Aiming for Thankfulness

Well, this is a little bit of a weird week in my life. Right now as I type, we are right in the middle of “Week of Welcome” back at Master’s and last week was the Servant Leadership Staff retreat. This is also the last week at home for a good number of my friends that are in the area as they prepare to head off to their respective schools. While I do have a handful of friends still here, I recently watched one of my better ones drop all he had to go and serve in Malawi for a year as a math teacher at a Christian school there. With all of that going on, some of which I was a part of just a year ago, it has been a little rough as I sit here in the midst of the ever-depressing post-grad job search. But instead of this being a “Woe is me, I don’t have a job and most of my friends have left me, what am I to do” post that I could easily turn this into, I am going to take the time and list out some of the things that I can thank my God for. The major reason I am writing this is to attempt and change my mindset about the circumstances around me, as I know my tendency is to become far too depressed when life isn’t exactly going my way. My hope and prayer is to point my heart and mind upwards to the things of Christ, and maybe encourage others as we continue on with this thing called life reminding them that even if all hell is breaking loose (which it’s not for me don’t worry), there is still so much to be thankful for.

First off, I am thankful to have a God that is faithful and one in whom I can rest and cast all of my anxiety on. I don’t have to worry about the future because the future is His. Everything that He has ordained to occur in this transitional phase (and all of life for that matter) is for my good, and for the business of making me more like His son. A job will come in His perfect timing, He knows what I need and right now, that’s not it.

Second, I am thankful for my church at Holy Trinity. It is such a wonderful family to be a part of. Every week I am challenged/encouraged by the incredible preaching of the word and the corporate prayer, and most weeks get to experience the wonderful blessing of Holy Communion. On Sunday nights the young adult ministry is yet another blessing in my life, especially because there are so many “older” adults who come with their families just to spend time with and invest in us.

Third, I’m thankful for the three years I got to spend at Master’s. It was a wonderful time of preparation where I was stretched and challenged in many ways. I now can look back on my time there and smile. Because of that time my walk with the Lord grew in ways I didn’t know possible, and the friendships I gained there are invaluable. And while it is sad that I’m not on my way back out there, I know God used that time to prepare me for whatever He has in store for me here and now. So instead of longing for the past, I am craving for God to use those experiences to shape my future.

Fourth, I’m thankful for Soaring Over Seven/Friendship Club. Not only was it such a blessing to work with and love on these kids with special needs again, but also God used the experience to provide me with some awesome friends, which was a big scare for me going into post graduate life. Like seriously, I now know some of the coolest people ever, and many of them have been great encouragement to my soul as I make this transition and look for a job. I am also excited that because of being back in town, I now have the ability to serve at Access’s respite events, which are basically small versions of camp on Friday nights/Saturday mornings. A side blessing of doing that is it serves as something that gets me out of the house.

Fifth, I’m thankful for my awesome parents. They have been very understanding of this transitional phase, and are a wonderful source of encouragement and love as I look for a job. They have done a wonderful job at balancing between pressuring me to look for a job and giving me the space I need to come to conclusions myself, while at the same time being there if I have any questions or concerns.

This post could go on for pages, as there is an endless amount of things I can thank my God for, but I’ll go ahead and stop there. Thank you so much for taking the time to read and I hope this was as much an encouragement to you who read as it was to my heart while I wrote it all out. I’ll leave you with a quote that has been challenging me lately and definitely relates to the post. 

"Maybe we should stop asking God to get us out of difficult circumstances and start asking Him what He wants us to get out of those difficult circumstances." Mark Batterson.