A Focus on Gratitude

I offer six recommendations for how this book might be used: 1. Personal Daily Reflection At some point in every day, take a moment’s pause for gratitude. Use this time to reflect on your personal response to the question for each day of the calendar year. You don’t have to wait until January to begin. Using the questions contained in this book, readers are able to begin their journey of gratitude on any day. Just open to that date and begin. 2. Gratitude Journal Whether you hand-write your responses on a note pad, write them into a diary or journal, or use the daily prompts to guide you in your blogging journey, it is my hope that these questions will inspire you to think and write about the many blessings in your life. 3. Small Group Discussions A Focus on Gratitude provides 366 thought-provoking questions which may be used in small group discussions. Whether your group consists of family members, a youth or young adult ministry program at your local church, a gathering of senior citizens who live together in a retirement community, or a small group of friends who gather regularly for coffee and conversation, this book can be a catalyst for meaningful and thoughtful reflection and sharing. 4. Writing Prompts [For teachers, grades 7 through 12] In my 43 years as an educator, I enjoyed tremendous success with using these types of questions as writing prompts for my students. They may be used for brief, in-class writing assignments, particularly at the beginning of a class period, when the teacher has responsibility for taking roll. The questions may also be used for a year-long gratitude project. I am confident that inviting your students to focus on gratitude each day will have a noticeable and positive effect on classroom behavior and on the growth and development of your class community. 5. Personal Prayer or Prayer Groups German theologian Meister Eckhart wrote, “If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.” What a powerful statement! All too often, our prayers are prayers of petition — constantly asking God for one thing or another. While there is certainly a value to petition as a form of prayer, a health, well-rounded prayer life should also include prayers of thanksgiving in which we thank God for blessings we have received. Despite the struggles which confront us all, every person has much for which to be grateful. Expressing our gratitude to God is evidence of spiritual maturity. 6. Marriage Preparation It is alarming to me how many engaged couples spend unlimited amounts of time, money, and energy preparing for their wedding day. Most couples, it seems (from our nation’s divorce rate), spend far less time, money, and energy preparing for their marriage — the life they will share together after the wedding is over. A Focus on Gratitude offers couples a wonderful opportunity to build a solid foundation for their life together based on gratitude. Sharing their responses to these questions may open doors to conversations on other essential topics which couples need to address prior to their wedding day. Devoting time to sharing their responses to the questions in this book might better prepare them for the inevitable joys and challenges of a health marriage..