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Writer's pictureSherry Hoppen

Fifty Reasons Why

Does anyone remember singing this song growing up?

I called it the “blessing song”; I liked the singsong melody of it but as an adult, I cherish the words more. These words written by Andrew Rinaldi, and based on James 1 are what Thanksgiving is all about.


"When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed, When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, Count your many blessings, name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done."


That last line in the song, “And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done” ❤️

I am surprised daily, not because I ever questioned God's capability to bless me; I am surprised by how much he keeps blessing me! The blessings are not all monumental but the difference is that I see them. These beautiful little blessings I can see clearly through the lens of a sober life.


My community of Joyful Surrender has been gathering blessings this past month and I want to share fifty of them with you here.

Maybe you are wondering if this could be you on Thanksgiving next year. Feeling joy and gratitude instead of secretly nursing a hangover and wishing everyone would just leave so you could take a nap.

It can be. Don’t wait another year to start receiving them. Today is brand new. That’s where the blessings begin.

  1. My Joyful Surrender Community that inspires me every single day to do better, to be more, and to be accountable. So grateful to have this community❤️

  2. God can move mountains. I'm grateful for a Powerful God!

  3. Today I’m grateful that everywhere I look I am able to see you, God. Where the blue sky breaks through the clouds and the contrast of the orange leaves against it. Reminding me how fearfully and wonderfully made everything you touch is. Even me.

  4. Having coffee with a dear friend who loves me enough to encourage me not to stay in the pit.

  5. I am grateful today for eight years sober. For eight years of freedom from the bondage of addiction. That with the Lord's help and women like all of you here, I am really and truly free.

  6. I am grateful to be celebrating my daughter's birthday and the woman she is becoming.

  7. I am grateful for a very supportive spouse I am grateful for the friendships God put in my life who I am blessed to walk this sober journey with every day!

  8. Thankful for my health

  9. I am grateful for the WILLINGNESS to seek the peace I was craving over a relationship and that I took it to HIM first

  10. I am grateful beyond words For every person that I talked to tonight at the concert, including David Crowder

  11. Thankful I can travel and not even think about drinking!

  12. Thankful for every person I met today that spoke into me.

  13. A sleepless night caused me to be angry from the moment I woke up. So I decided to turn on the tv and find a message for me. I typed "sermon" in YouTube and said" God show me” He did

  14. An unexpected random act of kindness from someone dear to me

  15. Five months sober

  16. For the warm cozy space I have to write in this morning

  17. So thankful for my family and the support they give

  18. Thankful for joyful surrender and the sober communities

  19. That my instructor at Proverbs 31 class shared a personal story and my book in her IG today

  20. Walking and hiking

  21. Hope in the future

  22. Thankful for my youngest grandson who wanted to give me a sponge painting he did at preschool today, I think it’s a fallen tree, or a bonfire… whatever it is I love it

  23. My Savior Jesus who died, carried my sins away and washed me white as snow

  24. I am grateful that in spite of some challenging health problems the Lord has always provided and kept me strong

  25. Grateful that we have a God that is not going to give up on me and has placed a deep desire to quit drinking no matter how many times I fail

  26. Quiet mornings

  27. That it is a beautiful sunny gift of a day, a rarity in early November and I am going to find a way to embrace it on this busy Monday!

  28. I am grateful for hangover free mornings

  29. Waking up with a clear head, restful sleep, no guilt and shame and a routine I look forward to.

  30. I am grateful for my sweet boys who love their Momma!

  31. I am grateful for God’s healing.

  32. I am grateful for the ability to be fully present at all times.

  33. I am thankful for 5 years of no hangovers, no fuzzy memories, no 3:00 am anxiety attacks, no puffy face, and on an on I could go!

  34. I am grateful that I found a group of woman that I feel comfortable with and are nonjudgmental even when I mess up. I am thankful for the accountability that I had to receive so I could continue on forward within the light of hope

  35. Today I am thankful for my job as a nurse and I thank God for blessing me with the heart, mind, and capabilities to do my calling, and to do it well.

  36. I'm so thankful for my husband, who puts up with my special brand of craziness on a daily basis and doesn't judge me.

  37. Grateful that I have renewed strength and yesterday is gone. Today is a new day. Grateful for new starts and beginnings!

  38. I’m grateful for a beautiful sunny Friday and the end of a hectic week

  39. I’m grateful for the beautiful hike/run I went on and to experience the fall colors with a very good friend

  40. Grateful that I am spending time with my whole family and I am sober and laughing

  41. For a God I can go to for comfort when I want to live in a spirit of fear when terrible things happen in our world

  42. I am visiting family for Thanksgiving, so I’m grateful for time with them! Every day sober gets me farther away from who I once was and closer to who God has called me to be

  43. Grateful that I have this group. Thankful that my kids are all coming home today

  44. Memories that I will have to remember every detail from the holiday instead of blackouts

  45. The smell of Turkey and the baking I am going to do today

  46. That my parents are able to be at my table tomorrow, so thankful they have pushed through health challenges this past year

  47. For my family that has forgiven me and is embracing the woman I am becoming

  48. Tonight I am watching A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving with my Grandkids and grateful that I haven't any desire to trade that for a night at the bar

  49. For every time I tried to quit drinking and finally succeeded

  50. Grace, God’s grace that he blesses me with no matter what I am facing



Happy Thanksgiving! I pray this day brings you many blessings and that you count them one by one.


Jesus, thank you for loving me, forgiving me, and never letting me go.


Have a blessed day of Gratitude,

Sherry








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