Carl Thomas dot net

Things That I Am Thankful For Today

Ever had a bad day?  I mean a really bad day.  Yeah?  Then you understand my yesterday.  This broken window was not even the worst of the day.

I woke up this morning thinking about how I still am not done dealing with the issues of yesterday when I decided that yesterday is not going to define my today.  You get to choose what to focus on.  Today, I am going to focus on all the great things that are happening in my life.

In that spirit I wanted to post a short list of some of the things I am thankful for today.

• My marriage.  Folks will tell you that as time goes on, you and your spouse will drift apart.  That only happens if you and your spouse are not submitted to the God of Love.  My marriage is better today than it has ever been.  I am thankful that my wife has grown as our family has grown.  I hope I have done the same.
• My kids.  My son broke said window and he tried to give me money to help pay for it.  These kids have no idea how thankful God brought them into my life.  I tell them all the time.  Anastasia tells me she knows because I tell her all the time but I keep insisting that she has no idea how much I love them and how thankful to God I am for them.
• My home.  The economy the last five years threw my family into a spin.  We were never in danger of losing our house.  No matter how bad things got, we never feared we would be homeless.
• Coffee.  Of faithful friend.  You help me regulate that internal mechanism that determines so much of my day.
• The call to south Florida.  I know great people happily serving God in awful places.  The weather is beautiful here.  I love living near the beach.  I love Delray Beach.  I love seeing the sun.  I love hot summer days.  I love flat landscape.  I love palm trees.  I even love all the lizards (not their droppings everywhere).  I love old cars with big tires, tinted windows and loud stereos pumping Miami bass.  I love long shorts year round.  I love the mixture of cultures.  I just love living here.
• Air conditioning.  Without it that last bullet point would be off the list.
• Wifi.  My office is in Panera Bread.  I spend less than $20 a month on rent instead of a grand because of wifi.
• Google voice.  transcribed emails sent to your phone.
• The bulleted lazy man’s blog post.  When only three people read your blog it is foolish to spend too much time on it.
• Khamille Barbosa.  Joined to The Mission.  Tireless worker.  Prayer warrior.  Sanctified wife of Sergio.  I just got an email from her with notes for this week’s Connection Group.  Most folks are not even out of bed and she is doing volunteer work after she hosted a women’s meeting last night, will host a Connection group tonight, will attend setup and prayer Friday night, host worship practice Saturday, and help lead worship Sunday.  And still if I asked her to do something she would not hesitate to say yes.  Fellas, stop praying carnal junk about your future wife.
• My blackberry.  The world in my pocket.
• Two working cars.  I could call this one and a half working cars but for the sake of this post we are being positive.
• My wife’s chicken parmesan.
• The many faithful volunteers at The Mission.  Without them we would have a far crappier service and my life would be far more miserable.
• Watching folks get baptized in the Holy Ghost.  If I did not get to preach any more this is what I would miss the most.  There is nothing like watching the glow on someone who gets filled and speaks in tongues for the first time.

I could go on and on with this list but you get the idea.  What are you thankful for today?  Write it down.  Or better yet, call some people and let them know.  It will make your day all the better.