There were years in our life together when my husband greeted each new morning saying, in an exaggerated Scottish brogue, “Glory be to Jesus, it’s a beautiful day.”

But how do you keep gratitude in your life when the troubles mount, the money shrinks, and worries, hurt, anger, and disappointment color your days?

For us, it has required just one thing — a decision. We had to decide to be grateful. It means getting off autopilot and looking around.

The odd thing, when you stop to look for reasons to be grateful, is an embarrassment of riches. Little things like noticing the piece of glass on the carpet before you stepped on it or something more significant like another reader shared my blog post on Facebook, and the unexpected donations will allow us to repair another piece of furniture.

Thursday marks my husband’s and my tenth anniversary. I am grateful that he delights in me, laughs with me, prays with me, and gets into mischief with me.

Tomorrow we may brave the winter chill to celebrate our anniversary at one of the fantastic eateries about which our new town can justly brag. But for today I give thanks to family and friends, readers and those who have left notes on my last blog post or who shared it.

I am also glad to have touched base with Philip, a long time friend of mine, to ask permission to use a photo from his website. You can view his whole site at https://philiphultgren.com/  The table below springs to mind as a much jollier version of our furniture. Philip calls this The Questionable Leg Table.

Today I am also delighted to have a new friend, introduced to me by my daughter. Thanks be to God! There is indeed much for which to be grateful!