Meme – 5 Things I am thankful for!

Mike has tagged me again! This time for a meme in which I am suppose to list 5 things that I am thankful for. This meme was originated by John over at Smulo Space. So, here we go…..

1) Family. For my parents, Paul and Leanne, who brought me into this world. For my brothers, Christian and Kevin, who continually test my patience like most younger siblings do. For deceased and living grandparents who have made an impact on my life. On a related note for my mom’s dad and dad’s mom for whom I know very little about because of their deaths when I was very young. I have much to learn about who they were. For all of my aunts and uncles for being loving and nurturing. Lastly, for my cousins, of whom I need to keep in better contact with.

2) Friends. For Rachel P, with whom I recently re-connected with after many years and greatly respect. For Erik S, who is my co-leader of YAPS. Our different styles of leading the group make it work successfully! For Aaron H, whom I greatly respect and is a blast to hang with. For Christian and Christie S, for whom I both admire greatly. Their continuing devotion to mother Earth and to our Heavenly Father is an example to us all. For all of the other young adults of YAPS and even MAYAs. Many good friendships have blossomed because of my involvement with both of these groups. For my friends from church. For Dave S, Leslie S, Laura F, Mark M, Rob B, and many others who have helped shape me into the person I am today. For Patti, Lisa, Stacie, and Mike as well as many others from the CyberCongregation. Lastly, I could go on and on but for anyone else I missed. All of my friendships are near and dear to me.

3) Community of Christ. I am truly thankful to have been born in to this faith movement. I am a third generation church member and believe so much in the mission of this denomination. Through this church I grew up knowing God and my friend, Jesus. I am humbled to be able to serve in the priesthood as a Deacon. I am humbled to be able to be on the receiving end of such great ministry in this church as well as being able to give ministry in this church.

4) God. Not a lot needs to be said about this one and yet it is the most important one on this list. For giving His only begotten Son to us. For giving me life. For everything.

5) Life. When I look around me I see that I am truly blessed. I have great friends, a loving family, and a warm bed to sleep in at night (well, not exactly warm as I like it a little cold). I live in an absolutely beautiful part of the US. I hope that I live this life that I have been given to it’s full capacity and can use it to the help my fellow man (and woman).

I now tag the following people to do this meme:

Nick at Sansego
Christian at Flannel Christian
Shannon at Erosophy

Thanksgiving/Gratitude List

I had planned to make this post on Thanksgiving Day and then I ended up going to bed at 6:30 PM. So, then I wrote this all up on Friday Night/Saturday Morning and then it disappeared into cyber land! So, here I am again on Saturday Nigh/Sunday Morning and hopefully it will post without a problem.

First, I wanted to let you all know how my Thanksgiving went. For almost every year out of the past 6 or 7 years my family has spent Thanksgiving with Laura & Jim Fish and their family. They are some friends from a neighboring Community of Christ Congregation. As usual my mom brought her yummy Candied Yams and Cranberry Sauce and I brought my delectable Pumpkin Cheesecake. For dinner we had Turkey, Potatoes & Gravy, Stuffing, Yams, Green Salad, Black Olives, Various flavors of Martinelli’s Sparkling Apple Cider, Pumpkin Pie, and Pumpkin Cheeecake. When we were not eating we were visiting, sleeping, and playing games on the Wii Nintendo System. It was a good day with great friends.

Second, on the CyberCongregation a thread was started where we were to make a Gratitude List. On this list we were to list one thing that we were for grateful for, for every year of our life. I thought I would post it here as well. Though, the one I am posting here has some changes made to it and is more though out. Here ya go:

My Gratitude List: 

1. Family; Dad, Mom, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Brothers, etc.
2. Friends; Rachel P, Erik S, Aaron H, Nick C, Christie S, Christian S, Shannon M, etc. (If I listed them all this would be a very long post!)
3. YAPS (Young Adults of the Puget Sound); Young Adult group that I co-lead!
4. GPNW Mission Center; My faith denomination is split up into jurisdictions called Mission Centers. The GPNW Mission Center is the one I reside in. It contains congregations all over Washington and Oregon and a few in Alaska.
5. CyberCongregation; Community of Christ sponsored Discussion Board where I am able to discuss topics with members of the church and friends of the church from around the world. Has allowed me to meet friends such as Patti, Lisa, Stacie, Joanne, Barb, Judy and Mike as well as many others.
6. Community of Christ; Faith Denomination in which I was baptized and where I serve in the Priesthood as a Deacon.
7. Mentors; Rob Borkowski – My youth pastor growing up that mentored me and pushed me to do things that I wasn’t always comfortable doing but has made me a better minister today because of it. Also Dave Skoor – Former pastor that allowed me to be take on congregational responsibilities as a young teen when most teens would not be allowed to do so. I was able to direct retreat, plan and preside over services, etc.
8. Church Camps: Attending and being staff at youth camps, reunions, and retreats. I always leave feeling so fulfilled.
9. 2007 World Conference and International Young Adult Event; I believe many years from now we will look back and see this that this conference was a pivotal conference in the life of the Community of Christ. The Young Adult Event immediately followed World Conference and provided me an opportunity to worship with, learn with, and meet young adults in the Community of Christ from around the world.
10. The Beautiful Pacific Northwest; I feel blessed to have been born and raised in such a beautiful place. With the majestic Pacific Ocean to my west and the Majestic Cascade Mountain Range to my east, it can’t get any better than this.
11. Samish Island Campgrounds; Community of Christ owned campgrounds. I have spent countless weekend and weeks here throughout my life. I feel closest to God when I am on these grounds.
12. God; To whom all praise and thanks is given!
13. Transforming people that came before me (i.e. MLK Jr., Gandhi, Jesus, etc.): These are people that we should all strive to at least be a little like. The examples they have set before us will be great examples of humanity at it’s best for centuries to come.
14. Dick Moore; My beloved adopted grandfather from church, passed away quite a while ago. Back in the early to mid 90’s all of the children/youth in our congregation were assigned an adoptive parent/grandparent. This program went on for a year or two (can’t remember exactly). I got assigned to Richard (Dick) Moore. Even after the program was over Dick and I still stayed pretty close up until his death. We exchanged a few letters every year. After his death his wife sent me a note saying that a letter I sent to him was the last thing he got in the mail and subsequently ready before he passed. Like the day before he passed away. I will always cherish that.
15. Music; I love music. It stirs my soul and brings out emotions that are tucked deep inside.
16. My Congregation; Cedarcrest Congregation in Marysville, WA, where I serve as Communications Coordinator and a Counselor to the Pastor. I have attended this congregation since I was about 3 years old. I will always hold this congregation dear to my heart.
17. My Grandma Lillie (passed away two years ago but was a powerful influence on me)
18. Scriptures; Doctrine & Covenants, Bible, Book of Mormon as well as other poems and lyrics that are scripture to me.
19. Ministry that I am able to give; Humbled to be able to be giving ministry to my congregation, mission center, young adults, at children/youth camps, etc.
21. Ministry that I receive; From all the places/people listed on #19 as well as ministry received through my involvement in the CyberCongregation and my fellow bloggers.
22. for LIFE!