I'm thankful for

I'm thankful for many things:

For the sound of tiny 3-year-old feet running toward me for a hug, shouting "Daddy!" 

For a daughter who is potty trained at 15 months and just as excited about that as I am

For children who love to sing the Doxology, Gloria Patri, and Nunc Dimittis

For a wife who cares deeply for our family and works diligently to show it. She is beautiful in every way

For my wife's family who cared deeply for her all her life, raising her and shaping her into the godly woman she is today

For my own family that fears God, and takes his word very seriously

For my Puritan upbringing, the Anglican communion in which I now serve, and the entire baptized Body which shares in the same Life

For cassocks, albs, cinctures, stoles, and all those called to wear them

For morning prayer and forgiveness each day

For water, bread, and wine

For eggs and coffee in the morning

For briar, meerschaum, icons, and holy incense

For theologians with great imagination, humility, and charity

For neighbors with whom I disagree about many things, but listen carefully and are teachable

For friends who post blessercise videos for fun (you know who you are)

For Facebook, which keeps me mindful of how little I know, how many half-truths are propagated around the world, and how important face-to-face relationships really are

For elderly friends who care, and the multiple, daily phone calls I receive from them

For the Riverwest Food Pantry and Hunger Task Force

For pro-life crisis pregnancy centers, and the news of another life saved

For water, bread, and wine

For electricity and all the conveniences which accompany that

For text messaging, email, and e-bills

For Netflix and Amazon Prime's exhaustive lists of clean, educational kid shows

For books, children who LOVE them, and a wife who loves our love for books

For smartphones, YouTube, and the global awareness of social injustice

For Twitter, which forces me to condense my thoughts or just shut up

For the few Pilgrims who ate meals peacefully with Indians

For the Indians who showed mercy toward pilgrims despite the horrible treatment they received from Christians

For the few Presidents who acknowledged God's abundant mercies upon such unworthy people

For the water, the bread, and the wine