100 Things I Am Thankful For This Thanksgiving

First off, my wife and I would like to wish every single reader a very happy and joyful Thanksgiving! We sincerely desire that your celebration today would be pleasant, your food would be delicious and your mood would be lifted up.

Thank you so much for making this blog a part of your daily life. I absolutely love to interact with you here and on FB. Thank you for “liking” and “sharing” the content here. I have a huge desire to be as helpful and as practical as I can be for your benefit and for God’s glory.

Today, the United States is celebrating and observing the Thanksgiving Holiday. I have celebrated this holiday both with my family where I was brought up and with my wife and her family — ever since I can remember. I believe it is a great tradition. A tradition I want to continue.

The bible continuously calls us to be thankful. Not just intermittently but perpetually:

• Paul writes to the Colossians and to us today — begging us to walk in Christ, to be rooted in Christ, to be built up by Christ and to abound in thanksgiving (Col. 2:6-7).
• Paul writes to the Thessalonians and tells them to give thanks in all circumstances (1 Thess. 5:17).

Giving thanks always and giving thanks for everything should be the mode of operation for any person who declares that Jesus is their Lord.

Rather than give you a theology of thanksgiving, I want to share with you what I am specifically thankful for. Although the more prominent items will be listed towards the beginning, the rest of the list is not necessarily compiled by order of importance.

Here are 100 things that I am thankful for this Thanksgiving:

1. God giving His only unique Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross in my place for my sin
2. God resurrecting His Son Jesus Christ so that I would inherit eternal life
3. God granting His Holy Spirit to earth to come along side of me, providing counsel and care
4. The Garden of Gethsemane where the Lord Jesus cried out in prayer to His Father in order that He would be able to undergo the pain of providing us with salvation
5. The angel who came from heaven to minister to Jesus and to strengthen Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane
6. The events that took place in Genesis 3 because without them, I would have never experienced the satisfaction found in knowing Jesus and being saved by His gospel
7. The old rugged cross where my Savior bled for me in my place
8. God bestowing upon me the best gift next to my salvation: my beautiful wife and best friend Vika
9. The food my wife prepares which is absolutely the best gourmet food I have ever experienced
10. The way my wife prepares and presents the food we eat
11. The way my wife does not take me too seriously and asks me to do the same
12. The way my wife strategically creates to do list’s that keep all of our trips, projects and outings organized
13. The United States and the religious freedom that it offers
14. For my parents bringing me to live in America at a very young age
15. For my parents staying up very late at night while I asked them dozens and dozens of different questions
16. For my mom who was/is always in prayer for me
17. For my dad who spoiled me like crazy by providing me with anything and everything that I ever wanted
18. The fact that we can conduct bible studies in our homes and coffee shops without being arrested or oppressed (yet.)
19. The vast array of gospel-centered resources available to anyone at anytime at the click of a key.
20. The many pastors that podcast their sermons and the fact that they feed Christ to the masses
21. My dad who inspired me to preach Christ and to focus on the cross of Christ
22. My dad who taught me how to install dimmers in regular light switches
23. My dad who did not bag on me when I went to work with him but just took naps and got lunch for the both of us
24. The privilege to preach the gospel of Jesus in various venues and diverse settings
25. For sending my way hundreds of people at my place of work in the last five years who have never heard of the gospel and who heard it for the first time
26. God allowing me to have a front row seat to see supernatural miracles take place right before my eyes
27. Living in a relatively peaceful society where I have never even for a moment felt threatened or in danger
28. Trials that I have experienced which allowed my character to more resemble the character of Christ
29. My mom who grafted into me spiritual disciplines from a very young age
30. My oldest sister Mariya who serves as a huge inspiration of how to be a phenomenal parent to your kids
31. My nephew Ben who will for sure make the best worship pastor this world has ever seen
32. My sister Larisa who baked for me really yummy treats back when I still lived in the home of my parents
33. My sister Oksana who always thought I was really cool and made sure to tell me that
34. My little sister Arina who is an absolute delight to talk with — regardless of the topic
35. My sister Nicole who always is a great partner to wrap gifts with and to throw surprise parties with
36. Vika’s mom Irene who has always been extremely supportive
37. John (Irene’s husband) who was the first Talbot Alumni and who has always been extremely supportive as well.
38. Babu Laris (Vika’s grandma) who is an absolute riot and has within her more information than Wikipedia
39. My current pastor who has been the absolute best senior pastor and mentor I have probably ever met in my entire life
40. My church in general
41. The people in my church in specific
42. The worship team at my church who lead the people of God in the worship of God in the house of God every Sunday
43. The older ladies at my church who have never said anything to me that was painful to swallow or difficult to accept
44. The patience that God gave to people in the church to put up with my bad preaching in the early years.
45. The youth in my church who constantly keep me on my toes
46. All of the AWK! moments that I have experienced with my youth
47. The guys that have allowed me to disciple them the last few years — you guys have been discipling me as well!
48. The bridge-builders who are willing to see things from a different perspective while keeping the gospel front and center
49. The young couples group we have at our church — we are a crazy bunch — but we all have grown immensely in our relationships
50. The people who came to my side and prayed for me during the most difficult seasons of my life
51. People who are very receptive to my teaching — this is highly encouraging — thank you!
52. My professor on prayer from seminary that taught me the importance of prayer
53. The very many great bloggers who inspired me to start a blog of my own
54. God giving me an insatiable appetite to write
55. The over 5000 visitors that came to this blog and read the content put out here — you guys are absolutely awesome — you are the reason I come back and do this day in and day out!
56. WordPress for providing a fairly easy engine to use for blogging
57. Readers who “like” and “share” the content posted here
58. The Russian church in general who has really helped me in developing patience and a reliance on desperate prayer.
59. My critics who thought it important enough to point out my faults
60. The coaches who genuinely want to see me become more like Christ
61. The trolls who keep me on my toes
62. The church I used to be a part of where the pastor put on the preaching roster a young fifteen year old kid — giving him a chance to preach the gospel.
63. The Master’s seminary for providing me with a solid theological foundation
64. For Talbot seminary for giving me practical pastoral skills that have absolutely changed the way I approach the people who I help
65. Apple Computers
66. The iPad
67. The “pages” app in the iPad that is very convenient to organize my sermon in
68. The Macbook Air
69. The HD gateway monitor that I still use
70. Microsoft Word that served as a great writing platform for me for many years
71. Evernote for providing such an easy platform where I can store everything that I write
72. Google chrome for providing the best browser and bookmark organizer I have ever come across
73. Google reader that helps me keep up on my 100+ blogs I follow
74. Google calendar which is by far the best calendar program I have ever used
75. For God giving me a brain that I can constantly stretch and take out of my usual comfort zone
76. Cellphones that are able to keep me connected to my wife, my family and my friends
77. Text messages that have become an integral part of the way we can so easily communicate
78. God creating coffee
79. Starbucks Coffee Company
80. Free wifi that Starbucks provides
81. Free space that Starbucks provides where I have conducted countless meetings and sessions where the gospel was made manifest
82. Zara clothing company for making some funky euro clothes that no other American company can compare to
83. Brooks Brothers for making the non-iron, slim fit, forward point collar dress shirt
84. Pandora for streaming music I like for free
85. My BMW M3 which has served me well ever since Bush was elected for a presidential term back in 2004.
86. The weather in OC
87. The cleanliness and serene conditions of OC
88. The people who are immaculate landscapers and keep everything looking neat and clean
89. A major American corporation that was kind enough to employ me for a little over half a decade
90. A major American corporation that recruited me to work for them just recently (this has been my absolute most favorite thing I have ever done in my entire career).
91. The job my wife has that God has provided to her
92. The sound counsel and advice that my wife provides to me
93. Street signs that do not simply hang on wires but are on steel beams and light up, easily visible
94. Airplanes that are able to fly me from one place to the next, so that I can see my family — instead of having to drive over 18 hours
95. Rap music that is theologically robust
96. Trance and Techno that always helps me to chill and relax
97. The different stores in our area that carry Russian pastries
98. Russian food in general
99. Electricity that lights up everything and makes living pleasant
100. Car chargers that come in handy when both my personal and work cell batteries keep being drained quickly

Question: What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving? Please share this in the comments’ section of this post!