A Lesson in Gratitude

Sometimes you don't realize how much you are blessed.

I know I didn't.

Until this week, I looked at my job with Wal-Mart Logistics as a burden, something I had to do to make ends meet. I confess: I wasn't thankful for my job, nor did I have a particularly humble Christian attitude while I was on the job. In fact, I walked in the door every morning disdaining the fact I was about to spend another day working for Wal-Mart.

Like many of the other spoiled logistics associates -with more than 10 years with the company- I had grown tired of what I perceived to be a downward spiral of perpetual silliness and nick-picking regulations conjured up by managers whom (I thought) had nothing better to do than sit behind a desk and figure out new ways to make my job more aggravating with each passing hour. Other than that, I really liked being a Yard Driver.

Like I said, sometimes you don't realize how much you are blessed...

...that is, until you almost lose that blessing in which you've taken for granted for the better part of 12 years!

That's what happened to me on Tuesday morning.

I made a couple of mistakes which resulted in my pulling a trailer away from the dock that was in the process of being loaded. Nobody was hurt during the event, but in the history of Wal-Mart Logistics, people have died due to such incidents, so they are taken very seriously.

In Wal-Mart Logistics speak, what I did is known as an "unauthorized trailer pull out". To Wal-Mart Yard drivers, it's a nightmare scenario. For about an hour after the incident, I didn't know if they'd fire me or not. Thankfully, I later found out that through God's good Providence, the "automatic termination" provision was changed at the beginning of this year. Now Yard Drivers may continue to be employed, but be put on a 6 month probation called a "Step 3".

During the time I was thinking my career was coming to an early end, it caused me to do some hard thinking. Where would I go next? Who would pay me what I was making at Wal-Mart? How would I support my family and/or maintain our same standard of living?

In rural Georgia, these are very serious questions. Good paying jobs are very hard to find. (And having a vehicle payment, a mortgage, 3 kids, and a pregnant wife who teaches our children at home seemed only to compound the problem!)

Suddenly I realized the error of my ways. God had blessed me so much in allowing me to have a good job, making good money, yet I was wholly ungrateful for it. I had taken my job for granted for so many years that it took me almost losing it to see how blessed I have been.

Wednesday Wal-Mart gave me a "Decision Day." It's not one of the benefits I had ever hoped to use. It's a full day off -with pay- so you can think about your future with the company. It's given to all associates who manage to find their way up the to lofty disciplinary heights of a "Step 3".

I used my Decision Day to think about my future with the company and what I need to do to prevent any future incidents on the yard. I also used my day off to think about much God has blessed me...

And to repent for how I've acted all these years...

After lots of retraining and signing mountains of paperwork, I climbed back into the cab of my Yard Tractor around 10:00 AM on Thursday. Things were different somehow. I certainly paid more attention to my surroundings, yet in the midst of it all, I felt a keen sense of God's presence and peace.

I know that this was no "accident". God allowed it to teach me a lesson...

Sometimes you don't realize how much you've been blessed until God almost takes it away.

I'm not out of the woods yet. Being on a "Step 3" means that, if in the next 6 months, I violate even one safety procedure or have an accident (regardless of fault) that results in over $500 worth of damage to products or equipment, I'll be out the door... It's a real tight spot for a Yard Driver; and sure to keep the lesson I learned this week in the forefront of my thoughts and prayers. I covet your prayers as well.

Soli Deo Gloria!