We all want to live lives of consequence. We were created to matter - to God, to our communities, to our families - but the value we bring is not found in what we don’t do, the risks we don’t take. Rather, the value of our one life is to spend it all on the field for Jesus.

Joy and sorrow often dwell together, and gratitude is born in their meeting place. The people of God learn to sing even through tears, trusting that new life always grows from what has been broken.

This Thanksgiving, some of us celebrate in abundance; others carry grief. But as the ancient builders and the early settlers discovered, the caring heart of God is not lost in the noise. He is near—bringing renewal, purpose, and peace to all who look to him with thankful hearts.

When Jesus invites us to follow him, he invites us to rethink everything—to reconsider all we have assumed to be true in light of the gravitational pull of divine love. When our lives begin orbiting around that love, everything else is put into perspective.

We become people who practice a deliberate theology: a thoughtful faith that is unafraid to ask hard questions. Such a faith also exposes everything that is not essential to following Jesus as a potentially unnecessary burden.