What I’m Thankful For In 2020

I had some of my stu­dents sub­mit video self­ies of grat­i­tude. I hope these three min­utes put a smile on your face and stoke your hol­i­day spir­it.

Every Thanks­giv­ing I think about this poem from the ever-quotable Chester­ton:

You say grace before meals.
All right.
But I say grace before the con­cert and the opera,
and grace before the play and pan­tomime,
and grace before I open a book,
and grace before sketch­ing, paint­ing,
swim­ming, fenc­ing, box­ing, walk­ing, play­ing, danc­ing,
and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.

G.K. Chester­ton, “A Grace”, Col­lect­ed Poet­ry

Even in 2020 there is so much to be thank­ful for. I am grate­ful that my fam­i­ly has stayed healthy. I am grate­ful that we live in an age when sci­en­tists can pro­duce three vac­cines for a new pan­dem­ic in less than a year. I am grate­ful that even in the midst of a pan­dem­ic I have a place to live and food to eat.

I am grate­ful that I love my job — I get to min­is­ter at one of the most amaz­ing places on earth. I am grate­ful for the team of peo­ple pray­ing for and pro­vid­ing for this min­istry. I am grate­ful that even in the midst of a pan­dem­ic we were able to meet and min­is­ter to new peo­ple — I had­n’t met six out of the twen­ty stu­dents in the above video before fall quar­ter began. How won­der­ful!

I am grate­ful that God loves, that God for­gives, and that God will bring jus­tice. I am grate­ful that He cre­at­ed a won­der­ful world and filled it with good things. I am grate­ful for the cross and for the emp­ty tomb, and I am grate­ful that in just two days my fam­i­ly will begin dec­o­rat­ing for Christ­mas to cel­e­brate the gift of Jesus — God with us.

May the rest of your 2020 be filled with occa­sions for grat­i­tude, and may your 2021 be out­stand­ing!