Summary

Gratitude is a decision to stay committed to the good in life, even when things may not be going well in your own life, and making it through.

I AM SO GRATEFUL to each one of you for your support of the YWCA. Through the YWCA, you help women and children change the way they see and experience life. They are leaving horrible situations and are learning that they matter in this world. They’re leaving violence, and transitioning to lives where they make their own decisions.

None of this is easy, but when you can believe in yourself and know that others believe in you and are cheering you on, you find that you can do a whole lot more than you thought you could.

Gratitude is a decision to stay committed to the good in life, even when things may not be going well in your own life, and making it through. Gratitude isn’t a magic wand. Like the decision to leave a lifetime of violence, it takes time. But gratitude does rearrange the way we see the world. When we focus on our strengths and the many gifts we are blessed with, gratitude lessens our fears, strengthens our hearts, and builds resilience.

I like to think of our staff as gratitude midwives. They help people find their strengths – be that the families in YWCA shelters or the 32 little ones in childcare each day, the LiNC class members, or all the Walla Walla fifth graders who just started Mariposa groups.

And they help people believe in those strengths, build on them, and begin to see the world in a different way. That’s what the amazing people I work with do every single day.

Sometimes, that looks pretty hard.

But just when it feels like it will never work, it does.

Someone smiles. Or stops taking someone’s toy. Or decides to go back to school because someone showed her how. Or sits next to that girl she thinks she doesn’t like.

You are making all this possible.

You are part of this great birthing process of gratitude, not just because you support our mission but because you believe it matters. Thank you.