Why Gratitude?

​Dear Why Team member,
I hope this week’s message finds you well and enjoying your Summer.
This week and next, we consider:

​Why Gratitude?

Audio: 🗣

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​I began writing what will be next week’s message, earlier this week, and then something very cool emerged from the deep.
 
I grew up fishing with my Mother’s Father, my Grandfather, Reverend Terry F. Phillips, a Pentecostal Preacher for 53 years. He wasn’t a preachy preacher. If you get what I mean, he exemplified what St Francis suggested, preach the Gospel, and, if necessary, use words; he lived out his beliefs in his behavior. The way he lived and loved was his most effective sermon. He taught me how to fish and, in so many ways, how to live. I am forever grateful for my Papau - having had him in my life is one of the greatest blessings I have been given.
 
I vividly remember his passion for fishing and his joy of just being on the lake, “remember it’s called fishing, not catching :-)” Patience, peace and quiet; fishing is about much more than the fish. But how fun is it when one takes your hook? And, as most times the student becomes the teacher, this past week, on a beautiful early evening,     I have had the great opportunity to teach my son Grayson and his two buddies fishing techniques and insights taught to me by my Grandfather. 

Imagine our surprise when on his first time fishing, one of Grayson’s buddies hooked the largest freshwater fish I have ever encountered, a huge catfish - they can live up to 60 years. It was very exciting for all of us, and I know my Grandfather would be proud. In fact, we were using some of his old fishing tackle. And no, this is not one of those “fish tales.”
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When we awoke the morning before that big catch, we had no idea what life had in store for us, yet we were to be given a memory of a lifetime.
 
How might we live more grateful, more curious, and more excited about what a new day will bring?
Maybe today will provide you a memory of a lifetime. Maybe what will rise up from the deep, emerging from the unknown, will absolutely astonish you and awaken you to this incredible life we are so privileged to live. Each day brings new possibilities; and that fact may be an important first entry every day on our gratitude list.
 
Next week we will explore more on the value of a gratitude list. I hope this week’s short story and the message has encouraged you to be all the more excited and grateful for each new day you are given, for all the lessons you were given out of love and for the opportunity to teach another wisdom that may create memories of a lifetime.
 
Make it a great week!

Steve Luckenbach