Even the pessimist when he thinks, if he ever does, must realise that he has something to be thankful for: he owes something to the world, as [Robinson] Crusoe did to the ship. You may regard the universe as a wreck: but at least you have saved something from the wreck.

-G.K. Chesterton

I'm thankful for dirty dishes and dirty laundry to be washed, for phone conversations with Mutti, for a cell phone that keeps dropping the calls just so we have to come up with a new joke every time I call her back.

I'm thankful for the little sum of Christmas cash that was mine before I spent it all on used books and music. I'm thankful for the fact that work is over, for bread'n'butter and Mr'n'MrsW in the kitchen, for piles of unopened (used books!) packages on my bed to greet me when I stagger into my room. I'm thankful for Andy Gullahorn and Andrew Osenga, whose music I am thoroughly belatedly discovering and not losing a bit of enjoyment for the lateness.

I'm thankful for being sore in muscles and in spirit, for knowing that I've been pressed to my limits but not beyond, and especially for the knowledge that though the muscles may grow and the soul may develop, everything I am is found in another's work, another's life, another's strength.

I'm thankful for the feeble little conversation at work where I threw caution to the wind and told one of my coworkers about the Chesterton book I was reading. I'm thankful for the hope that maybe I can get that person to read something, since they seemed interested.

I'm thankful for Mama and Papa, for the thought of them an hour away and the clumsy calm that is my family's household. I'm thankful for the love they have for each other and Christ. I'm really thankful for The Prodigal God, the book they gave me and all my siblings. It's beautiful.

I'm thankful for Libby, safely (I pray) returned to school and beginning to rearrange her life according to the demands of student teaching. I'm thankful for all those seventh graders who will supply her with stories and struggles, for the ways grace will find her and she will find grace in it all.

I'm thankful for Ruth, looking forward to finishing things off (driver's test!) and starting other things (a new semester!). I'm thankful for the life Christ has given her, for her passion for him, and pray that she would not be bogged down in the mire of decision-making and measuring-up, but that His love for her would be her motive and ministry.

I'm thankful for Dani, and very thankful for music and how she has found the voice of God calling to her from it. I'm thankful for her maturity in pursuing that, and I pray that her perseverance and joy in the artistry of creating and communicating music for others would be deep and increasing exponentially as she ultimately delights in her Savior.

I'm thankful for Ben and Greg, whose names I can't yet separate in my mind. I'm so thankful for the ways they are stretching high from head to toe and from soul to soul. I'm thankful for their own desires to pursue Christ and His Word, for the passions and talents that God has given them. I pray that God would keep Ben strong and focused, that he would not be frustrated by the thwarting of his plans but see in that the inevitable triumph of God's greater, unsearchably good plan. I pray that Greg would remain tenderhearted and perceptive, that his eye for details would lead him to know how to better love others, and that he would be gentle in his actions, especially towards himself. I pray that God would give them both an increase of joy and contentment, and that they would both be learning to fight for truth and mercy.

I am thankful for Keeta and Kevin. I thank God for the way He has given them to our family, to try us with their shortcomings and shame us with their strengths. I pray he would help them to seek each other's good above their own - lead them more and more into a true and renewing knowledge of Him- let my parents' hearts be comforted as they watch Him leading them from glory to glory.

While I think of my family, I am thankful for the faith of my grandmothers, so very different in matters of tone and pitch and yet both eager to see their children and grandchildren growing and resting in the Lord.

I am thankful for thankfulness. It is not always mine to be thankful for.

2 Missages

1. Unknown on January 8, 2011 at 9:02 AM

   I read "The Prodigal God" on the plane yesterday.... now I've figured out what the title means!

    
2. Danielle Carlson on January 9, 2011 at 7:20 PM

   I'm thankful for you and for all my siblings! I love my family so much.
   
   Love that book, the Prodigal God by the way.