Thankfulness

//Some variation of this shared at First Presbyterian Church of Bellingham today, twice//

My name is Stead Halstead, and I’ve been asked to share a little bit with you today about thankfulness. This year I’m working at the INN as an intern, a mission of this church to the students of Western and Whatcom in the area. I help coordinate small groups, financial matters, electronic publicity, and various other areas. So far, the internship experience has been great. I’ve learned a lot, grown a lot, and had to do a lot of new things to help make the INN happen.

When I look back over my short life, I realize I have a lot to be thankful for. Starting out at a community college, I’m thankful that I have parents that were willing to keep me around for a little bit longer. While during that time in my life I struggled to find a Christian community, I’m thankful that I had the opportunity to go to school and learn things that have helped made me who I am today.

I have a great family to be thankful for. Throughout my childhood and my college years, they have been supportive of all my random adventures and activities. I spent this last summer driving a tour bus in Alaska. After spending four years in school and having a job offer from the Fred Meyer headquarters, I predicted the last thing my parents would be interested in me doing would be running away to Alaska. For myself, I thought that giving tours in Alaska would be a great opportunity to practice public speaking, relationship building, and patience.  As well as have a great adventure. When I brought this plan up to my parents, instead of the confusion that I expected when they heard the news, they responded by asking if they could drive up to visit. I was still a little skeptical, but at the end of July, my parents made the 1700 mile trek to spend a few days with me, and get a little adventure in for themselves.

I’m thankful that even during my time at community college when I had essentially walked away from my faith, that friends, family members and people I had never met had been praying for me that I might come back. The result of their prayers was a seemingly random phone call from Drake, a great friend from High school. Drake encouraged me to move to Bellingham, while having full knowledge that none of my current educational or career goals could be met up here. As weird as his phone call, if not weirder, I accepted his offer to leave home.

I’m thankful that the INN and First Pres are communities of friends that encourage connectedness and growth. In my first week to Bellingham, I was invited by another old friend to attend the INN. Searching for something to belong to, I visited a few times. I joined a small group, that I reluctantly attended. Even with my resistance to being in the small group that I signed myself up for, my leader pursued me and eventually eliminated all of my excuses for sitting at home on Sunday nights. The more I attended the group, the more I enjoyed having a place to connect with other people, build friendships, and ask questions about faith that I either hadn’t yet asked or hadn’t thought about before.

This year, I’m also incredibly thankful for the support that this church gives to the INN. Week after week, you allow lots of students to flood through the doors of this beautiful building. I’m thankful that the Hamiltons have been generous in sharing their home with me. This congregation has shown incredible support to the INN.

Through the INN I have been a small group leader, local service planner, and student leader. This year, serving as an intern has also helped me grow in ways I never could have imagined. This has been an amazing piece of the Body of Christ to belong to, and I’m excited and thankful for the future opportunities to learn, grow and serve.