The power of a thank you

The power of a thank you is that it blesses the "thank-er" as much as the "thank-ee". World Vision currently has an employee campaign goal to call 60,000 donors in December to simply say thank you for their support of World Vision and the hurting children and families we serve.

Management has asked that every employee sign up for a two-hour shift to make thank you calls. I volunteered yesterday morning and although a majority of my "thank you's" were left on answering machines, I did get to thank several people personally. Many I could tell were stunned that it was a simple thank you call and not a request for giving. But I hope all were blessed to be told how appreciated they were.

So, after two hours of saying thank you, I was, as you can imagine, in a very grateful mood! I thought I would take a few moments here to say those powerful words a few more times:

• Thank you to all of Luke's grandparents for loving us enough to enter into this journey with Luke with your whole hearts.
• Thank you, Dr. Stefanelli, for caring for Luke like he was your own. And for giving us your phone numbers, knowing we would use them! You have gone above and beyond for us.
• Thank you, Dr. Cohen, for using your surgical gifts to help save our son's life.
• Thank you to Nurses Jen, Jodi and Melissa at NW Children's Heart Center. We feel like you are part of our family.
• Thank you to everyone who has prayed for Luke. God hears and honors our prayers. Our peace throughout this process has much to do with your prayers for us.
• Thank you, Lester family, for showing us a present-day example of Romans 4:18: "Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed..."
• Thank you to Children's Hospital for making children and their parents your priority.
• Thank you to World Vision and the Puyallup School District for giving Roger and me the time we needed to be with Luke.

I pray that God gives YOU many reasons to be thankful today!