A birthday exercise in being thankful rather than anxious

If you’re a parent and a pastor, then anxiety is never far away.  Indeed, there are days when it knocks loudly at the front door.  So this year, I decided to follow the wisdom of Philippians 4:6 – – Don’t be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, WITH THANKSGIVING, present your requests to God.

No need to read my list.  Just make your own.  What are you thankful for?

Still, if you’re bored, really bored, you can read 47 things for which I am thankful.  (SADLY – – I ONLY REALIZED AFTER DOING THIS THAT I AM ACTUALLY 48).

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Given that as of today, I have sojourned this earth 7 years longer than Israel wandered in the wilderness, it seems appropriate to list 47 things for which I am thankful.  (Unless I don’t have time to get to 47 by Friday  – – I’m working on these when I take breaks).   These are not ( I say again, not) in order, and certainly not meant to be peers with of another, though I am truly thankful for everything on the list:

1. The Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy  Spirit
2. The Written Word – A man in our community gave me my first Bible when I was 5 years old at the Congregational Church in Keosauqua (here for a picture).  The Bible had a zipper and my name on it.  My mom stressed that it is God’s Word and the Scriptures have been a light unto my feet and a lamp unto my path ever since, or at least when I was willing to look.
3. Jamie Florence Limbaugh Brauns – I never cease to be amazed that God provided me with such a wonderful and pretty wife.
4. Dutch Letters – one of the best things about going to college in Pella, IA
5. Grignard Reagents and Phase Diagrams.  Two of my fond memories from chemistry.
6. My parents and all that they did to put up with me and prepare me for life.
7. The 1972 Van Buren County Fair in Keosauqua, IA.
8. Allison our oldest with whom life is never dull.
9. The 1980 US Hockey victory – – just watch the clip.  For the record, I am still upset about the 1972 Olympic basketball game.  I cried at the time and am still bitter (in a Christian sort of way).  If I watched a clip now I would get upset all over again.
10. Christopher who has been such a spiritual encouragement to me in recent days with his leadership and hard work.
11. Dr. Jim Jeffery teaching me a system for memorizing Scripture in 1990.  A bachelors and three graduate degrees later, that Saturday morning remains the single most important education event of my lifetime.  (More on the system here).
12. Benjamin who is quite possibly the only 13 year old who spends his spare time studying Civil War generals and does not seem to resent (too much) people saying that he looks like me.
13. Pastor Chip Bernhard and Spring Creek Church for giving me my first opportunity to serve in pastoral ministry and for GLBC including Ford, Lemke, and McLaughlin.
14. Marybeth who not only listens to my stories, but begs me to tell her more.
15. The opportunity to mow
16. Ping Pong – Times are getting harder on Hayrack Trail, but for now I remain the King of Ping in our house.  I will reign from a wheel chair if necessary.
17. My siblings – Shelley (also known as Mrs. Carter), Mary Dawn, Danny (the greatest living Deerslayer in the Western hemisphere), Rusty, and Erin, who in large  part supply many of the stories that my children enjoy.  I am blessed that they are not around to defend themselves when I protect my pastoral reputation in telling them.  Whatever MD says about the Buffalo nickel is a bold faced lie.
18. The Collected Writings of John Murray.
19. Really, really good friends.  In addition to family, I’ve been blessed with some of the best friendships a man could hope to have.
20. Jubilee Jumbles –  Made famous by my grandmother, Mary Latha Campbell McElhinney, these are unquestionably the greatest cookies in the history of earth.  Though, I cannot remember what they taste like because my otherwise wonderful wife refuses to make them.
21. Aunts and cousins and the fact that I have no memory of life without there humor and love.
22. Fall – My favorite season.
23. Grand Rapids Theological Seminary even if Dr. Crawford gave me this grade on my first assignment.  Dealing with editors was easy after Crawford.
24. That 3 of our 4 children look like their mother.  Ben has an excellent mind.
25. Titus 2:11-14: every single word of it!
26. The Jack and Helen Limbaugh nation consisting of Jamie’s parents, her siblings, and a family now the size of some small countries.  We continue to enjoy every Thanksmas.
27. The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come – Part of my childhood reading.
28. Meat
29. The “Bricks” at the Red Brick Church: God makes bricks with a building in mind and it is a blessing to be mortared into this community of believers.
30. The Lauterbrunnen Valley in Switzerland where my family stayed last summer.  (More pictures here).
31. Our administrative assistant at church, Jana Krause, who is a joy to work with
32. A BB gun, though I claim Psalm 25:7.  Robert Barker, a cousin of these Barker’s, had a similar firearm.  Teddy Roosevelt never had more fun than Robert and I at our pond.  Mary Dawn is not to be trusted in her wild stories about what may or may not have happened on that cold December day.  There were no witnesses.
33. Stillman Valley Football and the Green Bay Packers
34. Cabela’s slippers and socks. Otherwise, my feet get cold.
35. Keosauqua, Iowa – – my hometown.
36. Squeezebottles – If I had been forced to go through all of life with glass ketchup bottles, I may have become an Arminian at some point.
37. Baltic House – Where I lived at Central College in Pella, IA with 4 other guys who would not wish to be identified on the World Wide Web.
38. The opportunity to write (see here).
39. Derek Kidner’s commentary on Psalms and so many other wonderful, wonderful commentaries.  I am thankful to have so many books.
40. That my mom read to me and encouraged me to read and enjoy books.
41. The John Deere 4020: a splendid tractor.  Get the tour here.  Ours was a ’71.  It didn’t have a cab, but did have a wide front end.
42. Painted buntings.  Though I have never seen one in the wild, I enjoy those on the banks of Pollywog Creek.
43. The 1980 sports season beyond Olympic Hockey: Iowa want to the Final Four, George Brett nearly hit .400, and Warren Halverson hit a jump shot on the buzzer so that Van Buren of Keosauqua would advance to the state basketball tournament.
44. The opportunity to share photography on the Internet.  Some of my favorite Stillman Valley High School football pictures.
45. For all my complaining about the forces of darkness and sound systems, I am thankful for the amplification of sound.  It is so helpful in preaching and teaching.
46. The Greek language. I’m not a linguist.  But I am thankful for the chance to have studied it. (I wish my Hebrew was stronger). Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος. (John 1:1).
47. I am thankful that the word “soon” appears several times in Revelation 22.  “The one who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon!” Amen! Come, Lord Jesus! (Revelation 22:20).  Amen.