The Thanksgiving weekend has got me thinking about things that I am thankful for and how little I actually express thanks for them. I would say that I live a life more of “thankstaking” than I do of thanksgiving.

Now, I know that “thankstaking” isn’t a real word, so let me define it for you:

thanks·tak·ing [thangks-tey-king]:
1. the act of taking benefits or favors for granted that one would verbally admit they were grateful for.

I know that the definition is a little rough, but work with me. There are a number of things that I would say I am thankful for if someone were to ask me, “What are some things that you are thankful for”? I would respond, “Oh, my health, my job, my wife, my friends, my family, etc.” But you would be hard pressed to find much evidence for my case by the way I live my life.

For instance, let’s take a look at my health. I exercise maybe once a week and only eat healthy when my wife is watching. I’d say I’m thankful for my health, but if I really valued it I would make a better effort to maintain it.

Now, we all have the gift of life given to us by God, and I would say that we can all be very thankful for that. But do our lives express it? Is there evidence that we are grateful to God for the life he’s blessed us with? Or do we take the benefit of life and and get all that we can out of it for ourselves instead of giving it back to God?

I know for me, I’m going to try to change my lifestyle from one of thankstaking to one of thanksgiving… Now, where did I put those leftovers.

We are nearly into the fourth month of this year, and I have broken my New Year’s resolutions several times over. I haven’t come close to posting once a week, and I haven’t even finished one book yet, but I have started several and bought several more.

But in my defense to breaking the promises that I made to myself, that effects no one else but me, I have been very busy. You see, I am getting married the first weekend in May (Whoo Hoo!) and I have been putting quite a bit of energy, emotions, time and other things that takes one away from blogging and reading books into that. This process of engagement has become much more taxing than I expected. And it doesn’t come from my adorable fiancee, as some would expect. She has been far more gracious and understanding than I probably would be through this time. I have not only been trying to become a better future husband and take care of my details of the wedding, but I also lead the twentysomethings- ministry of our church. And while getting married and leading a ministry are both exciting and a privilege, to think you can do them both well and at the same time is dumb.

So, the only reason that either of them might be pulled off well, is because of the other people in my life that make it possible. From my fiancee to my family to my friends I owe them all a great deal of gratitude. In fact so much that I’m not even going to  attempt to express it through this entry.

But I may be sensing a series of posts coming  about a young guy leading a new ministry and future family through the growing stages of life. But not without your help. I need you to keep me accountable to keeping up with the entries. Please, leave a comment about your interest in hearing from me about this or if you have some advice to offer on the subject. Thanks.