I'll just say . . . . Thank You Lord!

I'm not a horribly religious person. Actually, if you ever run into my best friend Jere Tobias and ask him what I used to think about Church and Religion, he'd have a tremendously funny story to tell you. But life has showed me through trials and tribulations, joy and happiness that God is real. God is always present. And God changes your life.


So, on this 31st anniversary of my birth, I recall a fond memory of my younger years, and I say aloud, "Thank you Lord, I won't complain!"


I wasn't forced to go to church after about 10 years old. My parent's felt it was to be a decision of my own after a while and permitted me to choose to go after that time. Of course, I elected to spend most of my Sundays playing basketball in the local schoolyard on milkcrates for at that time, I felt it was a much better way of spending my time. But my parents are smarter than they probably would ever give themself credit for and had already laid the foundation. Their electing to allow me to make the decision taught me at the least two very profound lessons which I have had to learn and re-learn multiple times. The first is that to choose isn't always a easy thing to do. And that in the beginning and the end, it always comes back to God.

Learning and relearning these two lessons have pushed my life to greater heights, permitted some fantastic people (ie. my wife) to enter my life and have put me on a path to the desireable life that I covet.

And so, when things don't always seem to be going too well. In the words of my Grandmother who sings this very touching and spiritual song nearly everytime I visit home and go to church, "I'll just say thank you Lord . . . I won't complain".