Sometimes we appreciate more fully what we have when we see what others don’t have; yet, they are more thankful than us who have much more.
Matt Hasselbeck learned this the hard way. He was a Boston College sophomore who was going nowhere in football. Worse yet, he got in his coaches’ doghouse when he volunteered for the missions in Jamaica during spring break.
Gratitude amidst poverty
When Matt saw the poverty in the missions, he experienced cultural shock. At a prayer meeting, he heard someone enthusiastically thank God for his blessings. The person was George McVee, a leper who was so disfigured that Matt avoided him. He wondered what George had to be thankful for. He had no money, nose, feet, or hands; yet, he was thankful. His gratitude helped Matt to appreciate his cornucopia of blessings.