Giving Thanks

Happy Friday Friends!

I hope and trust this post finds you all having a great day, that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day, perhaps a Happy Black Friday (yes, I believe there can be such a thing!) and that you are ready for a great, relaxing weekend.

Yesterday many of us celebrated Thanksgiving...a day set aside to intentionally give thanks for the blessings in our lives. Some of us struggle to come up with these blessings we are supposed to be celebrating as we are so caught up in situational/circumstantial stuff... if this happens we are happy but if that happens we are sad.

On Wednesday, the day before our celebration of blessings, I got two great reminders of how blessings, and our recognizing them, is not based on situations or circumstances, but rather the condition of our hearts.

• There was an article in the Arizona Republic on Wednesday morning. You see Wednesday was the 1 year anniversary of a horrific plane crash in Arizona - a crash that took the life of a mothers 9-year old daughter (Morgan), 8-year old son (Logan), her 6-year old son (Luke) as well as her ex-husband (Shawn) and two other men (Russel & Joseph). It was honestly hard for me to begin reading the article. I remember sitting on my couch a year ago, watching the "Breaking News" coverage of a plane crash into the side of the Superstition Mountains and feeling this sense of grief, knowing someones life - perhaps several lives - had been forever altered by whatever had just taken place on the side of that mountain. I really didn't want to read about the heartbreak, the struggle...hoping in the deep recesses of my heart that I would never have to experience such a thing. Thankfully, something made me read the article anyways.

          This was not an article of great grief though the mother, Karen Perry, stated, "Grief is not
          something that goes away, it's something that stays with you but it basically transforms -
          in the way that I view what's happened, in terms of acceptance, in terms of viewing life
          from a different perspective. I see a bigger picture than before, that there's a higher
          purpose than just our everyday going to work, going to school, paying our bills. Our
          everyday grind." No, this was an article of strength, perseverance and mostly gratitude.
          Listen to these strong, powerful words - great words of wisdom - spoken by Karen
          exactly 1 year after losing her three precious children; "Life can be very painful at times
          but there's a lot of beauty to be seen if we open our eyes to it and if we pay attention to
          what's going on around us. And if we're grateful for what we have...I have a lot of things to
          be thankful for. I really do. I'm thankful that I'm here. I'm thankful that my kids didn't suffer
          when they died. I'm thankful that my daughter doesn't have seizures anymore [Morgan
          had severe epilepsy and suffered five brain surgeries that left her legally blind and
          disabled]. I'm thankful that so many good things came out of such a tragedy. She
          continued, "I can see the beauty around me and I can enjoy the time that I have and at
          least enjoy the memories that I have of my kids. I feel very grateful that I had them at all."

          A heart of great gratitude, having experienced loss far greater than anything I have ever
          experienced or can comprehend. Yes, I believe this is the heart of truly giving thanks.

• On Wednesday night my 13-year old had a club ball baseball game. My Beautiful Bride and I were talking to the Mom of another player on the team. This Mom is a pretty special lady. About 5 years ago she was in an accident on an ATV that left her paralyzed from about mid-chest down. We talked about all kinds of things that night - the moment she realized she couldn't get up and walk (anger), the moment the doctor told her she would never walk again (great, great sorrow), the daily battle she wages to get up out of that chair and walk, etc. Somehow, somewhere during all of this she told my Bride and I about a blog she has written detailing her journey. I quickly pulled up the blog on my IPhone and we all began looking at the pictures. And then there was this picture - she is standing - beautiful & radiant - hugging her husband. You see, if she stands up and is wearing her braces, she can hold onto her husband and remain standing. She said, "That is my favorite picture. I am so thankful for the times I can stand and hug him." If you have a lump in your throat right now it's o.k.; I did then and I do now. Again, I was blessed to see a heart of true gratitude.

I am amazed by these two remarkable women. I pray that I will have a heart of gratitude even a fraction of theirs...and I don't mean that in a defeated or "whoa is me" way. They inspire me, they challenge me to get out of my self-centered thinking - what I want thinking - and to truly see the countless blessings that I do have. Frederick Koenig said it well, "We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have."

Please don't hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your families. I will always be willing to help you any way I can.

Have a great evening, a wonderful weekend and please cherish your precious families.

Kev