I am writ­ing this from a nice lit­tle hotel in a sub­urb of Tijuana Mex­ico.  I’m here this week with my fam­ily, friends and clients.  Five years ago we started our annual trek to a very impov­er­ished com­mu­nity in Tijuana called Valle Verde.  We travel down here to help the peo­ple of Valle Verde by build­ing homes, build­ing a com­mu­nity cen­ter, and doing some needed repairs.

Tomor­row is Thanks­giv­ing, and as we all remem­ber to be a lit­tle more thank­ful, I am struck by the peo­ple I know who live with this atti­tude daily.  I’d like to tell you about a cou­ple of these peo­ple who have inspired me.

The first is a friend named Hec­tor, who lives down here in Valle Verde.  In his ear­lier years, Hec­tor raised five chil­dren in a one room shanty and rode a scooter for trans­porta­tion as he looked for work.  There is no way for me to do his story jus­tice here, but what I want to share is that he is a man who has known what it is like to have very, very little.

Hec­tor is unequiv­o­cally the most grate­ful man I have ever met.  Last night our entire group of 20 men, women and chil­dren com­mented on his joy and thank­ful­ness.  One of our friends has been here and worked by Hector’s side for each of the last 9 years.  He said he has never seen Hec­tor grum­ble, get frus­trated or even melan­choly.  He is incred­i­bly joy­ful and grate­ful, and we always leave Mex­ico inspired by his atti­tude.  In a sit­u­a­tion that many of us would find bleak, Hec­tor is thank­ful each and every day.

Next I’d like to tell you about a dear friend of mine by the name of Greg Sal­ci­c­ci­oli.  Greg and I started an orga­ni­za­tion together ten years ago called Min­istry Coach­ing Inter­na­tional.  Its pur­pose is to coach lead­ers of churches, schools, and other not for profit orga­ni­za­tions in the same way Build­ing Cham­pi­ons coaches busi­ness lead­ers.  Greg has served as the pres­i­dent since its inception.

If you have met Greg, you will agree that he stands out from the crowd.  The first thing you notice is that he is the tallest guy in the room.  He is some­thing like 6’18”. The sec­ond is the way he shakes your hand.  You will lose your hand in his grip as his hand com­pletely envelops yours.  The third is his huge and con­ta­gious smile.  Greg is always smil­ing, and you just can’t help but feel hap­pier when you are around him.  Most impor­tantly, when you fin­ish a con­ver­sa­tion with Greg, he will always let you know that he appre­ci­ates you.  He has been telling me this in our con­ver­sa­tions and by his actions con­sis­tently for the last ten years.

Take time to think about the peo­ple around you this Thanks­giv­ing.  Who do you know that is con­stantly thank­ful?  Who makes you feel bet­ter by just being around them?

The chal­lenge for each of us in this sea­son is to reflect on our own atti­tude and actions.  How do we make the peo­ple around us feel?  Do we let them know how thank­ful we are for them, or do we take them for granted?  Are we truly thank­ful for rela­tion­ships, more so than for things and experiences?

May your life and lead­er­ship be defined by a heart of thankfulness.

I am thank­ful for you,

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Tags: Gratitude, Mexico, Ministry Coaching International, Thanksgiving

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