This has been one of the best years of my life, and I am so thankful that God has had His hand of providence always working in my life. Each encounter I have faced this year has come from his goodness and sometimes His correction. I am so thankful that I have a God who knows who I am, who cares where I am, and who guides where I'm going. These are just some of things that He has blessed me with this year.
I am thankful for...
The love of my life... My beautiful girlfriend, Kristen Dawn Palmer. We met for the first time when she was visiting Tennessee with her family. To hear her tell the story, I was quite the charmer... NOT. As we recall it, my first words to her were, “So... you live in Maryland?” Not exactly a cut-to-the-heart one-liner, but at least a conversation was started. We met again in January of this year, and the rest, as they say, is history. There is never a dull moment in our relationship; we are always laughing and have more inside jokes than a mammoth of the north in a bee-goat... (inside joke) There have been mountains to climb, but the cool thing that we are learning is that it is easier to climb a mountain when you have help beside you. She, of course, is learning how to deal with my metaphors about life, mountains, and journeys. Almost ten months together, and we have loved every minute of it, and will continue to on into our future!
A piece of paper... Long in the making... I walked the big stage, and got my Bachelor's of Science in Broadcast Communication. Of course, I wasn't satisfied with it, so now I'm back at the grindstone for two more years trying to hash out a Master's degree. What can I say? I'm a professional student through and through.
An old church... Full Gospel Family Worship Center. Such an awesome place to grow in ministry and to be encouraged to become engaged. Pastor Rickey is an awesome man with such a heart after God. The people of Full Gospel were always gracious and encouraging, and I will never forget my time there. I am thankful that God blessed me with the opportunities to grow in faith and in ministry at Full Gospel.
A new church... Word of Life Outreach. Again such an awesome place to get connected and such an awesome opportunity to minister. Pastor Eli and I have been friends for a long time. There is some debate as to exactly how long that has been, but nevertheless. He has a heart for people and a heart to see people come to know Christ. The people of Word of Life have met Kristen and I with nothing but open arms and love, and for that we are thankful. We are looking forward to getting involved and growing with Word of Life.
A job... I have a job that pays money. I could stop right there having said a mouthful. I have an awesome job with an awesome boss. It's been a great opportunity to expand some of what I already did with school, and a great place to work on people skills! The customer is rarely right, but they don't have to know that!
Family... I am, as always, thankful for my family. They are a soft place to land. I know there is always a place with my family. There is always a word of encouragement, sound advice, and a free meal! Being introduced to much of Kristen's family this year has been awesome. They have all been very warm and inviting, and took me right in. I consider them family too!
Old friends... Of course, I would be remiss without being thankful for all of those friends that have made an impact on my life, and have been my friend regardless of circumstance or situation. You all have shown yourself true friends throughout our friendship and as always I appreciate your counsel, your ear, your conversation, and your friendship.
New Friends... Maybe I'm sappy, but this did something for me. I work at the UPS Store in Clarksville, and we get a lot of print jobs. One particular customer comes in often with watercolor and oil paintings to make copies or get enlargements, so I've kind of gotten to know her. Well, today was a similar situation. She came in with a watercolor and needed some copies made. As I was doing the print job, we struck up a casual conversation about school and her son who was pursuing a Master's degree as well. When I was finished, I handed her the copies and made to the cash register to check her out. She stopped before she paid and said, “I'm going to ask you a crazy question.” I was bracing myself for something overly weird, but she simply said this: “You have helped me several times at this store, and you've made quite an impression on me. I consider you a friend. So, I'm simply wondering if you believe in prayer?” I responded without hesitation. “Yes ma'am, of course I believe in prayer.” She then proceeded to tell me that she had recently been diagnosed with breast cancer, and that she had been asking as many of her friends as she could to lift her up in prayer. It was very humbling as a young man to have made such an impression on an old painter that she knew that she could ask me to pray for her. So, I'm thankful for my new friend, and I will lift her up in prayer as she starts her battle.
I could go on and on about the many blessings that God has given me with this year. What I am most thankful for is the ability that He has given me to look at circumstances, situations, blessings, and struggles and know that He is in control, and that His hand is always there. I recognize that I am nothing without Him, and that each blessing was only because of Him.
My prayer for this new year, and the rest of my life is that I will always be able to step back from my situation and recognize the goodness of God.
