Being thankful in tough times is difficult, to say the least, but with the recent news from Haiti, can we honestly be anything but thankful?

Since the earthquake, we’ve been bombarded with news from this devastated island. Sometimes it’s good; most of the time, it’s bad news. But no matter what, I get to lay my head on a soft pillow and climb under warm covers with my whole family under one roof, safe and sound – and that is amazing, compared to Haitians lying in the streets or under tents made out of blankets, with the smell of dead bodies in the hot, sticky air.

Cold weather, snow up to the rooftops, frozen water bowls, howling wind, sick cows and tractors that won’t start pale in comparison to no food, no water and no parents.

Maybe you’re facing an obstacle today. The difference between an obstacle and an opportunity is your attitude. Every opportunity has a difficulty and every difficulty has an opportunity. But it’s how we choose to work through these obstacles that make the difference.
We can run the other way and  give up, or we can choose to use the obstacle as an opportunity for growth and greatness.

I watched the dispersal of Traeger Dairy in Beatrice, Neb., recently and thought about the dairyman who was forced to sell his cows because of tough times. Difficult? Absolutely – but with the cows gone, he has the choice of growing and learning from this difficulty and moving ahead. His future is all in his hands.

Will he choose greatness? Or will he give up?

Obstacles also present a perfect time for specific prayer. There isn’t a difficulty that comes into my life that I don’t pray about. And with the present-day dairy industry, I pray more than I sleep.
But it’s important to be specific. Let me illustrate …

Recently, it was game night for my second oldest, Luke. As you all know, game days require perfect timing on the farm in order to get chores done and to the game before halftime.

Bobby was running late, so we started supper without him. I asked J.W. to say the blessing in Bobby’s stead. As always, J.W. prayed for “The Rams” to win their game. We always pray for everyone to do their best and for our team to win. Yes, you may think that’s selfish, but God tells us we should pray specifically.

They lost.

The next day, J.W. and Luke were discussing the game, what went right, what went wrong, who didn’t do this and that and what needed to be worked on. Then I heard Luke say, “It’s all your fault.”
J.W. said, “What?”

Luke replied, “You prayed yesterday.”

Again, JW said, “What?”

Luke said, “You prayed yesterday that ‘The Rams’ would win. Last night the girls had a game, too, and they won, so ‘The Rams’ won. Next time, we need to pray that the boys’ varsity basketball team wins.”

I was amazed, to say the least. First, that he even listened to what was prayed, and second, that he would remember what was prayed – and third, that he would apply what I’ve preached all these years: Be specific!

I guess the take-home lesson is, if you’re struggling with anything today, use this difficulty as an opportunity for greatness and pray with specifics. You can be more than a conqueror, today.

Readers with questions or comments for Melissa Hart may write to her in care of this publication.