Plenty to be thankful for

Plenty to be thankful for

By Clayton Adams I have plenty to be thankful for. For instance my childhood and teenage years were wonderful. My father served in the United States Army and the United State Air Force.

Consequently, I lived on military bases in Biloxi, San Antonio, Anchorage and Jacksonville. I am thankful for the many places I lived and the many experiences.

Eventually, my family moved to Wisconsin. It was there I became a Minnesota Vikings and a Green Bay Packers fan.

Talk about being conflicted! I am for the Vikings and the Packers and any team playing against the Cowboys. I hope God isn't a Cowboys fan or I am in trouble!

I am very thankful for having the experience of living in Arkansas. I was able to give my children the one thing I didn't have growing up — stability. I can't begin to tell of the number of schools I attended, the hundreds of friends I made along the way, but now, I know none of them. There is a certain regret of not having lifelong friends. In the grand-scheme of things, it isn't much, but all my kids graduated from the same high school, some even had the same teachers, and, they had one church they called home. It was a shared goal my wife and I had to have our kids graduate from the same school. I am thankful that my kids had a better childhood than mine so far as not moving around and having life-long friends they went to school with.

There is a certain joy that comes from life-long friends. I am very thankful for the friends I have now.

More important than all my experiences, more important than the good, the bad and the ugly things of life, I am thankful for the forgiveness of my sin.

The Bible is clear about sin – you and I are sinful people. Sin is simply doing things that God says don't do and those things we know we shouldn't do. Sin is also the things we know we should but don't do. In Jeremiah 17:9 it states, 'The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick…” I am a sinner and I sin but I am thankful for what is stated in 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” I am thankful for a loving God who made a way to live with Him when this physical life is over.”

I am thankful that when I asked Jesus to forgive me — He did, and continues to do so. 1 John 1:9 states, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I am thankful that God forgives me and His Word gives me the strength to overcome my weaknesses and live my life for Him. I have plenty to be thankful for, don't you?

Clayton Adams is pastor at Earle First Assembly of God. You can e- mail him at cpalaa@ yahoo. com, or find Earle First Assembly on Facebook.

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