Living with an attitude of gratitude

Nick Vujicic

Gratitude is a very humbling and empowering emotion and state of mind.

Two recent events have given me plenty of opportunity to express gratitude in the extreme. The first involves the sudden and untimely death of my car’s battery. A jump start got me across the street to NAPA Auto Parts (thanks, Ken!) Although they had just sold out of the size battery I need hours earlier, the guys there were very friendly and helpful. Even though the store was closed, they took the time to give me another jump start before they left (thanks, guys!)

I let my 2012 Ford Focus idle a bit to build a charge. When I went to put the car in reverse, nothing happened. Apparently, my car has a safety feature that prevents it from going into gear when the battery is too low. (Not really thankful for that.) I had to leave it parked there overnight and get a ride home (thanks again, Ken!).

The next morning, I met Johnny from Fat Boy Towing out of Kerrville (my AAA suggestion) and he very promptly and courteously got my car to the repair shop (thank you, Johnny!). I am very grateful they had the battery in the size I needed and had people to do the installation. My car runs again and I am thankful and happy.

Prior to that, on the weekend of July 16-17, I attended the Promise Keepers conference at AT&T Stadium near Dallas. For those who don’t know, Promise Keepers is an international men’s ministry co-founded in the 1990s by former University of Colorado football coach Bill McCartney. In its heyday, the organization held stadium events across the country, culminating with a national gathering in Washington, D.C., in 1997. The Dallas event marked something of a revival for PK, being the first stadium-sized gathering in more than two decades.

At first, I planned to crash for the night at a friend’s house about an hour away from the stadium (thank you, Paces, for making your home available), but then the children’s minister from my home church contacted me and said he had a spare bed in his hotel room near the stadium (thank you, Joel Smith!).

Since I was covering the conference as a member of the Fourth Estate, I was given seating on the field close to the stage and allowed to take photographs to my heart’s content (joyfully thankful). Opening night on Friday featured Nick Vujicic (“voo-yi-chich”), the Australian-born motivational speaker, author and evangelist who was born without arms or legs. I am forever grateful to have seen him in person and to hear his message, as he has been on my bucket list of people to see for many years. He has an impactful story about trusting God and the power of prayer.

The next day brought with it much more gratitude. The conference continued with numerous, powerful speakers, all imploring us as followers of Christ to be better husbands and fathers and leaders in our communities and churches. Also, the first of what is expected to be an annual award for courage was presented to retired Gen. Jerry Boykins.

Boykins is noted for his service in the Army during the attempt to rescue American hostages in Iran in 1980, the invasion of Granada in 1983, the 1989 mission to capture Manuel Noriega in Panama, the hunt for drug lord Pablo Escobar in Colombia in 1992-93, and the Black Hawk Down incident in Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1993. He spoke about how God used warriors throughout the Bible and implored the men to be warriors for their faith. I am grateful to have seen him and hear what he has to say.

Of course, being in the home of the Dallas Cowboys, PK held a panel discussion with Cowboys hall-of-famers Michael Irvin and Charles Haley, and Tim Brown of the Raiders. Chad Hennings hosted. As a Denver Broncos fan and long-time loather of the Cowboys and Raiders, I had to take this one with a grain of salt. I’m grateful I did. I got to see these guys in a different light and grew to respect them for their commitment to God and family.

Lunchtime brought with it a complete surprise. Unable to find anything I could afford that fit into my keto diet, I came across two guys walking away from a concession stand with the biggest plate-sized hamburgers I have ever seen. I asked them how much they cost and they said they paid $75 for the two of them (plus fries and drink). Then, one of the guys insisted on giving me his burger because it was too big and one burger was enough for both of them. I don’t know who the guy was, but I am extremely and humbly grateful for his generosity.

There are so many other things that happened that warrant my gratitude, but I’m out of space to list them. I’m reminded of the late Zig Ziglar who profoundly exhorted people to adopt an “attitude of gratitude.”

“Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions,” he said. “The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for.”

He also said, “Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.”

I’m grateful to those of you who read this to the end and wish you all the best as you contemplate the things in life you are grateful for.

joe@fredericksburgstandard.com