Thank you

Like any other parent, I have watched my children grow at alarming speed. What happened? I ask myself approximately twenty times a day, watching them bounce basketballs, scooter down the driveway, or devour yet another snack. My memories of their earlier years are fogged up in my mind, blurred by exhaustion. Yet since I came home with the first bald-headed baby, they have been teaching me gratitude. My children celebrate sunlight slanting through a window, ants crawling on pavement, toads in the garden. From them, I have learned to pause, a hundred times a day if necessary, see the world around me, and say "thank you."

For cupboards groaning with food, thank you.

For a spouse who is kind, thank you.

For sunlight and green grass, thank you.

For another pitcher-ful of sparkling clean water, thank you.

Perhaps it's no accident that Richard Foster's book on spiritual practices was called Celebration of Discipline. Acts of gratitude and celebration do not usually just happen; they must be cultivated, paid attention to, given space to flourish in our daily lives. As someone who is task-driven and thrives on productivity, I joke that sometimes I have to plan for spontaneity. But however I get there, moments of thankfulness, alone and with others, feed my soul, cast out a doomsday mentality, and draw me close again to my Maker.

Celebration is the antidote to anxiety. Gratefulness cures discontent.

We have come to the end of the Waiting for Water journey for 2012. And there is so much for which we can be grateful. Below are just a few of the comments and notes we have received from people who have participated. As we are already thinking of how we can continue this adventure in 2013, growing, improving, and expanding it, we also want to pause and say "thank you" together.

"A friend of mine went on the Waiting for Water website after hearing about the program at her church. She told me that while she watched the video, she was given a feeling of hope. The simple message that we can all do something, but together we can make a real difference in the world, moved her to tears." --Pat Klever

"Tom - Here's that word again - Awesome!  We had a great study.  Lot's of smart interesting people.  Good things in the works.  We are going to work on compassion in the community!" --Lynn

Dan Stevens receiving a gift from Highlands Church in Paso Robles, CA, on Easter morning. Photo courtesy of Highlands Church.

 

"The information your group put together for the Lent season was very helpful for our church.  We loved the graphics and videos too.  Thank you for all of your work." --Katy Griffin

"Before today, we had collected close to $3,000 for Waiting for Water, more today came in as people sought to help bring safe water to the world... Wonderful day of fellowship at our Waiting for Water Carnival. Easy, fun and relaxed time of celebration and fun. All three pastors plus others got dunked (repeatedly) in our dunk tank. So much fun to watch the children get so stoked every time a pastor went under." --Tom Stephen

Thank you to each of you who participated in Waiting for Water; thank you, God, for including us in your work in this world.