At almost midnight on Memorial Day, between 13-15 tornados hit the Dayton area, destroying homes barely three miles from me and leveling a whole community north of me. It’s at times like this that my natural thought is “but for the grace of God, it could have been me.” Not sure where that phrase came from, but I was thinking “Really Donna, but for the grace of God? He had grace on you but not on those other people?” Then I began to think “I’m thankful, but was it God’s grace that it didn’t hit me? Why would it not hit me?”

Matthew 5:45 says “Then you will be children of your Father who is in Heaven. He causes his sun to shine on evil and good people. He sends rain on those who do right and those who do not.”

None of us, whether following God or not are immune from the troubles of this life including pain, heartache, and even natural disasters. So when we are the one hit with tough times, I don’t think we can say “why me?” if we are not saying about all of our blessings “why me?”

“Why was I chosen to be born to parents who love and accept me unconditionally when other’s are born to drug addicted parents? Why do I have a non-leaky roof over my head, when others have no roof at all, and why I am I able to eat nutritious foods when kids in the slums of India are eating out of the city dump?”

I think it’s not fair to ask “why me?” about the bad stuff if you’re not also asking “why me?” about all that is good. Gratitude is the key to a joyful and fulfilled life.

Take a moment to start journaling about the positive “why me’s?” in your life!