At the 2025 Global Leadership Summit, Coach Nick Saban shared a story about Derrick Henry from their days at Alabama.

It was the middle of summer. Two-a-day practices. Heat pressing down. Tempers rising. Players frustrated. Coaches aggravated. Everyone was worn thin.

One day, Saban walked past Derrick Henry at his locker and casually asked, “How you doing?” Most players would have groaned or complained. But Henry, who would one day become an NFL legend, simply said: “Glad to be here, Coach.”

That short response carried weight. It was more than small talk—it was perspective. When conditions were tough, he chose gratitude over grumbling. When everyone else was weary, he chose joy in just having the opportunity.

The Bible says, “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Gratitude doesn’t remove the heat, but it reframes it. It turns practice into privilege. It transforms a locker room into a place of blessing.

Maybe you’re in your own season of two-a-days—stretched thin, hot under pressure, worn by the grind. What if you borrowed Derrick Henry’s posture and said: “Glad to be here.”

Glad to be alive.

Glad to have breath.

Glad to be in God’s hands.

Sometimes, that shift alone is enough to keep you running strong through the heat.

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Until next time - grace, peace, and every blessing.

Pastor Martin D. Odom