If You Woke Up This Morning, You Received A Gift

     This past Friday, Missy and I traveled to Amelia, Virginia to pick up our nephew's daughter Ivy. Ivy is like a granddaughter to us and we enjoy every minute we get to spend with her. She is a sweet, compassionate, young lady and her energy and love of life puts a smile on our faces the moment we see her! Sadly in a week or so we will make a return trip back up Interstate 81 and deliver Ivy back to her family and mark our calendar for the next opportunity to spend some time with our little package of light.
     Just as we were leaving town for Virginia, Missy and I picked up a local radio station where the host of the morning show was posing the "almost impossible trivia question" of the day. His question to the listening audience was "What is the one thing that will put someone in a bad mood as soon as you get out of bed?" As I drove down the road listening to the incoming caller's guesses I just couldn't quit thinking that this is a trick question. Seriously, if some of the things that people were suggesting as the answer to this question were the correct answer then it is no wonder that we have so much road rage, depression, and disconnection with life. Things like no coffee made, alarm didn't work, have to go to work, headache, car wouldn't start, car had a flat tire, the guesses went on and on. These minuscule offerings, petty as they were, put my mind to work. Over the last few years I have learned a great deal about being thankful and grateful in any and all settings that I have found myself. Have to go to work? Be thankful you have a job. Car has a flat tire? Be thankful you have a spare tire. Maybe your car won't start, you can still be thankful you have a car. You wake up with a backache, neck ache, headache, or any other type of body ache, guess what, you woke up and you are able to get up out of bed. See where this is headed? You get to make the choice, Hateful or grateful?
     The concept to grasp with today's FTM is that you have been given a gift, it's call today. What you do, how you react to it, how you commit to the day are all choices that you will have to make. Sadly for some the day will pass with many disappointments and not much joy. I on the other hand have decided just as Joshua did in Joshua 24:15 as he proclaimed, "This is the day that the Lord hath made I will rejoice and be glad in it." Armed with the resolve to make the most of the day how could you wind up in a bad mood? But if you do land in bad mood country don't take up residence there, take the opportunity to have your pity party for a few minutes and then go about the business of thinking about how grateful you should be for all you do have.
     Next week we will dig deeper into the different ways people accept the gift of "today". So until we meet again, choose to rejoice in the moment and be thankful for the day you have been given! Oh yeah, as we traveled up the road and curiously waited on the proposed answer to the almost impossible trivia question we eventually out distanced the radio station's coverage area. Just as I hypothesized I guess, there isn't anything that will put me in a bad mood first thing in the morning or any other time of the day for that matter. Enjoy your day! Coach Carter