Thankful in All Circumstances

I have been in Indianapolis, IN from Thursday last week at the National Ag Ed Inservice. It is a chance to learn what the national focus in Ag Ed is each year and plan our state plan accordingly. It is always a good conference and I come back renewed and refreshed with ideas about my career.

The challenges are great. Last week, honestly, I wasn't sure I wanted the challenges (how is that for being pathetic?). Ag Ed needs a lot of work at CSU, and honestly, with a new position, it will be under a lot of scrunity. No one on campus seems sure where to house me - and a move to a new department will most likely be immenent. I have to be able to advocate for myself and our program this week and it makes me tired....

Oh yea - and I have to defend my dissertation this week too.

I am not so sure that I want all of that. And yet, during a lunch prayer at this conference the speaker said: "Lord thank you for our challenges." And like a ton of bricks, my heart sunk. I have not at all been thankful for these challenges. Not at all. I have faced them like a whiney child, "Why, Why, Why?" I want to say, "No, thank you. I am just fine the way that I am." After struggling through the challenges of the dissertation, I guess I felt like I deserved a vacation, not more challenges. And yet, we are to be thankful for everything. Everything. It helps us to grow and depend on each other and on our heavenly Father. It refines who we are and what we are.

So, apparently, I need to be thankful for these challenges ahead. They are great, but they will allow for great growth opportunities, for Ag Ed and for me. I am thankful for that which lies ahead...the unknown. May I learn to appreciate all of the challenges, be thankful for them, and praise God for them.

Happy week family and friends. I pray for you today and lift up you in your challenges as well.