One Thankful Papa

On this Thanksgiving eve, Tami, Taylor and I tailgated in a parking lot while we waited on my wife to finish shopping. I told Tami I should have brought my grill so I could cook a few burgers while we waited.

For some reason I am not nearly as inpatient as I used to be. A year ago I would have been standing on my head trying to get Kathy to hurry. But a year ago, Taylor was still in her mommy’s tummy.

Life changes when you become a Papa. And the change is all good. As I think about what I am really thankful for today, I have to tell you having a 10 month old little baby girl in our world is right at the top of the list. As I have said here many times, it’s just too good to even comprehend.

But very close to little Taylor on my thankful scale are our three sons and the wonderful ladies in their lives. I am extremely thankful for and proud of our three sons. These guys could have looked the world over and never done better than Holly, Tami and Drew. They will all be here this weekend. And when we gather around the table and give thanks for the food and for the moment, I can tell you I will really mean it.

I have so much more to be thankful. How about a wife that has put up with me for better and for worse for the past 30 years? Actually she has done much more than put up with me. She has loved me and supported me in everything I have ever attempted and raised those three amazing boys in the process. I am truly thankful for my wife. And I am quite positive my boys and daughters in law are just as thankful as I am.

I am also thankful for the incredible company called SCI that pays my salary and allows me to build relationships with the most incredible people, to put food on the table, to live comfortably and to even sometimes help others along the way. What an incredible blessing.

And I am thankful for the incredible stage God continues to give me to tell my story, to allow people to laugh and to cause people to think about the important issues of life. It has been a wild ride and the ride amazingly continues through my book, the speaking engagements and this blog.

But I am also thankful for the bumps and pitfalls along the way. Life is never perfect for any of us and I am thoroughly convinced everything happens for a reason. Even the troubles and trials we endure are part of the blessing.

But most of all and best of all, I am thankful for the grace of God. I understand fully that the blessings I have just mentioned are mine simply because God chose to lavish His grace on me. I didn’t earn them. I don’t deserve them. But God gave them anyway.

I am one thankful Papa tonight for the blessings of life.

And I hope you are as well.

Happy Thanksgiving folks.