Enjoy!

Where has this semester gone? It seems like I was just home for Cristmas and now I am getting ready to go home for the summer. I am not sure that I like that idea. Don’t get me wrong, I am excited to be going home, but I will also miss all of my friends. Unfortunately this is not like Christmas, it will not be a short three week break. It is going to be almost four months long.

There will be some good parts to to the summer though. I plan on returning to McDonalds to serve “food” to our loyal custormers every day. I am also going to take a couple of online classes this summer, so I should be pretty busy most days between work, school, and sleep

Although in my mind summer seems like it will be pretty long, it will probably fly by as quick as this semester has flown by. Before I know it, I will be back on campus having a great time with my friends again.

For my readers that live within a couple hours (or days for all I care) of San Francisco, it would be nice to see you during the summer, so you should come visit sometime this summer.

Until next time, I will try to jump off the bullet and call some of you sometime so we can chat. Sorry to those of you who thought this post would be about Superman.

- Dash

T – Trials – Many times we go through trials and cannot wait until it is over, but we fail to realize that we can learn much during these trials. 1 Peter 1:7 says, “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:” The trials we go through are not easy, but through them we can still honor and glorify God and live “To the Praise of His Glory” Eph. 1:12

H – Happiness – There are many people who go through life and have a bad attitude and complain about everything. This would be a very miserable way to go through life. I am extremely thankful that I grew up in a home where we enjoyed being together and laughing. I am also thankful for the friends that I have made here at college and the good times we have had and will continue to have.

A – Abundance – I have been blessed by God in more ways than I even realize. I have always known that I come from a good family, but I did not realize how rare it is to have a family as good as the one I have. I have heard stories from multiple people at college this semester that have made me even more grateful for the family I have. I love everyone of you: Mom, Dad, Mary, John, Melissa, James, Renae, Ruth, and all of my extended family.

N – Nutrition – Alright, so this one may be a little cheesy (no pun intended), but I am thankful for the food that I can eat. I am glad that I go to a college with one of the best menus to choose from (Although it makes me wonder what other Bible college students are being served). I am also glad that I grew up in a home and a region of the country where there was a lot of variety in food choices (a real burrito sounds really good right now…oh, and some lumpia). I am also happy that I am going to Dr. and Mrs. Brown’s house for Thanksgiving this year. I ate dinner at there house last night and ate some delicious BBQ Chicken and Rice-A-Roni. I can’t wait to taste the good food for dinner tonight…mmmmmmm!!!

K – Kin – I know that I have mentioned my family several times already, but is it possible to be too thankful for them? I don’t think so (plus I couldn’t think of anything else that started with a “K”). The last part of Psalm 16:6 says, “I have a goodly heritage.” I don’t think that I can truly say how thankful I am for my family in any amount of words. I am thankful for the heritage that I have and can pass on to my children in the future.

S – Salvation – This is probably what I am most thankful for of all. Without salvation, there would be little to look forward to and our lives would have no hope. But because God sent his only Son to die on the cross and raise on the third day, I can have eternal life.

G – Generosity – Throughout the past couple weeks people have been talking about where they were going for Thanksgiving. When teachers would ask me where I was going and I told them that I was staying in town, every one of them said, “You better not be eating at McDonalds” (This would be very hard to do anyways, because McDonalds burned down a few weeks ago). I am thankful for the generous offers that I was given to be a part of their families for the day.

I – Interests – I am very thankful for the interests that God has given me. I love working with computers. When I came to college, I started as a music major, but after a few weeks, I began to sense that God was leading me in a different direction. This year Maranatha started a new minor called “New Media Communications,” which had a lot of web design and video editing classes. These are things that I really wanted to get into. After a few weeks of prayer I decided to change my major to Math Education and minor in New Media Communications. I hope to be able to help a church out with their Audio/Visual ministry in the future. I am thankful to God for the interest in computers and technology that I have.

V – Vitality – I think many people do not realize the blessing that it is to be alive, healthy, and young (If you don’t think that you are young anymore, think again. You are able to get onto the internet and read this right?!?! When the day comes that you can’t get online, then you can call yourself old). I am having a blast at college. It is very fun to be around people your own age that have the same interests and desires that I have. We need to appreciate our vitality while we still have it, because it only takes one accident for everything to change.

I – Ice Cream – You didn’t think everything on my list had to be serious, did you? What would life be like without ice cream. What would there be to look forward to after dinner? How else can parents get there kids to eat their vegetables without bribing them with ice cream? The world would be a much gloomier place without ice cream, and go ahead eat it for breakfast too…go ahead…do it…it won’t hurt you…there is no law that says you can’t eat ice cream for breakfast.

N – Nation – We all need to be thankful for the nation that we are in. Americans have been blessed in numerous ways. We have many privileges that most people throughout the world do not have. We have a say in government. In many countries, people must obey the laws whether or not they agree with them and can do nothing to change them. In America, we can vote for our representatives and on certain laws. We need to be thankful for this great privilege.

G – Google – This may be a funny way to end my acrostic, but i can’t change the spelling of thanksgiving, so I will have to end it with google (I guess I could change it with generosity, but then I would have a normal ending, and I wanted something funny, so I ended it with Google). Google is a great tool. It searches such a variety of sights so that you can almost always find what you are looking for. Plus, it has a very simple page, so if you do not want to be bombarded with news stories and millions of links you don’t have to be. I think that it is funny that when people want you to look something up on the internet, they do not say, “Look _______ up on the internet.” They say, “Google _______.” I am thankful for Google because it is a great help when doing research in college (Don’t worry, Mom and Dad, I go to the library too).

Well there it is. I hope you enjoyed reading this. I am sure that I could have written much more on this topic and even then not cover everything that I am thankful for. Have a good day, and eat lots of pie and ice cream (and turkey too, if you like it).