Sideshow: Living With Loss and Moving Forward With FaithSample

Day 4: Where Is God in My Grief? He’s in Your Expressions of Gratitude.

Gratitude isn’t going to just land on you. Your pain is too deep. There will absolutely be moments when you don’t want to be grateful. When you’ll want to scream to anyone who’ll listen that you’ll never accept this loss. But whether you accept it or not, what is…is. You have to step outside yourself and find gratitude. And then when you get it, you hold on to it for dear life. It takes courage to have gratitude when you’ve lost someone you love. It takes courage to be thankful in every circumstance (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Gratitude isn’t just a coping mechanism. It’s a lifeline. It can anchor you when the waves of grief inevitably hit.

There are certainly big, grand reasons to be grateful. I’m thankful to have three other beautiful children who are still pressing on and still here with me. But there’s also the little things—the small moments of gratitude. Sometimes when grief has taken over to the extent that anxiety and depression have settled into your body, the only gratitude you might be able to muster is, “Thank You, God, for allowing me to get out of bed today.” Or “Thank You, God, for the ability to stay in bed today.” Or “Thank You, God, for being able to take a shower or eat a bowl of Froot Loops or take a walk or for the phone call from my aunt.” These simple, small moments of gratitude add up. They shift your lens. They make you think about what you have as opposed to what you don’t have, what’s here and present as opposed to what’s not here and gone. And that’s such a big deal on your healing journey.

Reflect: How can you move your heart toward a posture of gratitude?