I Am Thankful

By: D. A. Slinkard

This whacky year is almost over, and I know most people are looking forward to what 2021 will bring. I cannot help but chuckle to think about the high expectations we all had for this year and how it has seemingly gone wrong with every turn of the calendar month. With all that said, I am happy that Thanksgiving time is here. I just recently celebrated a birthday; but more importantly, this time of the year gives me an opportunity to reflect upon the things I am thankful for. Despite the misfortunes of 2020, I have so many things to be thankful for in this year, and I know if you think hard enough, you’ll realize you do too!

As I write this article, I cannot help but think back to 19 years ago and how much my life has changed over the course of time. The one constant I am thankful for is my wife. She has been with me on this wild ride of life for nearly the past two decades, and I write you now to let you know I got the better end of the deal. As I reflect upon this past year, what I notice the most is the importance of the role my wife plays in my life.

I would not want to do this life without her. I need her in my life, and she is one of the reasons why I do what I do on a daily basis. This article is an open love letter to the second-best thing that has ever happened to me in my life. Yes, the second-best thing with the best thing being my salvation I received through Jesus Christ. There are a lot of relationships which get messed up because they get things out of order. These relationships put the focus on the wrong things and leave out the right things. Is our relationship perfect? No. Do I make mistakes? Yes. I once believed that marriage was 50/50, but then I realized that a successful marriage needs to be 100/100. She gives 100% and I give 100%.

What does your relationship look like? Are you giving it your all? I have not always given it my all, and I came dangerously close to becoming a marital statistic. Praise God, I was able to get my act together before it happened! My relationship with my wife changed when I put my focus on making Jesus my number one priority and my wife number two. Across the United States, over fifty percent of marriages end in divorce, and it is because God is not the number one priority. I am a firm believer that if we want to see a difference in the world, we need to seek Jesus Christ.

It is funny, but there was a time I was afraid to sound like a religious zealot. Then I realized that when I put my trust in the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, He then saved me from a sinner’s hell. I do not care if I sound like a nutjob for Jesus; when I die I am going to Heaven…are you? If the answer to that is yes, then you too have something to be thankful for and you have a reason to be zealous for God. Whose idea was it anyway that being a Christian on fire for God is a bad thing? It goes back to our twisted way of thinking. If you have not put Jesus Christ as number one in your life, do it today because tomorrow may be too late.

My number two priority – you have no idea how lucky I am to have the woman I have. I try to tell her quite often, to make sure she knows how I feel. What about you? Do you tell your loved one how much you need them? How much you cannot live without them? If not, start today. We do not know what tomorrow holds and the only thing we have is the moment. We do not know when we will draw our last breath; so we should not take each day for granted because each day is a gift from God.

I am thankful for my gifts from God – thankful for my eternal security and thankful for my beautiful wife, Mindy. God has blessed me in so many ways, and though 2020 has been a crazy year, I have so much to be thankful for and so do you.
By: D. A. Slinkard