Choosing Gratitude by Nancy DeMoss (Giveaway)

I was recently sent a copy of this book and have to admit that I'm a little scared to really dive into it. Nancy DeMoss tackles the subject of gratitude and joy in her new book Choosing Gratitude. This book takes on more than just being thankful for things ... a topic that is especially prevalent at this time of the year. This is deep thankfulness and gratitude for every situation that we are, including (especially) that suffering that is in each of our lives.

I see situations like this in mine and my friends' lives right now:

~ watching a family member grow sicker and sicker.

~ a wife watching her husband sign papers. She never, ever anticipated divorce.

~ the child with a genetic illness. Right now, things are okay, but it won't always be that way.

~ the burden of unsaved family members.

~ the job that doesn't come after so many prayers.

Ms. DeMoss understands that it is hard to hold on to gratitude ... "hard to find joy when you are looking in mind-bending pain or heart-wrenching disappointment." Those words there that I quoted? That's Joni Erikson Tada - a woman who most of are well-aware of and can't even fathom the life that she lives daily in a wheelchair as a quadrapalegic. (And she has lived that way since she was an older teen.) Joni writes the foreword to this book, and if she says that Nancy DeMoss has something to say about gratitude, I'm ready to listen.

But really, it's not Ms. DeMoss that has something to say about gratitude. It's the Lord. If there is anyone (even more than Joni) that understands finding joy in the midst of such sorrow, it's our God. The one that watched His chosen people rebel against Him daily in the Old Testament. That watched His Son mocked and scorned by His own people. In spite of all that our Lord had, and wants us to have, a deep and profound joy that can't be shaken.

One of the things that I like about this book is that at the back of it is a 30 day devotional guide to walk you through some of the points that Ms. DeMoss makes in her book. Give you time to digest all she has written and in turn, hopefully work some of that out in your own life. This looks like an excellent book (and resource) and one I'm glad to add to my library.

I have one copy of this book to give away. If you would like to win a copy of Choosing Gratitude by Nancy DeMoss, leave a comment on THIS post and make sure that you leave an email so that I can get in touch with you. Comments will be closed next Saturday and a winner drawn.

Thanks to Moody Publishers for a copy (and a giveaway) copy of this book to review.