I got home last night, exhausted. It has been a stressful couple of months. This week, adding to my concerns was Kim's health. She has been struggling with the effects of Lyme Disease since 2006. She's often in pain and when a cold comes around, she gets a bad case of it. Currently, she's fighting off an upper respiratory infection.

She had called me during the day to see if I wanted to take Fiona to a play at the local high school with some of our neighbors. Initially, I said yes, but as the day dragged on and my energy lagged, I forgot about it and when I got home, thinking about the day I have today, I decided not to go, and headed off to bed early. I knew that Saturday would be another dreaded long day.

Yet this morning, I woke up dreaming about today. Yes, I am heading back into work today. However, it will be a different day, a special day. Today is International Help-Portrait Day.

"In December, photographers around the world will be grabbing their cameras, finding people in need and taking their picture. When the prints are ready, the photographs get delivered."

That is what we are doing at CHC. We will be taking photographs of people in need and giving them the pictures. It is part of an underlying message that we tell people in need. Too many people in need are told they are worthless. They are a burden on society. They are using our tax dollars to get by. That is not our message, and it is not the message of this holiday season.

We are telling the people we serve, through providing health care, and through taking photographs, "You are great, you are awesome." These are words of healing that all of us need to hear. The greater our other needs, the greater our need to hear this.

I lifted these words from the wonderful video, Validation.

Please, validate someone today.