PIVOT

365 DAYS OF THANKSLIVING — DAY 108

Sometimes, you just need to pivot.

If you caught last night’s post, you know exactly where this is heading. If not, stick with me for a second, because this is about more than just a blog post—it’s about the people God places in our lives to keep us on the right path.

Yesterday, I wrote about a dark dream I’d had. My goal was to show that while darkness is real, God has called us out of it and into His glorious light. (Can I get an amen?) But when it came time to choose the "face" of that post—the AI-generated image—I took a bit of a detour.I asked my AI collaborator for some ideas, and out of all the suggestions, I chose the one that felt the "snarkiest." It was edgy. It was dark. At the time, I thought it worked. Most people didn't seem to mind, but one friend reached out with a word of caution.

I need to take a moment to talk about my buddy, Don Griffith.

Don and I go back to 2017. At that time, I was about a year out of the pulpit and looking for work that could actually pay the bills. I was at a bit of a rock bottom, honestly. Don was the newly appointed sales manager for a company in the Toledo market. We hit it off instantly in the interview.

I told him I needed to make exactly "$62,700," and Don didn’t just hire me—he trained me and showed me exactly how to do it. Before long, I was in the company's top 10%. Eventually, we both moved on to other things, but we stayed close.

Don even went back into the military, trading in his Marine Corps blue for Army green (I still have to ask: Why, Don, why?). But beyond the sales floor and the brotherhood of arms, Don is a devoted follower of Christ.

When Don read my post, he told me he was worried that the image was too dark—that it might accidentally open a door to the demonic rather than pointing people to the Creator.

At first, I was taken aback. My ego wanted to defend the "art." But the more I sat with it, the more I realized Don was right. I’d been so focused on the "edge" of the image that I’d lost sight of the message.

Within seconds, I opened up Gemini and said, “We need to pivot.” I told the AI we needed to change that image from something dark to something that represented the glorious light of Christ. It took five modifications and some back-and-forth, but we got there. I went back to the website and Facebook and swapped them out immediately.

Coincidentally (or not), I spoke at church tonight about the need to set our minds on the things of God rather than the things of man. I realized that while my intent was to glorify the Lord, my execution wasn’t being mindful of His light. I don’t know if I would have seen that clearly if it hadn't been for Don.

He reminded me of that ancient proverb:

“As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend” (Proverbs 27:17, NLT). 

Don was right, 1,000 percent.

Tonight, I am deeply thankful for Staff Sgt. Don Griffith. I’m thankful for his service to King and country, for the second chance he gave me in 2017 when I really needed it, and most importantly, for being a brother in the Lord who isn't afraid to speak the truth in love.

Have you ever had to make a sudden pivot in your life to honor the Lord? Who are the "iron" friends in your life who aren't afraid to sharpen you?