23 Degrees of Gratitude

OK, I've thought about this for too many years. This is the year to take action. To say out loud what my heart has been saying for many years. This is the year. I'm not going to let one more day go by without saying some very important thank-yous. Time to let some important people in my life know what they mean to me, how they have impacted me, how their lives intersecting with mine has changed me for the better. Each day in November leading up the Thanksgiving, I am going to write a handwritten letter to the people who have been major influences in my life. The first one, which goes out in the mail today, is written to Ron Scott, a youth pastor from my junior high years, who took interest in a young girl with lots of dreams who just needed people to believe in her, encourage her, and affirm her. Ron and Karen were the kind of people whose home was always open, along with their hearts. It was a place to have fun, be challenged, be accepted, and learn about what it meant to follow Jesus in a real, life-changing way. Ron had a great sense of humor, a great heart for God, and a desire to help kids grow in their faith. I remember the day I learned that Ron and Karen would be moving away from our small town to pastor another church, and I was so sad to say good-bye. A few weeks back, I learned that Ron now has inoperable brain cancer that will eventually end his life, barring any divine intervention. So my first letter is to Ron. Thanks, Ron, for helping me to develop my faith and for taking the leap to serve God with all of me. I hope that my own children have a youth pastor who is as influential to them as you have been to me.