Friday, November 16, 2018

There in the Ground His Body Lay





Thankfulness


As we head into this season of Thanksgiving (and soon Christmas) I'v been reflecting on thankfulness a lot. We have an axiom in our community that we talk about that says, "Thanks never goes without saying". Too often, factors keep us from expressing our appreciation to people for things they've done in our lives. Oftentimes with parents, children have grown up with a sense of entitlement, that their parents have to take care of them, that unfortunately continues into their adulthood. Sometimes, we don't want to admit that we've been helped or that we needed help so we avoid saying thank you and implying our own helplessness. More often than not, our thoughtlessness means we don't even realize or take the time to reflect ton the ways people have helped us. 

But, thank you is such a big deal. For a long time, Brandon would thank me for doing certain things that were part of my job. Thanks for meeting with those guys, thanks for driving to that thing, thanks for taking the time to do that. And I thought it was unnecessary because it was just part of my job. But over the years I've found that the appreciation, even for the things I should already be doing, makes for a much more positive experience. The things I should be doing become the things that I get to be doing. 
I've seen that play out with people who don't say thank you as well. When I serve people over and over without a thank you it really puts a damper on my willingness to serve them anymore. Even when it's just thoughtlessness, it doesn't alleviate the lack of appreciation. 

And we need to find the little things that we should be appreciating as well! That it's so hard to mobilize the group, be thankful that so many students are a part of the group; that it's hard to plan a lesson because everyone is in such a different place in their spiritual journey, be thankful that we're reaching such a diverse group; or one that I often find myself appreciative about: I'm always so busy and I end up having to do tasks not in my job description, but I get to do campus ministry!

I also want to make sure I express how thankful I am for all of you! Because of your prayers and support, I'm able to be a part of this amazing, vibrant community and be a part of God's work here in DFW. I get to have amazing relationships and experience all that God has here for me. Thank you so much and if you are ever in the area, if you ever have a need or a request of some sort, please let me know! 

My parents surprised me by coming to Texas this year. I invited them to Family Night a few weeks ago, and they said that they wouldn't be able to make it because of the price of airline tickets. I was disappointed as this would be my 8th Family Night that I've attended, but I didn't express that. And then the night came around and my parents surprised me by showing up! It was such a great experience to be able to show them the community I've been a part of all these years. And I tried to express how thankful I was that they'd come all the way down here to see me.