Leadership Thought: Things I Am Grateful for During This Pandemic.

Dear Friends,

I don’t like to hang out with negative people. I guess my coaching background and sports involvement has kept me from falling prey to a lot of the negativity that has accompanied this Pandemic period. I know that there are advantages to be found in every adversity. If this weren’t true, we would never have discovered vaccines for measles or polio or any of the other epidemics that have ravaged our nation.

During this period or lock down, I might have found  plenty of reasons to grumble, but quite honestly that has not been the case. I have discovered an abundance of things for which to be thankful.  Oh, there is a part of me that is frustrated by the substantial number of options that have been eliminated from my life. This lockdown has severely limited my mobility, save an afternoon walk, but all in all I  am grateful for the things I have left to enjoy. Instead of grumbling. I am filled with gratitude, and so a couple of days ago sat down and drew up my “Grateful List”. 

Having said this, I don’t want to minimize the personal suffering and financial pain that so many are experiencing. Many of you may have lost  loved ones and  jobs, and have witnessed your investments dwindling.  I don’t want to minimize the  toll this  has taken on so many of you. However, I hope these things will never overshadow the fact that we still have so much for which to be grateful. We  live in the greatest nation in the world,  and we enjoy the kind of freedoms that people all over the world would love to possess.

So, with that let me share with you some of those items on my Gratitude List. 

I have almost an additional hour to work each day  by virtue of not having to drive to and from home to my office.

I have more time to  spend with Jean and to play with my grandchildren and to keep in touch with our own four children.

I have more time because I don’t have to watch the news every day. Why would I, for the past few months it has remained pretty much remained the same, death tolls and government briefings. One newscast is enough to digest most of what’s been happening over the last 168 hours.

I have more time  for study and reflection because fewer minutes of my day are consumed by  listening to "Sports Talk" radio or watching grown men hit a baseball and run around three bases. (I do confess, I  still do miss this a bit).

Breakfast is  daily delivered to our upstairs apartment by my granddaughter. It is lovingly  prepared by our daughter, Rachel,  who besides teaching, doubles as our live-in gourmet chef, preparing not only our  breakfasts but incredible sit-down dinners with our family. 

I haven’t spent a penny on gasoline since my daughter has hid my keys (no, not exactly,) but she does closely monitor both Jean and my whereabouts.

I haven’t had to spend a cent on haircuts, and some of my friends are saying I am beginning to look a lot like John Bon Jovi. That's pretty cool.

I have more time to communicate with high school  and college classmates (zooming with my high school classmates tomorrow)  as well as friends I have made  over 50 plus years of ministry.

I have had more time to reflect on my “ All Time Thankful List” which I commenced on Easter morning, and which now contains almost 30 of the greatest blessings I’ve  enjoyed over a span of 79 years.

I have had the luxury of watching movies, something that I have hardly ever done. I Love those Hitchcock classics, and they are even better the second time through like Vertigo, North my Northwest. Dial M for Murder, and yes even Psycho, if you are up to it. 

I have had  more time to walk, and think and reflect, something that I have not done enough of in years gone by.

And during this time, I have read more books than I have done in the past. I just finished John Maxwell's Thinking for A Change, and I have viewed a number of  leadership podcasts which I hope has made me a more effective leader and mentor. 

But most important of all,  this extra time has provided me the luxury to spend more time to spend in the Word and in prayer, and in study which has drawn me closer to the Lord than at any other time in my life.  This past month I have become reacquainted with Peter, and  Esther and Jonah who I have gotten to know better than I could ever have imagined. 

Apologies to those of you who don’t enjoy the luxuries I do, but at 79 I  feel like I deserve a few, so any guilt I might harbor,  I refuse to acknowledge. 

I know my life is  probably a lot different from yours, and you may not possess the same margins I enjoy. However, I do hope my list will jog a few things that you too can appreciate during this time of this pandemic.  And just maybe these thoughts might stimulate you to develop your own Gratitude List. If you do, I would love to hear how your grumbling might have been changed to gratitude.

Yours in faith and friendship,
Tom