By Bill King
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. Thanksgiving is the day when we, well, give thanks. This day certainly should not be the only day or season when we give thanks, but it absolutely should not be one when we don’t give thanks. To be thankful is to be full of thanks, but we may be full of thanks, and others not know it. For that reason, we should give thanks to the people in our lives, and especially to God who gave us life. It is a holiday when we pause to give thanks to our creator for the many blessings he has given us. There is an old Christian hymn that says, “Count your many blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.” Actually, I have been given more blessings than I can count. I have been blessed in ways that I haven’t even realized yet. So, please allow me to offer up to God my thanksgiving prayer.
Thank you, God, for life. Thank you for choosing Oscar and Nell King to be the human instruments you used to accomplish that mission for me. Thank you, God, for loving me before I ever loved you or even knew who you were. Thank you for sending your only begotten Son into this world to live for us and die for us so that we might have life everlasting through him. Thank you for choosing Mary to accomplish that mission for him. Thank you for the Bible that tells us so.
Thank you for giving me, and a multitude of others, the gift of eternal life. Thank you for parents, who taught and modeled for me what is right. Thank you that they believed in you and taught me about you so I could, too. Thank you for the fifteen years I had with my father and for the 47 years I had with my mother. Thank you for my two brothers and my sister. I especially thank you that I still have one brother here in this world. We will celebrate his 80th birthday next month.
Thank you for giving me the greatest wife I could ever have. Jean King has been by my side for 48 years. Counting the two years we dated prior to marriage, we’ve had half a century together. Thank you for sending me the love of my life and the best friend I have ever known. Thank you for all the numerous joys we’ve shared together and for seeing us through the difficult times. Thank you for giving us a beautiful baby girl 36 years ago. Thank you that she grew into a beautiful woman, married a fine man, and gave us the greatest grandson in the world 14 years ago. Now, I know some of you other grands will disagree with that, but that’s okay. He is the greatest in our world, perhaps like yours is in your world.
Thank you, God, for all the wonderful places you have allowed us to visit, live, and minister. Thank you for all the great friends we have made in those places. Thank you for the last sixteen years in Opelika, Alabama. Thank you for allowing Jean and me to retire and stay here. Thank you for the churches you have allowed us to serve in through the years. Thank you for Lanier Baptist Church, where we serve now.
Finally, thank you for the gift of reading, writing, music, humor, woodworking, crafting, pickleball, racquetball, fishing, lemon pie, and barbecue! Thank you for life! Thank you, friends, for reading my writings each week! Amen!
