With Thanksgiving just a few days away, I found myself thinking through what this day means to most of our nation. As I grabbed a cup of coffee this morning from "Pancho", he drives the roach coach that parks outside of the SSA building along my route, I wondered
what his Thanksgiving day would be like. If he's like most Americans, it will be filled with lots of food...lots of football...and of course lots of booze. (If your Mexican like me, this usually means Tequila.) After all, isn't that what most holidays are like for those whose lives have yet to be redeemed?This Thankgiving has special meaning to me because I just took part in a dramatized presentation of the very 1st Thanksgiving that took place in Plimoth between the Pilgrims and Indians many moons ago. I played the part of Squanto, an English speaking Indian who helped the Pilgrims survive after coming to America by teaching them how to hunt and plant crops. It was lots of fun.
As I drove away from "Pancho" with hot coffee in hand, I was thinking about all the people I'm thankful to the Lord Jesus for, for allowing to be a part of my life. Some I've never even met, but will one day. Others I see daily in my own home. The Lord has used them to shape who I am today in different ways.
I thank Jesus for the following ladies who've helped me overcome myself and have reflected Christlikeness to me in ways that only the most Godly women can: My wife June, who knows my faults and loves me anyway just like Jesus, my Mom Sara, my sister Marisela, and my friend Rhonda. The Lord has also shown Himself to me through some Godly women in our ministry at church as well. I will refrain from naming them, but they have blessed June and I by assisting us and helping us draw closer to the Lord through Godly examples!
I also thank the Lord for the following Men who have molded me and shaped me in ways that they may never know...first and foremost the Lord Jesus himself...for giving me a new life in Him that has meaning and beauty that will last for all eternity. Thanks also for: My Dad Reynaldo, brothers Israel and Rey, and my brother-in-law Bob Dyckman. Pastors Mark...Mike...and Asa..., Herb Devine, Pastor Bruce Ray, Pastor Dave Garratt, Pastor Steve Dewitt, Mark Driscoll, Leif Moi, Ravi Zacharias, John Piper, Douglas Wilson, Pastor Virgil Wesco and family, Doug Philips and Vision Forum Ministries, and the list could go on and on for those who the Lord has used to impact my life.
I'm also thankful for the families who allow me to fellowship with them and lead them in our ministry at New Life Community Church. If you attend Home Builders...I thank God for you!
So as Thanksgiving day approaches, won't you take a moment to thank God for who He's brought into your life to enrich it in ways you'd never be able to alone. Be thankful this holiday...and as you sit there with turkey in your stomach, pie on your plate, and family and friends all around... remember the Lord who purchased you with his blood so that you may live a life of meaning, which is the only kind worth living!
"I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." John 10:10
