Monday, I told you about a song that came across my phone at the gym. I had just finished my morning devotion, opened Spotify to get the music going, and there was Forrest Frank singing about being thankful for plain things. Breath. A morning outside. None of it earned.
I laughed out loud. God’s timing is perfect, and He reminds me of it every day.
That’s the kind of gratitude I want to talk about today. Not the kind we put on a plate in late November. The kind that stops you mid-set and turns your head back toward the One who gave you the day.
Ten Men on a Road
Luke 17 puts Jesus on the road between Samaria and Galilee. As He enters a village, ten men with leprosy meet Him. They stand at a distance, because that’s where their condition made them stand. Nobody got close to them.
So they raised their voices: “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” (Luke 17:13 CSB)
He answered with a simple instruction. Go show yourselves to the priests. And while they were walking, they were cleansed. All ten. Ten people who had been outside the village for who knows how long, suddenly well.
Picture that walk. Skin that had been the story of their whole lives, changed in the middle of a step. I think the nine were thrilled and moving fast. Priests to find, families to see, life to get back to. I can’t hold that against them. I’d have been running too.
But one of them stopped.
“But one of them, seeing that he was healed, returned and, with a loud voice, gave glory to God. He fell facedown at his feet, thanking him.” (Luke 17:15-16 CSB)
Luke adds that he was a Samaritan. A man with every reason to think he didn’t belong at the feet of a Jewish rabbi walked right back and put his face on the ground.
Then Jesus asks, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?” (Luke 17:17 CSB)
And to the one who came back: “Get up and go on your way. Your faith has saved you.” (Luke 17:19 CSB)
I love that. He didn’t just get his skin back. He got Jesus.
Gratitude Is Where Serving Starts
Here’s what I’ve been thinking about this week. A grateful man is hard to make proud.
When you know you were given something you couldn’t earn, you stop acting like the center of the story. You start looking for who else needs a hand, because somebody already gave you yours.
That’s servant leadership in one sentence, and it starts with thank you.
In 2019 I read Coach Matt Deggs’ book 15 to 28, and one line hit me like a sledgehammer: “We need them way more than they need us.” Everything shifted for me after that. It moved me from transactional to transformational, from asking what my players could do for the program to asking what the program could do for them.
Years later, when I wrote about reaching 200 wins, I put it plainly. I am responsible for zero percent of those victories. The wins are yours. The lessons are mine.
I’m 209 wins with 40-plus players in college, and I can tell you honestly that none of it makes me feel big. It makes me feel carried. A grateful leader knows he is not the engine. He is the guy who got handed a chance and gets to hand it down the line.
That’s what the Samaritan modeled. He didn’t give a speech. He turned around, fell down, and gave the credit to the One it belonged to.
What a Grateful Leader Does
A grateful coach serves differently. He does a few things that look small and aren’t.
He says thank you before he says what’s next. Not as a technique. Because he remembers who carried the weight.
He gives the credit away. When it goes well, it’s the players, the assistants, the families who drove, the field crew who got up early. When it doesn’t, he takes the blame.
He goes back. Not just a text, not just a nod. He goes back to the person who helped him and tells them what it did.
I did that this week with my first note of the challenge. I wrote Jessica four short paragraphs by hand. It took about ten minutes, and it was one of the best things I did all week. Seventeen years of marriage, five moves, three cities, and I’m still learning to say it out loud instead of just feeling it.
Turn Around This Week
Start with thank you. Before you walk into practice, a meeting, or your next conversation with an assistant, thank God for one specific thing. Not a general blessing. One real thing from this week.
Say it to a person. Pick one player, assistant, parent, or helper and thank them for something specific. Name the thing. Don’t attach a coaching point to it.
Give one credit away. Next time somebody praises you, point to who really did the work.
Write your note. Week 1 of the four-note challenge is still open. Three sentences, by hand. Name the moment, say what it did for you, say thank you with no “but” after it. Mail it or hand it over this week.
Tell me who got it. Come back Friday and tell me who you thanked. I’ll tell you how mine landed.
One Last Thing
Ten men walked away from that road well. One walked back and found the One who made him well.
I want to be a coach who walks back. Not because anyone’s keeping score, but because I know what I was handed and who handed it.
Who’s getting your note this week?
Greater Together.
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