The Thanksgiving holiday is just around the corner. It seems every year someone tells us to count our blessings…to remember all those things we should be thankful for. While this is great advice, sometimes we only think about things to be grateful about rather than developing an attitude of gratefulness.
This week I was reading about a lady who attended a Garth Brooks concert. During the concert Garth was singing a very popular song he wrote called “The Dance”. As he was singing this song, a lady from the audience held up a sign that read:
Chemo this morning
Garth tonight
Enjoying the dance
Let’s stop for a moment and think about this sign and what it signals about attitude. I have been around many people who I simply call an energy leak. When they talk to you the joy of life seems to just get pulled from your body. You can feel these folks draining the energy right out of you! These energy leaks complain over trivial matters, the complaining goes on and on. Every time you try to get away they take you by the arm and complain some more.
Contrast this with the woman holding the sign. If anyone has something to complain about it’s this woman. Suffering from cancer and chemotherapy she makes a choice to be thankful. She could choose to sit at home and complain but instead she decides to go celebrate life at a Garth Brooks concert.
You see our decision to be thankful for what we have is a choice. We can choose to be an energy leak…a drain on others…or we can choose to be a light to the world…showing the world what it really means to be a follower of Christ.
I am reminded of this verse in Psalm 118:24 that says this:
This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
This is a short but powerful verse. In all we do, each and every day choose to rejoice!
So as Thanksgiving approaches, remember to focus on a thankful attitude like the woman with the sign. Your attitude really is a choice and God, through His word, has told us the right choice to make. It’s simple…be thankful and rejoice.
Categories: Uncategorized
Dr. Robert M. Myers: Thoughts From A Christian College President 