Booknook: 364 Days of Thanksgiving: A Devotional Journal

364 Days of Thanksgiving: A Devotional Journal

Occasionally, I come across a single book to satisfy everyone on my gift list. Pastor Andrew Schroer’s 364 Days of Thanksgiving, A Devotional Journal is such a treasure.

More than a journal, 364 Days of Thanksgiving is a journey from a place of discontent to a life of gratitude and joy. How can a humble journal be so powerful? Pastor Schroer’s writing motivates us to gaze with new eyes at life—the vacant seat at the table, the frightening diagnoses, the empty pockets—and to say “I’m so very blessed.”

Pastor Schroer never once shakes his literary fist shouting, “You must be grateful!” Rather, he nudges us to daily search the storms of life to find and record a single blessing. That’s it—one blessing a day.

By year’s end we can look back at 364 different gifts and be amazed by God’s hand in our lives and overwhelmingly grateful for his blessings. The 365th day is a full day of giving thanks, which we observe on Thanksgiving Day. The goal is to cultivate an eye for hidden blessings, develop the habit of gratefulness, and nurture a heart of joy and generosity.

Pastor Schroer challenges us and all Christians to realize how indescribably rich we are, to be overwhelmingly grateful for that richness, and to reach out to others with the overwhelming generosity of a heart that witnesses the daily blessings of an all-loving God.

I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t benefit from the challenge of 364 Days of Thanksgiving, both the book and the action. We all need to hear, “You are loved! You are rich! Be thankful.” The book is a gratitude-inducing reminder that our negatives are God’s positives designed as blessing—that’s a life-changing gift worth sharing.

Christy Bagasao
Las Vegas, Nevada

Author:
Volume 102, Number 11
Issue: November 2015

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