Saying Grace

Thanksgiving mornings consist of sleeping in, watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and preparing food to bring to our family afternoon celebration. THIS morning would be different. No, I didn't sleep in. No, I didn't watch the parade. And I prepared my food the day before.

The alarm didn't even need to wake me up, for I woke up on my own at 5:15 am. I was excited to start my day. My ride picked me up promptly at 6:40 and we were on our way. Kim, Megan, Ali and I were volunteering this morning for a 5K Thanksgiving race. A race to benefit and support the Ministry of GraceMed Health Clinic. A non-profit community health clinic whose mission is to show and share the love of Jesus Christ by providing compassionate, accessible, high-quality health care for residents of south central Kansas. Many patients are uninsured or under insured.

There was a season in our family's life that we had no insurance, and GraceMed was there for our children's dental needs. We were deeply grateful for this clinic. The care, the compassion and the genuine kindness of the staff will always be remembered.

Today was the 1st Annual  Say Grace Thanksgiving  5K race!  I was assigned to stand at the starting point of the race. My duties were to encourage runners/walkers to keep going once they ran the route one full time coming through the starting point and running one more block to the finish. I encouraged 1,000 runners today!  I saw sweat, I saw weary looking people, I saw smiles, frowns, scowls. I saw determination, motivation, and yes, some discouragement. I encouraged with a clap, a holler of "way to go", "you're almost there", and  "YOU CAN DO THIS". My voice became hoarse, my hand hurt from clapping, and I had to fight the tears because of the admiration I had for these runners. I saw Rebecca, Jenny, Susan, Angie and Patti running in the race. One of many blessings this morning. So proud of these ladies and of every person there~