Well, Turkey Day has been a great day of rest and relaxation. Not a lot more that I could ask for. Tomorrow is a day of sweating out my old high school in their big Game of the Century (Go Trojans!).

Among the many things I have to give thanks for are the many great friends in my life. Rather coincidental that it comes at time when the Wednesday series has been focusing on friendship, right? From the oldest friends in my life who are now spread all over the globe, to the friends who only go back a decade or so, to all the relatively new friends I've had the great pleasure of meeting at Lakewood, you've all made my life richer.

I recall reading something in one of Eldredge's books about the difficulty some have in relating to God as "father" when their lives may not give them the greatest example of a father. I remember that the words spoke to me at a certain level, but at the same time, I can't complain too much about my own upbringing ... not that it stopped me from doing so back in the day.

But the Yancey excerpt quoted earlier is one that speaks with a bit more resonance to my lot in life. Both in terms of relating to God in terms of our friendship with Him as well as the central subject of the book: prayer. There are friends in my life all across the spectrum that Yancey describes. And there occassionally exists a level of discomfort in some that mirrors the discomfort I've always had with prayer early in my walk of faith. That's the beauty of words such as Yancey's, though. They give you the means to rethink what might be feuling that, and hopefully break through it.

Joel gave a great sermon a few weeks back about this. Prayer shouldn't require a separate vocabulary or language than we already use in our daily lives. It should come as easily to us as those discussions we have with any of our friends.

Anyways, that's the bulk of my thanks for this holiday. I hope yours was just as, if not more fulfilling.