As I look back at the journey and course God has taken me on in this life, the thing that amazes me most are the people that God brought into my life at different periods in my life to fill a very needed and necessary part of my life. Let me explain.
For the sake of time, I won't go through my whole life. I'll just limit it to high school and college. Because of my dad's job we moved around from time to time and in the middle of my sophomore year, we moved from San Jose, CA to Denver, CO. I had come from a very strong and growing youth group in San Jose and wasn't finding one to connect with right away. Even at the Christian 
school I was going to, I felt like one of the few Christians in it. That was a very hard year for me, and then came Chris. Chris was the first person to really befriend me there. I didn't feel alone anymore. I had someone that understood where I was coming from. He got it. I thank God for Chris.
school I was going to, I felt like one of the few Christians in it. That was a very hard year for me, and then came Chris. Chris was the first person to really befriend me there. I didn't feel alone anymore. I had someone that understood where I was coming from. He got it. I thank God for Chris.As I read through 2 Thessalonians, some of the phrases I keep running into are "We ought always to give thanks to God for you, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater", and "But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth."
There are certain people that God brings into our lives to help us. They lift us up. Their walk with God makes us stronger. Their presence in your life makes you want to follow Jesus with more and more vigor! Those are the ones we thank God for!
I think of some of the guys that were that for me in high school. Guys like Jon Mark Trammel, 
and Ben Wooten, and Johnny Veatch. Guys like these that encouraged me in my walk with Christ and hopefully, I did theirs. But I know that God placed guys like this in my life at that time of my life for the purpose of pushing me forward towards Jesus. I thank God for them!
and Ben Wooten, and Johnny Veatch. Guys like these that encouraged me in my walk with Christ and hopefully, I did theirs. But I know that God placed guys like this in my life at that time of my life for the purpose of pushing me forward towards Jesus. I thank God for them!I think of guys like Jeff Penner, and Mike Shrader, Courtney Wheeler, Christian Morris, Ray Rhoton, Dave Armstrong, Nick Olson, Gary Shackleton, Phil James, Heath Marion, Randy Harp, and Steve Doss. All guys/peers that God brought into my life during that period of time that I needed pushing and they did! Some of them pushed my into walls, but that was usually just during a wrestling match in an empty dorm room. Here is my point. God knows when to bring just the right people into your life for the type of growth that He has ready for you. He is also bringing you into someone else's life for the same reason. I thank God for these men that God brought into my life because just like Paul said, "because your faith is greatly enlarged". Because their faith was great, it spurned my faith to grow great as well!
I want to encourage you to read all three chapters of 2 Thessalonians today (don't worry it's not very long). Then take a look around you. Look to see the people that God has in your life and thank God for them. Then go and thank them.Thanks for hanging with me today,
Ron Foster
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