The following comes from our “It is Well With My Soul” Gratitude Journal. Enjoy 25% off on this beautiful tool and keepsake with the promo code THANKYOU25. 

Gratitude can heal our hearts, but I don’t think it’s meant to just quietly stay locked up there. Writing a thank you note can be more powerful than you know. Here’s a story from my own family history that illustrates just that.

My Nana expressed her gratitude freely and often. She would tell my mother, “I thank God that he has just let me pass through”. The world was beautiful to her; flowers were cheerful, trees that grew out of stony ground had character to be commended, the shades of red in a canyon wall were worthy of oohs and ahhs.

She was on the local school board and as she would visit each school, she often went out of her way to find the lunch ladies or the people whose contribution is often overlooked, and tell them what a remarkable job they were doing. There was never a custodian that she met, who didn’t hear how grateful she was for floors that shined and clean cafeteria tables. Her own kitchen table was covered with newspaper clippings of little local triumphs, people who had done some good. Particularly when they were students and faculty from her district, they would always receive notes of gratitude and encouragement from her for what they had done.

The end of the year came, and a banquet was held to honor the retiring custodians. One man, who had been doing this job for thirty years, stood and said that in all his time at the school, he had only ever received two thank you notes. One was from my Nana. The other? From her husband, my Papa. Unbeknownst to each other, they’d both recognized what others sometimes fail to, and had the courage and kindness to write it down. They were the only ones.

I feel that heritage of gratitude in my soul today. If you don’t have an example of someone like that in your family, be the example. Tell someone how much you appreciate them even if it feels vulnerable. You might be the only one that says something and you might make all the difference.

To help in your journey to cultivate a grateful heart, enjoy 25% off our “It is Well With My Soul” Gratitude Journal with the promo code THANKYOU25.