There's a difficulty when it comes to writing up Thanksgiving posts. If you leave out the obvious, people wonder if you're really thankful for the basics of life or if you are assuming you're entitled to them. List them and you can seem disingenuous at best and smug at worst…
I've only rarely had problems worrying about being called smug. I don't list these to be arrogant or to say that I'm a better person than you are for these. I am a better person than I would have been without these things. So, here we go:
1. I'm thankful I was raised in a home with my two biological parents who were married the whole time.
2. I'm thankful that I grew up with a church habit that required multiple trips a week. Even if I consider whether the church I lead would be ok without a Sunday night organized service, my brain immediately starts to suggest ways to use that Sunday night for church stuff.
3. I'm thankful that I have never lacked for owning a Bible.
4. I'm thankful that I have never lacked for books. Ever. Real books, and now Kindle books, but books in general.
5. I'm thankful that, alongside that lack of lack for books, I was shown that reading was both fun and profitable. I still love to read.
6. I'm thankful for the Atari 2600 we had and the hours spent playing Missile Command with Dad.
7. I'm thankful for the Commodore 64 with its cartridges and tape deck and amazing 8-color printer. There's a lot I don't grasp in computing these days, but I don't fear the digital.
8. I'm thankful for the saxophone that I never should have gotten rid of. I never played sports. Well, except that one baseball game that landed me in surgery, I didn't play. I played sax. I was a Boy Scout. Those things were enough.
9. I'm thankful to have grown up in a home with firearms. I was raised with an awareness of the danger, the power, and the proper use of a handgun, rifle,and shotgun. I am not terrified by prospect of teaching my kids to use them, either.
10. I'm thankful for being forced to get an education. I didn't want it most days…but I'm glad I wasn't given a choice.
That's the first 10 I can think of…there are dozens more.
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