I have a little Thanksgiving project for you.
Think about all the people and things in life that you love the most: your spouse, friends, TV shows, books – you get the idea.
How were you first introduced to them?
While driving across the desert several days ago, it struck me how indebted I am to others for most of “my favorite things.”
For example, I am grateful to:
*my father for introducing me to Jesus, baseball cards, the Three Stooges, Christian books, the Dodgers and Lakers, and teaching me how to play sports.
*my mother for encouraging me to use the library, love Charlie Brown, enjoy The Good Twins – and for letting me stay home from Sunday night church to watch The Wizard of Oz.
*my brother John for making me a better player by playing baseball (with a tennis ball) in the backyard for years.
*my friend Lee who introduced me to comic books (at an early age), encyclopedias, and serious chess. (We played 98 games one summer. I won 49, he won 46, with three stalemates.)
*my grandmother, who gave an 8-year-old boy his first transistor radio, allowing him to hear Surfin’ USA and Puff the Magic Dragon for the first time.
*my friend Steve for deepening my love for sports, and whose burning desire to compete – making me a better player – resulted in our winning the “Top Jock” awards our senior year in high school.
*Mr. Remmel, my teacher in fifth and sixth grades, for introducing me to the soundtracks of The Music Man, West Side Story, and My Fair Lady, along with Peter, Paul, and Mary.
*my friend Ken for teaching me to play table tennis in his backyard and for inviting me to his church, where I later met my wife.
*my friends Kevin and Steve, who introduced me to baseball autographs when they acquired the signatures of Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford at the Grand Hotel in Anaheim in the spring of 1967. (Several of us duplicated their experience – and their results – the following day.)
*my friend Dennis, who introduced me to the original Hawaii Five-O and playing one-on-one in the driveway.
*my friend Edmon who introduced me to The Beatles (on a camping trip) and Simon & Garfunkel (while playing chess at his house).
*my youth pastors John and Darryl, who introduced me to a serious study of Scripture while patiently answering my questions.
*my friend Dave, who introduced me to Bob Dylan, Johnny Carson, Breakfast Jacks, and humor in the sacred halls of our seminary.
*my father-in-law Earl, who introduced me to the wonders of acquiring a scholarly library – and allowed me to pursue his alluring daughter.
*my friend Tom, who showed me the latest Christian books and records at the Bible bookstore he ran, invited me to meet John Wooden, took me to see Star Wars, and introduced me to backpacking (in Glacier National Park).
*my son Ryan, who encouraged me to master Super Mario Brothers 3, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Simpsons, Seinfeld, the Gin Blossoms, and the wonders of the Android.
*my wise and witty daughter Sarah, who introduced me to Napoleon Dynamite, the singalong versions of The Sound of Music and Les Miserables (she knows all the words), What About Bob?, The Office (on Christmas Day) and the importance of family heritage.
*my wife Kim, who showed me how to think big, go to plays and movies, travel overseas – and gave me a book on U2 (Walk On by Steve Stockman) that made me a lifelong fan.
*my friend Craig, who introduced me to Christian artists like Kim Hill, Susan Ashton, Iona, Margaret Becker, and Steven Curtis Chapman.
*my friends Russ and Ray, who showed me that a pastor and a former board chairman can be friends for life.
*Rick Steves, who introduced me to budgetary travel in Europe, thus broadening my thinking about the world – and causing me to constantly daydream.
*Dr. Archibald Hart, who introduced me to a wise integration of Scripture and psychology – as well as Mr. Bean.
*my friend Kimberley, who loaned me a DVD copy of Midsomer Murders, a British mystery show that allows my mind to travel back to England periodically.
I stumbled upon many other favorites myself, I guess, including the San Francisco Giants and 49ers, Van Morrison, the iPod and iTunes, Bach, Sherlock Holmes, 24, London, and Mozart, to name just a few.
How much poorer would my life be without all the wonderful people I’ve mentioned? I thank God for each and every one of them. Their willingness to share their passions and experiences with me have largely made me the person I am today.
It didn’t take long to compile this list. How about compiling one of your own?
If you send it to me, I promise to read it.
Happy Thanksgiving 2011!
Restoring Kingdom Builders 
There are so many things in life that I enjoy because people took the time to introduce me to them-my Aunt Flo/sports, my father/chess, my grandmother/cooking, baking and crochet, my mom/good housekeeping. Mrs. Tambakis, my 4th grade teacher, encouraged my love for learning and reading that has lasted a lifetime. I picked up a love for music and movies and Star Trek on my own I think. Cerise has taught me how important it is to deal with emotions ( I come from a family where emotions are not considered important and they get stuffed). My spiritual life I owe to Conrad (Red) and Linda Miller who were our neighbors when I was growing up.My parents sent my sister and I to church but did not go themselves, so Red and Linda offered to take us along with their family. I was exposed to a family quite different than mine, a family that actually embraced their faith. When I was older I was their babysitter, and I loved being at their house. They later left the Catholic church and began attending a Baptist church, and they moved to Oklahoma where Red would attend seminary. I visited them once while I was in college and they moved again after that so we lost touch. I will be forever grateful to them for their love and for sharing their family with me.
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Thanks for sharing, Ce Ce! I’ve never really taken this approach to Thanksgiving before, and found it to be enlightening. I could have written pages and pages about what many others have contributed to my life. We’re all a composite, aren’t we? I enjoyed reading what you wrote and hope you someday reunite with Red and Linda.
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I hope so, too. I have tried various ways, but I don’t think they are on Facebook, etc., (although their now adult children may be). I’m with you, I could have written much more about the people who have made a difference in my life-authors, teachers and professors, family, friends…the more I thought about it the longer the list became. Happy Thanksgiving!
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A belated happy Thanksgiving to you, Ce Ce. I was out ill most of last week.
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