Take Opportunity to Show Gratitude for Your Blessings

by Kathy Colbenson

This holiday season I am filled with gratitude and with sadness. I lost my Mom in 2007 and my Dad died in May of this year so the holidays are tough. Even though I am sad, I realize that I am blessed beyond measure and I am grateful. My Dad used to say, “Children don’t get to chose their parents. Children don’t get to select which challenges their parents face, their socio-economic status or where they live. It is up to us to help them when they aren’t getting the love, the opportunity, and the enrichment that all children need.” 

I was blessed with two parents who loved me and who taught me to act justly, to love compassion and to walk humbly with God. They taught me to take personal responsibility for my choices and they loved me unconditionally, through good times and bad. I miss them so much because they enriched my life so much.

During this season of gratitude and giving, I am grateful and I am reminded of what my Dad, a wise and loving Baptist minister, taught me about my responsibility…“to whom much is given, much is required.” 

At CHRIS Kids we dedicate ourselves to celebrating the dignity and worth of each person; to uplifting those who are fallen. Every child enters this world as a gift and it is up to us to help unlock the potential that slumbers in each child.

At CHRIS Kids we help children who, for any number of reasons, did not have what I was so fortunate to have in my life. And, we need your help. Your gift to CHRIS Kids makes a huge difference. It enables us to provide life coaches for children who need guidance along the way. It enables us to get basic necessities. Your gift enables us to meet the individual needs of kids and families as we help them become self sufficient. We cannot do this work alone. Take this opportunity to show your gratitude for the blessings in your life by giving to help others.

Thank you.

Ms. Colbenson is chief executive of East Atlanta-based CHRIS Kids.