Thankful for What?

Every week when I visit our local juvenile detention center for Bible Study, I'm reminded just how dark and sinful our world is. Every time I think I've seen or heard everything, I'll hear a young person's story that rips my heart out. Talking to a couple of kids this week and hearing their life stories and current situations just underscored the reminder that the Gospel is desperately needed. By the way, I should mention that we never ask or press for why they are there. Any time we hear details it's because we've gotten to know them on a personal one-on-one basis and they volunteer those details. Sometimes, I wish they wouldn't. It boggles my mind what teenagers are being exposed to and getting involved in.

This week we talked about being thankful. We looked at six things anyone can and should be thankful for, no matter your life situation:

• Give thanks for God's mercy in your life
• Give thanks for another day
• Give thanks for what others have done for you
• Give thanks when things are going well
• Give thanks when things aren't going well
• Give thanks for God's unspeakable gift of salvation

The more life stories I hear from these kids, the more I'm thankful for the godly heritage my parents gave me.  They certainly weren't perfect parents; my dad had a lot of health issues, took a lot of high-powered painkillers and we had to deal with the side effects that those bring with them. My mom struggled to do her best, and I'll always be grateful for that. 

I'll always be grateful for my dad leading me to the Lord. I can still picture that Schaumburg, IL apartment, where I sat on his lap in the recliner. I was only 5 or so, and hadn't lived a life of wicked sin, but I knew enough to know I was a sinner and needed salvation. I was smart enough to not turn down a free gift.

This week marks a tough week in the year for me. On November 26, 1993, my dad suffered a stroke that would take his life just over a month later. 21 years later to the day, November 26 2014, my mom started dialysis and had a leg amputation. Those contributed to her passing about 9 months later.

So how do I get through Thanksgiving? Knowing the simple fact that I'll see both of them in Heaven one day, and that all three of us will be perfect and we won't have to sit down and work through any issues. Being thankful they while they weren't perfect, they scraped and scrimped to put me in a Christian school. Being thankful that they gave me a foundation that I now use to minister to the lives of young people who were not as fortunate as I.

Maybe this week is hard for you. Maybe getting together with the family isn't your idea of a day off from work. Take it to God in prayer. Ask Him to help you find something to be thankful for in the situation that your in. Above all, thank Him for His mercy in your life, and for His unspeakable gift of eternal life.