Thankful Thursday #24

I am thankful today that I have been able to re-establish a routine in my life, setting aside time for exercise and music and other important matters.  Unfortunately, the new routine makes it a lot easier to do this post on Saturday than Thursday.  Is there a word that means “thankful” and starts with an “S”?

I am thankful that I still have a job.  It takes a while for a recession to affect income tax revenue, but the time has come and my state is struggling to balance its budget.  Since my employer receives a substantial portion of its revenue from state agencies, the budget crisis is now affecting me, too.  Yesterday I was asked to reduce my hours to 36 per week.   This is not happy news, of course, but at least they didn’t eliminate my position.  And hey, it gives me more free time to… well, I’m not sure what yet.  I guess I’ll have to tweak the new routine.

I am thankful that I still have legs.  I found out this week that a former colleague of mine had to have his amputated.  My heart goes out to him and his family.  They’ll have a lot of adjusting to do.

And of course, my heart also goes out to the residents of Haiti, who have suffered unimaginable devastation this week.  For many years we sponsored a child there through Compassion International — for enough years that she really isn’t a child anymore.  Because she recently left the program, we don’t have any way of knowing where she is now, or whether she is OK.  I am praying, hoping that God has protected her.  I am thankful for the many men and women who have devoted themselves to improving the lives of the poor in such out-of-the-way places.  The world needs more of them.

Thankful Thursday #23

I’m really thankful for heat.  It was only 5 degrees F. on my way to work this morning, and only 10 degrees F. on my way home.  I stood outside for just a few minutes this evening putting gas in the car — brrrrrrrr!!!  But the inside of my car was warm, my office was warm, my house is warm.  Back in my Kiev days, I knew what it was to be cold with no place warm to go.  Inside my classroom it was 40 degrees.  The dormitory where I lived wasn’t much better.  I was fortunate to have hot water in the shower, and I often took showers solely for that reason.  The cold feeling seemed to go all the way to the bone.  Now if I feel cold, I have no qualms about turning the thermostat up!

Thankful Thursday #22

Happy New Year!  Sorry I’m late with this greeting — New Year’s activities have prevented me from getting my post out on time.

My dear wife rightly points out that January 1, 2010 does NOT begin a new decade (for that we must wait another year). Nevertheless, the round number begs to differ.  So, here are a few things I’m thankful for as I reflect on the past ten years:

Can it really be ten years since the Y2K scare?  I’m sure thankful that nothing worse happened than some New Year’s Eve price gouging on gasoline.

I’m also thankful that we haven’t had a major act of terrorism in America since September 11, 2001.  While our security forces deserve a lot of credit, I can’t help thinking that God has had a hand in that result.

I’m thankful that I have been employed these past 10 years.  I managed to change jobs in 2001 not long before the degree program I had been supporting was eliminated.  I hadn’t expected to stay at the new job eight years, but I’m thankful for the stability it provided during the roughest part of the economic downturn.  And I’m very thankful for the job I just started.

I’m thankful that I had ten more happy years of marriage.

I’m thankful for God’s love for me these past ten years, which did not wax and wane as did my love for Him.

I’m thankful for our house, which has not burned down or suffered any other catastrophe in the past ten years.  And I’m also thankful that we were able to make some improvements and major system repairs during that time.

I’m thankful that my father-in-law made his peace with the Lord before he passed away.  And I’m thankful that my father, who had a cancerous tumor on his spine, is still with us.

I could add a lot more to this list, but this post is already a good bit longer than usual.  Thanks for reading, and have a happy 2010!

Thankful Thursday #21

Well, it’s Christmas Eve and I have much to be thankful for!

First and foremost, I am thankful for God’s unfathomable gift to us all:  the Word Made Flesh, Jesus Christ, whose birth as a human being we celebrate this weekend.

I am also thankful that the blizzard you have undoubtedly seen in the news, if not outside your window, mostly passed by the road between my house and my workplace.  Strong winds are keeping what snow we’ve had from settling anywhere, but we had been expecting much worse:  freezing rain followed by several inches of snow — in addition to the winds.  That could have made my drive today much longer and more dangerous.  I am thankful that I was able to drive at the speed limit the whole way in both directions.

I am thankful every day for my beautiful wife, so I usually avoid mentioning it so as not to bore my faithful readers. But Christmas Eve is a pretty special occasion, and I’m especially thankful for her today.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Thankful Thursday #20

Today is my birthday, and I am thankful for the years God has given me and for all the people who have wished me joy on this special day.  This evening my wife and I went out to dinner with my boss and his wife, and I’m thankful that I have a boss I can actually enjoy spending that kind of time with.  I’ve been working long enough to know how rare that is.

I am also grateful for yet another stunning sunset.  Lately it seems that each Thursday brings a sunset more spectacular than the last, and I can’t seem to stretch words far enough to adequately convey what I saw tonight.  The sky was like black cherry soda pop colored lava.

And I just finished off a piece of the chocolate espresso birthday tart that my wonderful woman made me.  Mmmmm.  There’s a whole lot of thankful in that!

Thankful Thursday #19

It has been a busy week, but we managed to get our Christmas tree set up and decorated.  I’m thankful for that, because it makes me smile every time I look at it.

I’m thankful that I was able to make it safely back and forth to work this week during the first winter storm of the season.  Not everyone was so fortunate:  I saw a few cars in the ditch, including one that had rolled over.

I’m really thankful for a warm house, since the temperatures have been in the single digits this week.   Brrrrrrrrrrrr!

Thankful Thursday #18

I am thankful for sunlight, especially at this time of the year.  I spent two winters many years ago in Kiev, Ukraine — much farther north than where I live now — and was amazed at how short the days became.  The change in the amount of daylight from week to week, even day to day, was noticeable.  Ever since then, I have paid more attention to the shortening and lengthening of days.  I have also noticed the negative affect the accumulating darkness has on my attitude.  This year I bought a “sunrise alarm clock” — it simulates sunrise with a gradually brightening light at whatever time you set — and it has helped me a great deal.  Waking up is much easier, and my attitude is better, too.  Real sunlight is better, of course, but I’m thankful for artificial sunlight too.

Thankful Thursday #17

It’s Thanksgiving, which means today people across the entire United States of America will be joining me in expressing their thankfulness.

Some things I’m thankful for today:

• I think it’s finally safe for me to say that I am not sick anymore!  YES!!!
• I still have a job (missing so much work so soon after being hired was making my employer nervous — and me, too).
• I have a home to live in, reliable transportation, and some savings in the bank.  By itself that’s more blessing than most people in this world can count.
• I have the Bible in my own language, in several translations, and access to scholarly opinions whenever I run into parts that are hard to understand.  All that, and the freedom to worship as I choose.
• I have access to the medications I have been prescribed, without which I would certainly be miserable and possibly dead.
• I have a happy marriage to a wonderful woman, two healthy cats, and a family that I actually look forward to seeing during the holidays.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Thankful Thursday #16

On my way home this evening, the sky was painted in pastel pinks and blues overlaid with soft-edged clouds as if it were the wall of an enormous nursery.  It was gorgeous, and calming.

I might not have noticed the sky if I hadn’t planned to write this post.  I didn’t wake up feeling thankful.  In fact, I spent much of the morning stewing about realities that I don’t like, growing more irritable and angry as the morning wore on.  But on the road home I realized I would have to be thankful for something, or I would have nothing to write this evening.  So, I stopped looking at everything that wasn’t going my way for a moment and tried to see blessings.  And suddenly I beheld this beautiful sky that had been filling my windshield just beyond my notice.

God is good all the time.  Most of the time I don’t notice.  I’m sure thankful that my inattention doesn’t change His goodness!

Thankful Thursday #15

OK, I know, it’s totally not Thursday.  It’s Saturday afternoon.  Better late than never, though.

I am not quite over this illness, whatever it is.  But I was well enough this week to put in a full 40 hours at work, and I’m very thankful for that.