Thankful Thursday

Today I'm thankful for opportunities.

I'm thankful when the right people and the right time comes together. We had a great meeting with the social workers at Children's Mercy hospital last week. This facility and these people are truly incredible. I am keenly aware that it takes very special individuals to genuinely care about sick children and their families while at the same time be composed enough so that they can do their jobs without becoming puddles of mush on the floor, like I would be. Our hope with Children's Mercy and with all hospitals who treat pediatric brain cancer patients is that The Kyrie Foundation is a resource for these families. So far for 2009, we're right on course. I'm so thankful for that.

And like Frosty & Friends coming together with the families at Wesley next Monday. What a fantastic example of turning an opportunity into something REAL, something MEANINGFUL to others.

Although, sometimes we don't always recognize "opportunities" as such, do we? Lament, grief, doubt, pain, fear, wrath and excuses blind us from imagining what's possible with with the present. Exasperating, isn't it? There's a scene in The Count of Monte Cristo by A. Dumas that I remember when trying to find a silver lining in an ominous storm front. The protagonist, Edmond, is wrongfully incarcerated in the sinister Chateau d'If where a fellow prisoner and wise scholar, Priest, counsels Edmond on his discouragement and frustration. As prisoners, they are neglected & isolated in their own mire, fed once a day through a tiny open-&-shut window, which stifles obvious opportunities for escape. Priest tell Edmond, "then neglect will be our ally." Love that. Taking that which is meant to be punishment and making it a resource, an opportunity.

Hope you are able to spot an unexpected opportunity this last week of Advent.

What are you thankful for today?