Thankful Thursday

Today I'm thankful for getting the opportunity to keep going. We all got a whole day today, a morning, a lunch, an afternoon, an evening. We all went for another spin around the earth's axis, and with grace, we'll get to go around the sun again this year.

Sometimes it's difficult to recognize the gratitude in another day, especially when the days are painful. It's easier, I suppose, to cherish each minute after suffering great loss, acutely aware that today is such a wildly generous gift. Tomorrow? Well, it's not a given. I remember in college having great deliberation over a professor's question: "We know the sun is going to come up tomorrow, right?" He said that if we didn't agree that we were pessimists. For me, I couldn't say for sure, for real if the sun would, indeed, come up the next day or not. I knew there was a good chance, but since I'm not in charge of giving the earth another day, I didn't think I was qualified to answer the question.

And for us here working like mad to fight cancer, we're going to keep on keeping on. One research grant achieved; however many more it takes to go. We get to keep going. I guess we could have stopped here. We could have said that this is good enough, we've done our part. But how would we explain that to Kate and her family? She desperately needs our support, our prayers and the very real work that it's going to take to save her and children just like her. To stop now would have been a hurtful disservice to all of the families who are watching their Kyries tonight.

It's a privilege to be allowed the opportunity to keep building, keep working, keep moving ahead, especially with the many threats and distractions that are waiting to blow into our path like Texas tumbleweeds across our thin trail of sparkling wonder dust. This is hard work, no doubt about it. This is also how we've been asked to serve. Order up. ;)

What are you thankful for today?