For Wilshire Baptist Church
How do you say “thank you” to someone? Mail a note, deliver a gift, send an email or text with emojis and digital confetti, offer a word of gratitude on the phone or across the fence? There’s no right or wrong way. Every situation that merits a “thank you” prompts a different response. Sometimes that prompt and response is unexpected for both the giver and the recipient.
For example, last week I sent vacation photos to one of my doctors through their online patient portal. Normally, photos go the other way; the doctor will send photos of scans or other details of treatments. But this was different. I sent the travel photos after having another round of six-month scans that confirmed I’m still clear and cancer-free. The doctor was especially pleased with the results because the scans reinforced the efficacy of last summer’s treatments for what he reminded us was “a very aggressive” tumor in my sinus.
During our visit, LeAnn and I told him we had been hiking in Colorado a few weeks earlier on the one-year anniversary of my last day of radiation treatment and we were so pleased and blessed to be able to do that. He smiled and his eyes twinkled — they really did — as he told us about another patient who sent him pictures from the top of Mount Kilimanjaro.
“I love getting those pictures,” he grinned. So, I sent him a couple of our pictures, including a selfie of “a very happy couple” above the tree line at Independence Pass and a glamour shot of the incredible beauty at the mountain formation known as Maroon Bells. In my message to him, I said, “While our hiking wasn’t as dramatic as what your other patient achieved at Kilimanjaro, it was no less eventful for us.”
In short, our photos were proof of the miracle of science that can be harnessed to target abnormalities inside our bodies. The photos also are proof of the beauty of God’s creation that we’ve been blessed to enjoy. But mostly, the photos are proof of life — proof of renewed energy, vigor and hope for more journeys. And that is definitely something to be thankful for, whether it’s said in words or pictures from a mountaintop.
The good doctor answered back later that same day, “Amazing pictures!! Thank you for sending!! David.”