Gratitude and Hope Make for Joy

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As little children, after we were given something, we probably heard our parents coax, "What do you say?" We learned the importance of expressing thanks. I'm currently reading a book about growing a grateful heart, which offers some practical ideas. One valuable one is to look for the good when facing adversity. A friend in her eighties was diagnosed with cancer. Her positive response was, "For all these years I've enjoyed good health. Thank God for that!"  Last week because of the threat of icy weather, I cancelled my flight to Maryland. This entailed hours of debating whether to cancel or not, followed by phone calls to the airline and the insurance company in an attempt to get a refund. A friend emailed: "Maybe this was God's way of protecting you." It turned out that on the evening I was to speak, everything in Maryland was closed. If I had made the trip, I wouldn't have given my talk and the journey would have been in vain! (Not to mention I could have been killed on the icy roads.) Click to continue

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