By KAREN SIMMONS

How often do we count our blessings? When we do, how many blessings are we entailed to count?

A friend tells a story of teaching his children to be grateful. At bedtime prayers one night he tells his children that instead of just praying for whatever comes to mind, they are going to name things they are grateful for. So they begin, “I’m grateful for Mom, I’m grateful for Dad, I’m grateful for a house to sleep in, for food to eat…” The list continues for a couple minutes then inevitably fades away. They have run out of things they are grateful for.

The Dad is frustrated that his children are so unaware of the multitude of blessings that flood their life.

So the next night he tries a different strategy. “We’re going to pray for what we’re grateful for again, but this time, anything you don’t say I’m taking away and won’t be here in the morning.”

That night, the list of things they were grateful for expanded exponentially.

On this Thanksgiving Day and in this holiday season, I hope you are able to recall the multitude of things you have to be grateful for.

“In everything give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
-1 Thessalonians 5:18

“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe…”
–Hebrews 12:28

By BRAD OLSEN

Guess who wrote this and when: “The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest (the country) become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance.”

Sounds a bit like our situation today, doesn’t it?

Now consider what King Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes: “All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing. What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; There is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say, ‘Look, this is something new’? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time.”

By the way, Cicero wrote the first quote in 55 B.C.

Jonathan, son of King Saul, summons his armor-bearer to engage the Philistines, who far outnumber the men of Israel (1 Samuel 14:6-7). And Jonathan wants to see if the Lord will act on their behalf.

The “young armor-bearer” responds in a way worthy of note: “Do all that you have in mind. Go ahead, I am with you heart and soul.”

Wow.

Any of us would search the world for a friend who would believe in us like this young man believed in Jonathan.

Editor’s note: Hall Simmons, Senior at University of Virginia, walked onto the football team freshmen year. A high school football star, Hall Simmons discusses the challenging lessons in humility he was able to learn as he went from playing no games at all his freshmen and sophomore year to becoming a special teams player. Hall’s perseverance and humility has won him the attention and respect of those around him. Check out the piece written on him in the Charlottesville newspaper. http://www.dailyprogress.com/cdp/sports/cavalier_insider/ci_football/article/simmons_intensity_keys_cavaliers_special_teams/30815/

By HALL SIMMONS

It is hard for me to single out individual lessons the Lord has taught me from playing football over the past few years. For the lessons are plentiful, sometimes hard to pinpoint. I guess an overriding theme for me through the years is humility and perseverance.

There are times in our life where the Lord places us in unfamiliar roles, calling us to take the low road. Not particularly an unimportant role, but maybe a much more modest role. I came out of high school confident and daring, ready to take on college football with a burning intensity that would hopefully lead me to see some playing time in games within the next year or so. I came to find throughout my first year that not only was I one of the worst and smallest players on the team, but my role as a team leader and star was a distant memory. My role went from starting to scout team and my single digit number went to the highest number on the team, number 128.

This was a hard pill for me to swallow. Coming in, I expected things to be tough, and I knew it was going to be challenging to get some playing time, but I never expected having to wait three years for my chance to play. By my third year, I was still playing my role on scout team. I was the guy still giving the “look” to the starters. At this time, I really felt I was good enough to play in the games. I felt as though I was still being evaluated as a walk-on, not getting a fair chance. It was at that point, my third year, I accepted my role and recommitted to helping our team win games, whether I was going to be on the field on Saturdays or watching the away games on my television with my friends.

In Hebrews 12, Paul talks of throwing off everything that hinders us, and the sin that so easily entangles us, encouraging us to run the race set before us. For me, I had to throw off my pride. I was always going to be number 128 (I still am) whether I liked it or not, and I had to make a commitment: was I going to accept my role and recommit to helping the team, or was I going to quit?

Fortunately, I accepted a path of humility, and I poured more time and energy into football than I ever had previously, committing to persevering to the end. The most amazing part about it was the success our team simultaneously had that year. I embraced my role, as the oldest player on the scout team, and tried my best to leave it all on the field everyday.

By the end of the year, I had earned a spot on special teams for our bowl game. I was shocked. I immediately knew this was the hand of the Lord. Before the bowl game, I was more or less fourth string. It was unheard of for a player to make such a considerable jump, especially before the last game of the year. Now, at the end of my fourth year, the Lord has given me a level of success I never thought would be possible. I have now played more nearly 200 plays in games with a few more games left in my career. If I had experienced this form of success early on in my career, I never would have had the opportunity to learn all of these lessons.

Editor’s Note: Tom Osborne, Athletic Director of University of Nebraska, was the head coach of the Cornhuskers football team for 25 years (1973-97). Osborne was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1999, and in 2000, he received the Jim Thorpe Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1999, ESPN honored Osborne as the coach of the decade for the 1990s. After coaching, Osborne was elected to Congress in 2000 and served six years in the United States House of Representatives as a Republican from Nebraska’s 3rd congressional district. In this piece Osborne comments on the necessity of focusing on the process and not the end, in football and in life.

By TOM OSBORNE

I was asked to write about something that John Wooden, the former basketball coach at UCLA, said many years ago when he was quoted as saying that he never mentioned the word winning to his players. That struck me as odd, as John won more games than any other coach over a period of 12 to 13 years. As I recall, he won 10 NCAA titles in a 12 year period and at one time won more than 80 consecutive basketball games. John mentioned a quote from Cervantes that went something like this, “The journey is more important than the end.” What Cervantes was saying and what John came to practice in his coaching was that often times we place a great deal of importance on end results, such as profits in business, winning elections in politics and winning games in athletics. However, John felt that the proper focus was on the daily process of practicing correct habits, correct drills, developing the right culture, the right mindset and if you practiced those things that were fundamental and basic principles on a regular basis, winning and losing would take care of itself. I’ve come to believe through my 36 years as a coach and my relatively brief career in politics that what John Wooden and Cervantes were trying to get across is true.

In coaching football, we emphasized the proper technique in blocking, in tackling, making sure we had mastered assignments, developing good team chemistry, maintaining firm discipline would, if practiced properly, make us successful over the long haul. We could not predict the outcome of any one game; however, if we did enough things right on a daily basis, over time we would accomplish our main objective, which was to perform at the highest level we were capable of performing. In the world of politics, there is tremendous emphasis on winning at any cost; therefore, people take contributions from organizations with which they often disagree, candidates engage in negative campaigning and attack ads and it becomes a winner takes all mentality in which everyone, including the American public, loses. On the other hand, if a candidate restricts the size of campaign contributions, is discerning in where they come from and refuses to engage in negative campaigning, even though that candidate may lose the election, in a very real sense he and the general public win. The same principles apply in the business world.

Jesus was all about the process and not at all about end results. He obviously did not believe that the end ever justified the means. He consistently taught we are to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves and maintained that if we practiced this on a daily basis, the final outcome of our activities would be taken care of, with the benediction of “well done good and faithful servant.”

By JOHN BARRAZOTTO

“Circle the wagons!” “Batten down the hatches!” “Its survival of the fittest!” “Take care of numero uno.”

The majority of people wouldn’t think twice in supporting any of these statements when discussing how they were dealing with our current state of the economy. One could probably say that most people would even agree with these statements when things were going “great” in their lives. Few people would convict these individuals of any crime, but where is their focus?

Wouldn’t it be interesting if instead people made comments like “I wish I had more time to give.” “I set aside something extra.” “I felt compelled to get involved.” “I’m trying to make a difference.” “It’s what they really wanted.” “I gave it all.”

Think of how different things would be, not just for society, but also for that individual.

Jesus taught us, “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34). We need to look outside ourselves and focus on others in order to be set free and thus become closer to Jesus. When we are depressed or self-focused, what a wonderful way of releasing (freeing) ourselves from our own fears. Be generous! Love others!

Think of how much fun, how much joy you get when you give a gift to a friend or loved one that you took time to make, or searched and searched for just the right color, or knew it was exactly what they were hoping for…. That new bike Christmas morning!

Isn’t that feeling what life is all about? The freedom that comes from experiencing a joyous moment together with someone, anyone? Relationship!

Simple things like:
• The joy on that small child’s face when you stop and give them a hug or take the time to read them a book!
• The surprise on a stranger’s face when you hold open the door.
• The appreciation of a spouse when you give them a single flower for no other reason than to express your love!
• Helping a “senior” load groceries in his car.
• The reaction of a fellow employee when you affirm their hard work.
• The acknowledgement of a street beggar that they’re human too when you engage them and give them a few dollars.

Honestly, when you give or bless others with random (or not so random) acts of kindness and generosity, who really receives the blessing? Who is set free?

That’s why Jesus tells us to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31). In doing so, you’re focusing on others, thinking outside of yourself, and becoming more like Jesus, the most generous man of all.

“By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35).

Generosity brings freedom through Jesus!

“One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.” –Proverbs 11:24-35