Good News - November 2018

LOCAL 60 NOVEMBER 2018 Good News • South Florida Edition “It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morn- ing, and your faithfulness by night” (Psalm 92:1–2). Some people might ven- ture through their entire life with- out encountering someone they believed to be absolutely ex- traordinary. I am not one of those people. I want to tell you about a young man who falls smack dab into this distin- guished category, who made a profound impact on the life of everyone in the brief time we were allowed to know him. Our son James was born with a broken heart, but he was graced with an indomitable spirit nothing could shatter. Congenital heart disease plagued his exis- tence from the moment he took his first breath in the birthing suite of BethesdaHospital until he sur- rendered his last one in a drab corner of Boca Regional twelve years ago. James came built with the capacity to endure mul- tiple open-heart surgeries, pace- makers, biopsies, and a heart transplant all before he blew out the candles at his five-year-old birthday bash. By then, twenty or more scars riddled his chest in a haphazard formation of incisions. But somehow none of them caused him to ever throwhimself a pity party. He never hosted one of those. James understood that life itself was an extraordinary gift, and he could not waste one mo- ment on anything less than cele- bration. He laughed out loud every chance he got and smiled with a brightness that no hard- ship could dim. He cheered for others at the top of his lungs, made each of his twenty cousins believe they were his favorite, and relishedmealtimes as if they were actually occasions to enjoy with great intensity. James whistled in the shower, tucked dollar bills inside our napkins as a surprise to us at dinner, and strutted back down the basketball court after making a shot as if he had just conquered the world. James had every reason to be grouchy, miserable and self- centered. Routine invasive biopsies were painful, fistfuls of anti-rejection medications were a nuisance, doctors were al- ways probing and questioning and examining. But for James, life was an exhilarating adven- ture worth living, worthy of cel- ebration, worthy of gratitude. He got it! James understood long before most that life was supposed to be celebrated, no matter what. He could have been mean-spirited, but he had no time for that sort of nonsense. He lived the way I long to live – grateful, thankful, joyful. So how about it! What’s your excuse for forgetting to be grateful, for failing to notice all the gifts sprinkled throughout life like colorful confetti? Sure, we can choose to be miser- able. Of course, life hands us a raw deal at times. Naturally, we all have reasons to be self-ab- sorbed and detached because disappointments happen and imperfections abound. But realize, we can either become a griper or be grateful. We get to choose. We either get to be a source of joy in others’ lives or a source of pain. I believe James would highly recommend the joy option every time. Last year I returned to Gainesville with our daughter Anna who was in a debate com- petition hosted by the University of Florida. I took time to drive downArcher Road, navigate the parking garage at Shands Hos- pital, and make my way up to the sixth floor cardiac unit. I saw the elevator where twenty years earlier the p r o c u r emen t surgical team carried out an igloo cooler con- taining the organ they would trans- plant into James’ chest. I walked down the corri- dors where I had been trauma- tized waiting for him to be released from surgery. I looked way up to the rooftop where we had landed in our medevac helicopter all those years before. This time James was no longer a patient. This time I had come to reflect, remember, and be thankful for all the answers to prayer God had provided in this building. It was a sacred time for me, ameaningful time, a time for gratefulness. I challenge you in this sea- son of Thanksgiving to strive to become grateful men and women, to find opportunities to express gratitude to others, to consider how many things you have to be thankful for. Practice gratefulness until it becomes one of the distinguishing hallmarks of your life. One day perhaps, many years from now, someone will recall just how wonderfully you celebrated it all, and they will be eternally grateful they ever got to know you in the first place. Elizabeth A. Mitchell serves at Boca Raton Com- munity Church along with her husband Pastor Bill Mitchell, and is part of the faculty of WorldLead, mentoring and training leaders worldwide. Visit her blog at Journey- fortheheart.com Giving Thanks and All That Elizabeth Mitchell Boca Raton Community Church Pastor Bill Mitchell and his son James Palm Beach County