Thankful For More Than Turkey

Turkey Jokes and other useless information!

Why did the Turkey cross the road???? Because he wasn't a chicken of course!

Americans eat roughly 535 MILLION pounds of turkey on Thanksgiving. 1 Million of which I am personally responsible for.

The first Thanksgiving was eaten with only spoons, knives and fingers! We should all try this. Less dishes, more entertainment, it's a win-win situation.

The best way to check if a cranberry is ripe is to bounce it. (Mothers everywhere will really love this one!)

On a More Serious Note.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. There is family, fun, and let's not forget the food!

In my family, and I know many others, there is a tradition. After a meal consisting of everything but the kitchen sink, at a point where everyone sits completely still in fear that if they move they might explode, we all go around the table and say what we are thankful for. Every year I hear a lot of the same things, and I say a lot of the same things: Family, Friends, God's provision etc. 

Not that any of those things are bad. On the Contrary I think we should be thankful for them! 

But this year, I am thankful for something else. I realized it as I drove home from school and heard a song that said:

I'm not where I want to be, But I'm not who I used to be.

And I thought about that line the rest of the way home. You see I spend a lot of time focusing on the person I want to be today, tomorrow, and 20 years from now. And the plain and simple truth is: I'm not where I want to be. As a young christian that can be pretty discouraging. When I look at the gap between me and this ideal man of God, I'll admit, I often think "I'm never going to be that."

Then the second line of that song hit me like the post-Thanksgiving meal nap. 

But I'm not who I used to be. Wow. 

If you haven't ever done it, sit down and write a list of the things you were/did before you let Jesus in, and then, next to it, who you are now. Or if you don't want to take the time to do that, I can summarize it for you.

It is a MIRACLE.

So this year when we go around the table, I have something pretty cool to be thankful for. A miracle (Bet none of the siblings can top that!) But honestly, I am so thankful I am not who I used to be.

But more than that I am thankful that I am not where I want to be yet. Yes you read that correctly, and no I'm not crazy :)

There is something exciting about the journey, that would be lost if I just woke up one day as the ultimate giant-slaying, fear-conquering, bible-memorizing, word-preaching Man. 

To make it more tangible, think about the Pilgrims. I just don't think the story would be the same if it went like this:

Once upon a time,

a group of well-mannered protestant folk decided that they would worship God differently than the king. The king said  "Ok! That's fine by me!" They proceeded to have a giant feast because they were thankful! "We will call it THANKSGIVING!" and we wouldn't have a fantastic holiday today.

The struggles to fight through, the obstacles to overcome, the pain and death to push past. These are the things that make the end goal so meaningful.

Someday, we will look back and say, "Wow, that is beautiful!" 

But today I am thankful. Thankful that I'm not where I want to be, but I'm not who I used to be.

So as we move into Thanksgiving,

I am thankful for family, friends, church, God's provision, and all the blessings that we have. 

But most of all I'm thankful for God's miracle at the cross.

Much love,

Josh

Waiting

We wait for many things. 

We wait for our food so it can fill us , we wait for trains so they can move us, and we wait for people so that they can love us

What I have noticed about waiting is that we have a time frame for most things we wait on.

Furthermore, our culture is all about shortening the time we have to wait.

From instant mashed-potatoes, to trains that run every ten minutes, we are taught that less waiting is better and no waiting is best.

Life moves at a frenetic pace, and there is no time to just sit around and wait. We need what we need and we need it now.

As each day of my life blazes by and I get ready to go to bed, I realize that I am waiting.

Waiting on something, more filling than food, more moving that trains, and more loving than any person, to find me.

I can get along fine most days. 

Life keeps me busy enough to distract from anything other than the next task on the long list of to-do’s.

My mind thinks mostly short term. What feels good now? Where is the next tweetable moment? Could that sunset be my next Instagram?

But lying in bed, waiting to fast-forward to the next day, I find life slowing down. I begin to feel a little bit empty, a bit scared, and a lotta bit broken.

If you are anything like me, you have been hurt at some point in your life. Some have been hurt less than me, some much deeper. But at the end of the day we are all so broken.

(As I typed that last sentence I noticed the colloquialism “at the end of the day”. Maybe I’m not crazy and there is something to this lying in bed thinking thing!)

But you know I have to be careful,

lying there feeling empty, scared and broken. Because through my emptiness I first realized my need to be filled, through my fear I found refuge with the one who is in control, through seeing my brokenness I was able to find healing.

As I finally think through things at a less break-neck speed than the average day permits, I begin to relax. You see as I think deliberately and slowly, I can compare the thoughts of my desperately wicked heart to the source of truth -- God’s Word.

Each night I realize a little more that I am not empty, because I have an immeasurable God living in me.

Each night I am a little less scared, as I learn to trust to an all-powerful Creator.

Each night I focus a little less on my brokenness, and a little bit more on my loving Saviour who was broken for me.

When I wake up in the morning,

I will resume my frenetic paced life.

I will feel empty, scared and broken again.

I will face thoughts I never thought I would have, or said I would never have again.

I will fall down, I will mess up.

But at the end of the day I am waiting.

Waiting to be reminded who I am, where I am going, and to whom I belong.

Waiting for the day when this painful, messy, broken mess we call life is behind me, and my Saviour’s face is before me.

Until that day, I will keep learning to slow down, and face the reality.

The reality that God is fulfilling me, God is comforting me, and God is healing me.

Love from a broken vessel,

Josh

Hey! What is this all about???

Who are you? And What is this about?

I am a broken sinner, who is thankful to be able to say that he knows the Healer and Redeemer.
But as one of my favorite bands, the Rend Collective Experiment, puts it - "I love you Lord, But I want to love you more."
I believe that every one of us comes into our relationship with God carrying a lot of misconceptions.
It is truly a journey, to rediscover God, and his heart for us.
This blog will merely attempt to document my journey, to the purpose of encouraging my brothers and sisters striving along side me.

Why are you blogging about it?

I think a lot, and it helps me express my thoughts to write them down.
My heart in this is to let God use my thoughts, and the journey of my heart however he can.
I have some reservations about expressing my thoughts, but I am going to do away with my insecurities
because I feel like God has gifted me in this area for a reason.
This blog is not meant to be instructional, seeing as I am in no position to teach.
Instead please comment and correct freely so that I too may be edified by you!


I pray that God would use this as he sees fit, and that we, his children, would everyday try to grow closer to him.

Much Love in Christ,

Josh