I am thankful for a lot of things and for a lot of people.  Were I to try and delineate them all, the result would be a tome.  Having neither the time nor the inclination to do so, I will keep it short and sweet.

1.  The United States of America
Despite all its faults (real and perceived), this country remains the greatest hope for, and the greatest defender of, freedom worldwide.  This country is the greatest and best, bar none.  I am so grateful God allowed me to be born here.

2.  Great Friends
During my life, I have had the pleasure of developing friendships with some extraordinary people.  People who have made me laugh, made me cry, made me think, and made me look beyond myself.  I am forever grateful for the kindness each has imparted to me.

3.  Godly Parents
I can only imagine where I would be without godly parents.  Parents who insisted on fulfilling the Biblical principle that says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6, NKJV).

4.  Wonderful Children
I am not a perfect parent.  My children are far from perfect.  But this one thing is perfect, the unconditional love that I have for them.  They were, are, and ever will be God’s great gift to my wife and me.  I thank Him every day for their presence in my life.

“Don’t you see that children are God’s best gift?  the fruit of the womb his generous legacy? Like a warrior’s fistful of arrows are the children of a vigorous youth.  Oh, how blessed are you parents, with your quivers full of children!  Your enemies don’t stand a chance against you; you’ll sweep them right off your doorstep” (Ps. 127:3-5, MSG).

5.  A Fabulous Wife
I cannot say enough about this woman.  I am who I am, I have accomplished all that I have accomplished, I will become all that I am to become, only because of her.  She is a great source of inspiration, not just to me, but to numerous others.  I am forever thankful for her enduring love through our 30-year marriage.  She epitomizes the Proverbs 31 woman.

“A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies” (Proverbs 31:10).

6.  God’s Grace
God’s grace is the only thing that keeps me from being miserable.  God became flesh, sending His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to earth, for the sole purpose of redeeming me.  That’s absolutely mind-blowing!  What’s even more mind-blowing is that He continually covers my sins, even those with which I struggle, and repeatedly commit.  And He does so without the slightest hint of condemnation.  “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Ro. 8:1, NIV).

The words “thankfulness” and “gratefulness” don’t even begin to express how much God’s grace means to me.