedom to fly.
- A wonderful family. Not just my incredible wife and beautiful girls, but my parents and Cindy's parents. I have the greatest brother-in-laws and extended family. My aunts, uncles and cousins are all wonderful people. I hear stories of families who aren't as blessed and it reminds me how fortunate I am.
- A nice home. We worked hard to get where we are, but God has blessed us beyond what I ever dreamed when we got this home.
- Creativity. God gave me an extra dose I think and I love it. You know how they make the various boxes of crayons when you are a kid. They come in boxes of 8, 16, 24, 32, 48, 64, and so on. My crayon box probably came with over 700 crayons.

So God I thank you. Thank you for loving me, a sinner, and having the grace and mercy to love me despite my failures and giving me the opportunity to try and please you every day.
I thank you also because you may be one of the only ones in the world who will read this.

Another Year of Less Blogging...

I used to love to blog. Blogging helped me. I had community with blogging and it was fun. Unfortunately, the community I blogged in wasn't for me anymore and so I walked away. As I left that audience, I lost my drive to share and communicate as I once did. I miss the blogging, not the space.

My wife just started her Facebook. I helped her get it started and reconfirmed why I don't belong there. I am sure she will have fun with it.

2009 was a hard year. I had many amazing blessings and have walked through some very painful things as well. I am slightly optimistic about 2010, but with several open wounds that I don't see healing anytime soon, I see more pain in my future. I need to pray more, there's a resolution.

I won a fantasy baseball and a fantasy football championship this year. Sadly, those are two of my proudest moments from the year. Don't get me wrong, I had many great things to rejoice about, however, those are in my frontal lobe right now as "joy."

My family is well and that is a great joy. Cindy went through her second bout of "basal cell" cancer. We are blessed that this is all it was. She started her first year of "job share" teaching. That has gone wonderfully. Our girls are incredible. Both growing up too fast. I often feel like Adam Sandler in the movie "Click." This is where I do find most of my joy - family.

Some of my joy can also be found in friendships. I have witnessed several good friends get married this year. We have gotten close to many of our friends in our Care Group from church. I have also seen good friends drift away. Many due to me leaving the "space" while others chose to walk away.

While my optimism for 2010 may not seem too exciting, I must say I am cool with saying goodbye to 2009. 2010...Thanks. You got here just in time.