B E H I N D / T H E / B A R

Happy Thanksgiving.

I hope you have plenty of time today to stop and think about all the things for which you are thankful.  Some of you have spent the last 27 days expressing your thankfulness, don’t stop now you’ve got three more to got.

As I sit here in my warm house, Christmas tree already lit ( I caved), the smell of coffee, fresh baked pecan pies, my beautiful wife asleep in our room, my kids tucked away in theirs, I am truly most thankful for these things and these people in my life.  I’m thankful for my family of faith, and for the journey that we are embarking on together.  I’m thankful for Cadence Coffee, a dream come true.  I’m thankful for true friendship, I’ve learned what that looks like this year, and I’m blown away by the true friends I have been blessed with.  I’m thankful for the students I’ve met, who have such an insatiable hunger for the things of God, who are insane enough to pursue Him relentlessly, they inspire me.

I’m more thankful this year for the simple things, like coats, scarves, heat, beds, food.  I’m also thankful for the people I’ve met like Mac, Gary, Angela, Patricia, and John who don’t have all of those things but still find a way to smile.  I’m thankful that my pretty little world has been turned upside down and is a little more messy simply by meeting people like them.

When I was in high school I played the trumpet.  I actually played the trumpet a time or two in church.  The first song I ever learned to play was Amazing Grace, but the second song, and perhaps my most favorite was an old Andrae Crouch song titled, “My Tribute.”  Now if you don’t know by now, I’m an old soul.  I grew up listening to southern gospel and hymns in church.  I know for some of you that diminishes my questionable cool factor from a zero to negative 100, but I’m okay with that.  Its what I was fed, so its what I learned to eat.  But this song, more beautifully describes the sentiment of my heart this Thanksgiving morning.  I won’t force you to listen to it on YouTube, its there if you wanna look for it.  But here are the words:

How can I say thanks
for the things You have done for me?
Things so undeserved,
yet You gave to prove Your love for me;
the voices of a million angels
could not express my gratitude.
All that I am and ever hope to be,
I owe it all to Thee.

[Chorus 1:]
To God be the glory,
to God be the glory,
to God be the glory
for the things He has done.

[Chorus 2:]
With His blood He has saved me,
with His power He has raised me;
to God be the glory
for the things He has done.

[Bridge:]
Just let me live my life,
let it pleasing, Lord to Thee,
and if I gain any praise,
let it go to Calvary.

Take time today, and truly, sincerely, without anyone else around, tell Him thanks.  Give Him a little glory, for the blessed life you live.

Happy Thanksgiving.