Yes, there is much to be thankful for at Baylor this Thanksgiving

It’s amazing how, even when we feel down, stopping and counting our blessings can remind us of how much we have to be thankful for. And we do, indeed, have much to thank God for over the past 12 months at Baylor.

Lord, we thank you for another class of students launched into the world to lead and serve. For those who changing their family’s path, and those who have made a difference even before receiving that diploma. For another year of record international honors, and that so many graduates are quickly finding what’s next for their lives.

Lord, we thank you for the countless Baylor alumni who are making a difference in our world. People like Allison Dickson, whose positive determination was and is an example to us all. People like the Keisters, who recognized their own blessings and used them to help thousands of their fellow Amarillo residents get the health care they need. People who are leading out here in Waco, in Texas Baptist life, in international relations, and even in space exploration.

Lord, we thank you for Baylor professors whose work, in the classroom and the lab, is serving the people of our city, our nation and our world. For Baylor faculty who are making science more accessible to the blind, and churches more welcoming to those with autism. Who are unlocking new medical treatments, and providing schoolchildren with mental-health resources, and preparing NASA’s next major space telescope. Who are leading research on food insecurity, and work-life balance, and Christian ethics.

Lord, we thank you for the chance to celebrate — for new bear cubs on campus, and a new place to welcome future Bears. For the chance to honor trailblazers. For traditions passed down through the years, like Homecoming and Dia and Sing, and for historic anniversaries — 70 years of Dr Pepper Hour, 75 years of Air Force ROTC and the Baylor Religious Hour Choir, and 100 years of the Texas Collection and the Hankamer School of Business.

Lord, we thank you for athletics — both for successes and for lessons learned. For Acrobatics and Tumbling’s astounding eighth straight national title, for volleyball’s fourth straight Sweet 16, and for football’s 11th bowl bid in 13 years. We thank you for new Big 12 partners, for incredible basketball teams and their incredible new arena that will open soon. And we thank you that our student-athletes are learning to be champions not just on the court, but in life as well.

Lord, we thank you for your work on this campus. Thank you for making Baylor such a great place to work, to experience life, and to study. Thank you for making Baylor one of the happiest, most innovative, and most trusted universities in the nation.

And Lord, we thank you that we have you. That you have kept this a place where your name is worshipped above all, where students learn to find you in their work, where students find their faith again and again.