“Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”

     I pray you weathered the storms that swept through the Greater Cincinnati area last evening. The wall of clouds left widespread damage across the tri-state area. Early reports claimed that 167,000 homes were without electricity. Our home was one such example.

     Strangely enough, as I surveyed the neighborhood in which my wife, Cathy, and I live, was spared from great harm. Suddenly, I felt a rush of gratitude well up in my soul. Though I had debris strewn about the yard, I thanked God that no one around me was injured.

     The pizza we ordered tasted better than I can recall despite the fact we were eating it in the dark. I discovered a new appreciation for my next-door neighbor who provided our home with two hurricane lanterns. And though our central air was cut off, I praised God that the outside temperature had dropped twenty degrees.

     If nothing else, last night reminded me that gratitude is a choice. I can choose to be content with the gifts I have or I can lament for the things I have not. The decision is mine, as are the consequences. How I decide to respond will determine how I feel.

     Should I focus on what I’ve lost, I will make myself miserable. Yet when I center my attention on the blessings I receive, joy overwhelms and raptures my soul. In fact, as I write this devotion, my sense of delight increases as I thank God for the first responders who worked throughout the night to ensure the public’s safety, as well as the line men and women who are restoring power to the masses.

     What’s more, a song that Dave and Jeanine Ridenour sing often has me tapping my toe and humming:

Oh, the storm and its fury broke today,
Crushing hopes that we cherish so dear.
Clouds and storms will in time pass away.
The sun again will shine bright and clear.

Keep on the sunny side, always on the sunny side,
Keep on the sunny side of life.
It will help us every day, it will brighten all the way,
If we’ll keep on the sunny side of life.

 I pray this tune will stick with me throughout the remainder of the day! And the same goes for you!