Hold on tight and enjoy the ride!

Tonight, my post is simple. Since it's Thankful Thursday, I am simply thankful for the tough times. What?!?! The tough times?!?! Yes, the tough times! Let me explain.

You see, sometimes we let the bad times drag us down. Sometimes we allow ourselves to get overwhelmed. I'm as guilty of this as anyone. But as it says in Darryl Worley's "Sounds Like Life to Me," we've got to "suck it up." We can't let life drag us down. We have to keep pushing. Tough times make us stronger. I honestly believe that God gives lets us go through tough times for several reasons. Number one, he wants us to realize that we need to put our trust in him for help during tough times. Number two, each trial we go through in life, can only make us stronger when we don't allow it to get us down, when we push through.

Here's Darryl Worley's song:

"Sounds Like Life To Me"

Got a call last night from an old friend’s wife
Said I hate to bother you
Johnny Ray fell off the wagon
He’s been gone all afternoon
I know my buddy so I drove to Skully’s
And found him at the bar
I say hey man, what’s going on
He said I don’t know where to start 

Sarah’s old car’s about to fall apart
And the washer quit last week
We had to put momma in the nursing home
And the baby’s cutting teeth
I didn’t get much work this week
And I got bills to pay
I said I know this ain’t what you wanna hear
But it’s what I’m gonna say 

[Chorus]
Sounds like life to me it ain’t no fantasy
It’s just a common case of everyday reality
Man I know it’s tough but you gotta suck it up
To hear you talk you’re caught up in some tragedy
It sounds like life to me 

Well his face turned red and he shook his head
He said you don’t understand
Three kids and a wife depend on me
And I’m just one man
To top it off I just found out
That Sarah’s 2 months late
I said hey bartender set us up a round
We need to celebrate 

[Chorus]
Sounds like life to me plain old destiny
Yeah the only thing for certain is uncertainty
You gotta hold on tight just enjoy the ride
Get used to all this unpredictability
Sounds like life 

Man I know its tough but you gotta suck it up
To hear you talk you’re caught up in some tragedy
Sounds like life to me
Sounds like life

Sometimes we think that every thing is about to "fall apart." We think, "What could happen next?" That is the problem. We're thinking about things all wrong. Perhaps we need to learn to be thankful for the tough times. Look back on the tough times in your life. I can guarantee you that you learned a lesson from each one of them and more often than not, you might have even have something good come out of a bad time in your life. Tough times-they just "sound like life to me." We're not really caught up in a tragedy most of the time. Usually, it's just something we have to work a little harder to get through. Have you ever heard the saying, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going."? Well, we need to get going. We need to realize that we can't let life drag us down. It's really just a "common case of everyday reality." So, just "hold on tight and enjoy the ride." Who knows how you will benefit from the lessons you learn in the tough times.

Tonight, the measure of a man can be found in his ability to handle the tough times and be thankful for them.

That, my friends, is just a few thoughts from a small town southern man!