Embrace each challenge in your life as an opportunity for self-transformation. – Bernie Siegel, American writer
January 20th, 2021.
Today’s gratitude topic, Divine Order, was the 81st of a Gratitude Challenge that began on November 1st, 2020. The idea of the Challenge was taken from an idea I’d seen online, wherein thankfulness for 31 specific topics was suggested, one for each day of November. Day 1 was gratitude for special moments in our lives; Day 2 was gratitude for certain people in our lives. And so on. The Facebook group page, Gratitude 365, had been up and running for about four years, but a daily “challenge” was never part of it. The idea of one was appealing.
As the end of the month of November neared, I wondered if a different topic could be posed for EVERY day of the year. After all, the impetus for starting the Facebook page in 2016 was to promote daily gratitude–and surely there were at least 365 things in this bright, beautiful world for which to be grateful for. Weren’t there? I believed there were. So, without much consideration, I made the commitment to post a different topic every day.
I admit, it is a challenge to come up with ideas. But I also have to admit that I have help: ideas come when I’m reading my daily devotionals, so they are definitely God-inspired. My hope is that the various topics make others pause and reflect on blessings they may have unknowingly taken for granted–our busy lives have a tendency to do that.
As for myself, I’ve taken to journaling my daily challenge answers. Writing out my gratitude has numerous benefits, not the least of which is overall contentment. Doing so has made me realize that God is, and always has been, so gracious and so good to me, even when I didn’t deserve it. My hope is that this site is eye-opening to those who might find it, and maybe even inspire them to take a few moments each day to count their blessings. Truly, there’s always something to be grateful for!
