A Thanksgiving message from the CEO

Dear Covenant Village Residents, Staff, Families, and Friends,

Many of us gather, year after year, with family and friends around our beloved Thanksgiving Holiday space—at our home or someone else’s home, a beautiful vacation spot in the mountains or at the beach, around a formal dining room table, or with plates in our laps. Whether intentionally or not—I suspect we all will, at some point during the holiday festivities, engage in the practice of giving thanks for our past experiences.

What a beautiful moment that can be—and how necessary for our ability to move forward in life.

Lately, I have been thinking about the opportunities we can miss when we limit our gratitude to the past important people, places, and particulars in our lives.

What IF . . . What if we became excited by and proficient in being deeply grateful for what is YET to come . . . people in our life we have YET to fully encounter. . . life-transforming moments we have YET allow to move, awaken, and shape us?

What IF we were more thankful about the Future than the Past?

What God-moment did you last experience? You know, what I mean:

• That moment when you were working on a project—and you needed something to take you over the top to finish
• That thought you pondered that needed a capstone
• The loving words you prayed for in a fragile situation
• The courage you needed to let go
• That time when you felt something was missing in your life that simply needed perspective
• Those times when you’re at a loss, and then, God sends you what you need!

Today, grace bestowed a God-moment on me. I was looking for confirmation on this “What If” idea and found the kindred thought I hoped existed.

One of my passions is exploring the next big thing in leadership, particularly leadership development. At Covenant Village, the opportunity for our Staff to develop themselves, both personally and professionally is one of the hallmarks of our services and care.

In today’s quest, I encountered—Admired Leadership.com, a website that provides content about leadership based on the study of habits, routines, and behaviors of the very best leaders. The folks at Admired Leadership believe Better Leaders Make People Better! They also say, “The world is in profound need of leaders who are truly committed to making people and situations better.”

Let me pull us back to the thought behind this Thanksgiving Day’s message to our Covenant Village community.

Could we become a community where we are steadfastly and intently thankful—throughout the year—for What is Yet to be in our Lives, for Who we are Yet to meet, for How God is Yet to fully make us into Who we are Becoming?

I believe if we do so, our collective and individual lives will be transformed! We already know this is possible.

Covenant Village has provided 43 years of incredible care and services to Residents, Family members, Staff, and the larger community. Imagine—just for a moment—what the future years hold for us! We will be blessed as we:

• Anticipate the next Residents who will make their home with us,
• Await the next Staff member who will bring her/his gifts and graces to our Village,
• Accept opportunities to contribute and serve others whom we encounter and to be changed by them,
• And, Give thanks for the women and men who are making the current chapter in our Master Plan’s dreams come true.

I cannot wait to give God the Thanks for Who We are Becoming for Covenant Village!

Deep, deep peace,
Dale Melton, CEO

P.S. As a Thanksgiving gift, please enjoy the following reading. It is the God-moment I experienced today that posted back in May of this year on AdmiredLeadership.com.

Gratefulness Is More About the Future Than the Past

Giving thanks for the generosities, courtesies, and sacrifices others have extended is what grateful people do.

Acknowledging and giving thanks for the benefits and good fortune one has received suggests a person who is highly aware of just how lucky they are to know those who are willing to put their own needs aside to help others, including them.

Expressing gratefulness is usually reserved for acts of kindness that have already occurred. Gratefulness is more commonly considered a recognition of the past, rather than an acknowledgment of the future.

But to be truly grateful is to think differently about time. This kind of gratitude is more about giving thanks for what will happen than it is in paying homage to acts that have already transpired.

The reasons we feel grateful are typically about what bounties in life we currently enjoy because of others. However, upon reflection, we can see that these reasons, feelings, and expressions truly shape our expectations and outlook. As a result of the good fortune we have received, the future is full of opportunities, learning, and growth.

The highest expression of gratefulness is recognizing what lies ahead and cultivating a positive outlook of what is in store for us. It turns “thanks” into “thankfulness” and creates an optimism about the future that pays tribute to the past but focuses on the good fortune yet to come.

When we are truly grateful, those around us can sense the awe and optimism we have even with the future’s uncertainties. This energizes others and inspires the kind of hope they need to become more grateful, as well. As the old maxim goes, ”A grateful mind is a great mind that eventually attracts to itself great things.”

Source: Gratefulness is More About the Future than the Past