What are you thankful for? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.
With today being Thanksgiving, it’s a good day to remember what you’re thankful for. One of my big things in life is to not take anything for granted. Every day is a gift and every blessing I have is something that I am not owed. It’s hard to remember this in an age of entitlements where we want to get what is owed to us. We don’t often want to see what we owe to others. People are more seen through the eyes of what they can do for us instead of what we can do for them.
So not wanting to skip out on what I’m thankful for, let me go through the list. The first of course is salvation in Christ. Forgiveness is really a great gift we don’t think about. It means that someone who has all the power and knowledge in the universe and who you have dishonored with your actions and can do whatever He wants with you and it would be the right thing to do and you would have no defense, decides that He’s going to forgive you because He would rather have you in His presence forever than to have you cast out. The cross and the resurrection are gifts to us.
Many of us also live in places where we have the freedom to worship as we wish. That is a gift. We don’t yet have to fear someone pulling a gun on us for being a Christian. We know church shootings have happened, but these are the exception and not the rule.
Many of us have several Bibles in our homes. These are gifts as well. There was a day and age when the average person could not go through their own copy of the Bible. Now we can. I’m thankful that I have that.
For more personal matters, I’m definitely thankful for my wife Allie being in my life. It means a lot when I’m talking to friends and get to say something about spending time with my wife. It’s not a hope anymore. I have a real and honest flesh and blood person with me. I have someone who loves me for me. I find that just incredible. I never thought I would meet someone like that, and indeed I have. Now I’m the guy encouraging others.
I’m thankful for my own parents as well who raised me in the church. That has become something foundational in my life. My parents often left me free to make my own mind up on matters and my going into the path of ministry was my own choosing. They didn’t know about apologetics until I started telling them about it.
I’m also thankful for my other parents. Mike and Debbie as my in-laws are great to have. We can often rely on each other and be good and faithful companions to one another in many adventures that we’ve had. When Geisler was going after Mike for instance, I was pleased to be one of the people right there making the defense.
With family, I’m thankful for my sister and my brother-in-law. My sister is making her own life for herself in Nashville. My parents I’m sure never thought their children would both live about four hours away from them, but here we are making it the best we can in the world. My brother-in-law Zach is someone I’m quite proud of. He has worked to do something in his life and is now a firefighter. He has matured so much since I first met him.
I’m thankful for my friends. Many of them have been with me through many things. David comes to mind immediately who actually took the great risk of living with me before I married Allie. There’s friends like Chris as well and around here I’ve got to know several guys like Cody and Jonathan, and we helped out another Jonathan and Michael and Sarah some during the hurricane. We have some good neighbors around here and we have a church family and small group that we can relate to. If I spent the time listing all my friends here, it would be far too extensive. If you are not mentioned, it is no slight on you. Please understand that.
I’m thankful for apologetics. Apologetics is something that brought me out of a time of depression and meaninglessness in my life. I used to say that was the great blessing apologetics did for me, but I was wrong. Apologetics is what led me to my wife Allie, which is even better.
I’m thankful for my health. I’m not the healthiest specimen to be sure, but I’m able to move around easily and I seem to have limitless energy. Being on the spectrum is also a plus for me. I have learned to see the world through eyes that are different and think through totally different ways than most people do, and of course, my wife being on the spectrum meant that it was easier for us to meet.
I’m thankful for the intelligence God gifted me with. It’s a gift that I find I can use in most any situation whatsoever. I may not be a handsome man and I’m definitely not an athletic one, but I am one with intelligence and I celebrate that.
I’m thankful for our little kitty Shiro. For all interested also, we are going to have to spend some soon because little Shiro needs some dental operations done. There will be at least one tooth extracted. We just weren’t told about regular tooth cleanings. He goes tomorrow morning. We love our little kitty so please be praying for him.
I’m thankful also for my hobbies. Allie and I can get together and play some games be it Pokemon, Final Fantasy, Mega Man, Mario, Zelda, or anything else. Sometimes she’s just watching me. I’m thankful for all the shows we can watch on Netflix and through the U-Verse and on DVD, such as the Adam West Batman series now.
I’m also thankful for all of you who take the time to read this blog. I find it amazing to know I have some impact on the world out here. I’m also thankful for those of you who listen to the podcast and I hope you’ll be taking the time to leave a positive review on ITunes.
Happy Thanksgiving. Please try to enjoy this time with loved ones.
In Christ,
Nick Peters
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