PULLING TOGETHER

A man was lost while driving through the country. As he tried to reach for the map, he accidentally drove off the road into a ditch. Though he wasn’t injured, his car was stuck deep into the mud. So the man walked to a nearby farm to ask for help.

“Warwick can get you out of that ditch,” said the farmer, pointing to an old mule standing in a field. The man looked at the decrepit old mule and looked at the farmer who just stood there repeating, “Yep, old Warwick can do the job.”

The man figured he had nothing to lose. The two men and the mule made their way back to the ditch. The farmer hitched the mule to the car. With a snap of the reins, he shouted, “Pull, Fred! Pull, Jack! Pull, Ted! Pull Warwick!”

And the mule pulled that car right out of the ditch.

The man was amazed. He thanked the farmer, patted the mule, and asked, “Why did you call all of those names before you called Warwick?”

The farmer grinned and said, “Old Warwick is just about blind. As long as he believes he’s part of a team, he doesn’t mind pulling.”

Why do I share this?

We tend to have blinders on from time to time regarding just who is helping us or "pulling with us".

Merely knowing that people are there to pull for or with us is NOT enough.

We must have open and unapologetic gratitude for them lest they decide they are not valued in our lives and move on without us to hamper them in their own pursuits by our lack of attention to them.

Although we often remember to thank the visible people in our lives, we can be lax in remembering to thank those no longer in our sight. To begin the list, God should be thanked first, last and always. For it is only in and through His mercy, merits and grace that any of  us - from the lowly to the proud - even exist in life.

We should be grateful to Christ Jesus for his Atonement in our behalf. Were there only one of us in need of  His aid, He would have still willingly paid the price in His precious blood. He would not have looked upon our plight and said "nope, there is just the one, so never mind". He Atoned for us as individuals out of pure love.

Then, we should think upon the chain of family that conspired to create us. Whether famous or infamous, noble or ordinary work-a-day people, our family is the one unit of people who deserve our gratitude for giving us the opportunity of living.

While it is true that we don't get to pick our family, most of  us ARE blessed to have a good one that is there for us, prays for us, supports us and most of all encourages us to reach for the best that is within us. They are our first and best friends, our greatest cheerleaders through good times and bad, and the most ardent advocates in our behalf when the world walks away.

We need to remember we are not without friends as well. These are the additions to family whom we choose to add by heart. They are the supporters that joined the game late, but who cheer no less fervently for our success. They can be considered the "transfer students" to our school of life. They may come to stay or they may yet transfer away, but while they are a presence in your life, appreciate them and learn from them sifting the good and worthy from that which is chaff.

Pulling together, we can shift the orbit of a sin sick world. Pulling together, we can petition for and expect to receive miracles where only darkness existed before. Pulling together, we can lift ourselves and those around us to a  higher plane of being by simply seeing and being openly grateful for those named and unnamed souls willing to be hitched with us to pull together through the eternities that stretch out before us and also behind us with those people who lived and died long before our birth.  We are not alone. And isn't that a blessing?

Thank God for pulling together with us and for pulling us together... it is through Him that our puny efforts are made complete through Jesus Christ. They make our efforts whole.