A friend once told me that if you thought of 10 reasons to
be thankful everyday that could, actually, overcome depression.
I am thankful for many things and one thing is that I work
for a truly international organisation. Mercy Ships HQ (known as the IOC =
International Operations Centre), is in Texas, USA; but we have a Mercy Ships
Global Association based in Switzerland which supports approximately 17 National
Offices around the world. And on the ship we have around 400 crew usually
representing 35-40 different countries. What a privilege to be part of such a
community.
On board the ship, we deliberately don’t celebrate
individual countries national holidays because with so many countries
represented, we would be having a holiday virtually every week! Not good for
business! However, this time of year (October / November) is in many countries
and cultures associated with harvest and a time of thanksgiving. We are right
now in the middle of the two different dates for Canadian and US Thanksgiving.
And as a ship we have been reflecting on thanksgiving for a week. To
acknowledge what we colloquially term ‘our ship family’ - that means our friends who become like
family while we are away from our natural families, we have recently had a week
of ‘FriendsGiving’. FriendsGiving is a new Mercy Ships term for thanksgiving.
We have left notes on one another’s doors to tell them how thankful we are for
them and their influence in our lives; we have had a wall poster in the café
where we have written 1000 reasons to be thankful; we have simple had a week of
being intentionally thankful.
So I couldn’t let this month’s blog slip by without telling
all of you how thankful I am for each and everyone of you and the way you have
impacted my life. From teachers who encouraged me at school; to medical bosses
who inspired me as a junior doctor; to colleagues who continued to model
leadership and courage in the workplace of the NHS. Parents who sacrificed and
continue to serve me and this work I do now; family who have always been there
for me; friends who support and encourage me and walk through the tough times; church leaders and church family who pray and
support me ,……the list is endless…..without all of you, I wouldn’t be who I am
today and I wouldn’t be doing what I am doing serving the poor and needy and
trying to empower the surgical workforce in Madagascar and beyond, to bring
hope and transformation to their own health systems.
I have often said that I feel people support me in 3 main
ways, professionally, emotionally / spiritually and financially. SO I am
grateful to each of you in this season of thanksgiving and the ways you each
support me. As a way of showing you how much we can do together, below are 3 slides of all that you have made possible ……so thank you from me and thank you
from the many people here whose lives have been literally transformed. I hope
you can find 10 reasons to be thankful today.
Reasons to be thankful - training:
Reasons to be thankful - patient encounters:
