This little book rocked my world

(source)

It's not revolutionary nor necessarily provocative. It doesn't challenge my brain or keep my lying in bed at night pondering its complexities. What it does do is soothe my weary soul.

It's my gratitude journal. At just the right time, I saw this book in a bookstore in Seattle. Immediately, I craved it. Of course I can create my own journal, and of course I can pray the same things verbally. But I didn't and I wasn't. I was in a dark place. For whatever reason, this book was to be my conduit to God.

So, I started this journal with my daughter in what was to be the most difficult time of my life. I might possibly still be there.  But I'm here to tell you: The regular practice of gratefulness has given me a force field against trouble that I've not heretofore experienced. I get down, I get depressed, I curl up in a fetal position every now and then; but darn if I don't get up quicker than before and still thank God for the good that is always there.

God is not only "good" when things go well for my circumstances (promotions! good grades! good bill of health!). God is good when my step-brother/mother-in-law/sister-in-law dies, when my marriage sputters, when my kids go awry, when my husband loses his job. God is good when I don't know up from down.

Choosing to practice gratefulness has made all the difference.

We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope.  ~ Martin Luther King Jr.