Give Thanks!

"I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old & the new." — Ralph Waldo Emerson

"We would worry less if we praised more. Thanksgiving is the enemy of discontent & dissatisfaction." ― Harry A. Ironside

Thanksgiving Day

November 24, 2016

Dear FATHER,

I thank YOU for making me & then saving me.

I thank YOU for Saint Cloud, Minnesota.

I thank YOU for the crystal clear lakes of Minnesota.

I thank YOU for the grace & mercy that YOU continuously shower upon me.

I thank YOU for my natural mother making the choice of adoption rather than abortion.

I thank YOU for the family that YOU placed me in.

I thank YOU for New Richmond, Wisconsin.

I thank YOU for my Mom & Dad.

I thank YOU that they cared enough about me to teach me about YOU.

I thank YOU for adopting me as YOUR son.

I thank YOU for the many people who taught me the BIBLE & how they helped to prepare me to live in a way that is pleasing to YOU.

I thank YOU for Saint Louis, Missouri.

I thank YOU for countless visits to Rossino's.

I thank YOU for the honor of being a STL Cardinals baseball fan.

I thank YOU for Creve Coeur Park.

I thank YOU for all my friends in the USA & throughout the world.

I thank YOU for Santo Tomás, El Salvador.

I thank YOU for protecting me during the years of drifting away from YOU.

I thank YOU for Cristiana, Jamaica.

I thank YOU for the trials & bad experiences that have built my faith & trust in YOU.

I thank YOU for Miami, Florida.

I thank YOU for the privilege of being part of "The U" family.

I thank YOU for continually filling me with faith, hope, joy, love, & peace in the midst of unbearable daily pain that YOU somehow convert into a desire within me to encourage others.

I thank YOU for Prospect Heights, Illinois.

I thank YOU for the amazing brothers & sisters in CHRIST that YOU have brought into my life.

I thank YOU for Alajuela, Costa Rica.

I thank YOU for Liga Deportiva Alajuelense.

I thank YOU for creating the perfect wife for me.

I thank YOU for Medellín, Colombia.

I thank YOU for Atlético Nacional.

I thank YOU loving me every day through my wife.

I thank YOU for Homestead, Florida.

I thank YOU for an alligator I saw just a few yards from my patio which prompted me to glide across Lake Wolfe in my kayak at night while a sliver of the moon was illuminating the water with several shades of silver & I was awestruck that something so simple exuded such an intense beauty & peace.

I thank YOU for the uniqueness of the Florida Everglades. 

I thank YOU for Key West, Florida

I thank YOU for the stunning beauty of the Florida Keys.

I thank YOU for the bayous & the swamps.

I thank YOU for the mountains & the valleys.

I thank YOU for Oro Valley, Arizona.

I thank YOU for the abundant desert life.

I thank YOU for the awesomeness of the Grand Canyon.

I thank YOU for the peacefulness of a babbling brook.

Most of all, I thank YOU for YOUR unconditional love.

YOUR son,

BPK

"Not what we say about our blessings but how we use them is the true measure of our thanksgiving." — W.T. Purkiser

"Eucharisteo—thanksgiving—always precedes the miracle." ― Ann Voskamp

"Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, & change ordinary opportunities into blessings." ― William Arthur Ward

"I am grateful for what I am & have. My thanksgiving is perpetual. O how I laugh when I think of my vague indefinite riches. No run on my bank can drain it, for my wealth is not possession but enjoyment." ― Henry David Thoreau

"GOD smiles when we praise & thank HIM continually. Few things feel better than receiving heartfelt praise & appreciation from someone else. GOD loves it, too. An amazing thing happens when we offer praise & thanksgiving to GOD. When we give GOD enjoyment, our own hearts are filled with joy." ― William Law

"Thanksgiving is inseparable from true prayer; it is almost essentially connected with it. One who always prays is ever giving praise, whether in ease or pain, both for prosperity & for the greatest adversity. He blesses GOD for all things, looks on them as coming from HIM, & receives them for HIS sake―not choosing nor refusing, liking or disliking, anything but only as it is agreeable or disagreeable to HIS perfect will." ― John Wesley

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