Gratitude in the Middle of the Storm: Finding Blessings When Life Feels Uncertain
Gratitude in the Middle of the Storm: Finding Blessings When Life Feels Uncertain
By Angel, Founder of AMC Rise and
Thrive
Hello beautiful soul 🤍
I’m truly grateful you’re here today.
If you are carrying something heavy right now — uncertainty,
disappointment, fear, frustration — I want you to pause with me for just a
moment. Take a slow breath in. Let it fill your lungs completely. Now release
it gently.
Sometimes the most powerful spiritual practice isn’t a
perfectly structured prayer.
It isn’t a long journal entry.
It isn’t even having all the answers.
Sometimes it is simply choosing to look for gratitude when
everything feels like it’s falling apart.
And let’s be honest — being grateful is very hard when things
seem down.
When life isn’t moving the way you hoped.
When you hear words like “surgery” and “invasive.”
When you’ve planned something joyful — a vacation, a celebration, a break — and
something completely out of your control disrupts it.
When you realize you didn’t buy the trip insurance.
Life can feel unfair in those moments.
And yet — woven into the chaos are often small mercies. Quiet
blessings. Unexpected kindness.
Today I want to sit in that space with you.
The space between disappointment and gratitude.
The space where faith stretches.
The space where perspective matures.
Because gratitude in a storm is not denial.
It is strength.
🌿
Gratitude When the Outcome Changes
One of my close friends recently had to have surgery. The
doctors prepared her for a procedure that sounded intense — something that
would require them to fully open her up, followed by a long recovery time of
six to eight weeks.
For someone with a family depending on her, that kind of
recovery isn’t just inconvenient. It’s overwhelming.
Six to eight weeks of healing.
Six to eight weeks of not being fully available.
Six to eight weeks of physical and emotional strain.
When we first heard the news, fear settled in. She prepared
mentally. Her family prepared practically. And as we thought through all the
possibilities, all we could really do was pray.
Fear has a way of magnifying outcomes. It fills in the blanks
with worst-case scenarios. It whispers, “This is going to be harder than you
can handle.”
And then — the surgery was done laparoscopically instead and
the mass is benign.
Instead of a major invasive procedure, it was minimally
invasive. Instead of nearly two months of recovery, she was looking at maybe
three weeks.
Three.
That shift may not seem dramatic to someone on the outside.
But when you’re the one facing it — or loving someone who is — it changes
everything.
That was a blessing.
Not because surgery is easy.
Not because fear disappeared.
But because what we feared did not fully materialize.
Sometimes gratitude doesn’t come from avoiding hardship
altogether. Sometimes it comes from realizing it wasn’t as bad as it could have
been.
And that matters.
She is going to be okay. And I don’t have a large circle of
friends — so knowing she is okay steadies something deep inside me. I am
grateful for answered prayers. For skilled doctors. For a support system that
surrounds her. For the quiet ways God softened the outcome.
Gratitude, in this case, did not deny the seriousness of the
situation.
It acknowledged the mercy within it.
🌿
Gratitude in Unexpected Kindness
Recently, I experienced something similar in my own life.
We had a trip planned for September. It was something we were
looking forward to — a break, a reset, a memory waiting to happen.
Then my mom got sick.
Everything changed.
The trip suddenly didn’t matter. Being present did.
But as I postponed, another stress crept in quietly: what
about the money? We hadn’t purchased trip insurance. Losing what we had paid
would add another layer of pressure during an already emotional time.
I reached out to the Airbnb owner and explained the situation
honestly. No dramatic request. No expectation. Just truth.
He didn’t have to work with me.
But he did.
He canceled the trip and placed the amount as a credit.
Recently, my mom stabilized and is preparing for a new treatment. We are now
able to reschedule before it begins — and the owner honored the exact same
original price.
He later shared that he is also a cancer survivor.
He understood.
That detail touched me deeply. His compassion wasn’t
transactional. It was personal.
When everything first unfolded, I was stressed — worried about
my mom, worried about finances, worried about what was coming next. That act of
grace lifted a weight I didn’t even realize I was gripping so tightly.
People don’t always show kindness.
And when they do, it feels sacred.
It made me pause and wonder if sometimes life gently returns
what we try to put into the world. We don’t give in order to receive. But there
are moments when it feels like heaven whispers, “I see you.”
When I got the news, I said out loud, “Thank you, thank you,
thank you.”
I wanted to verbalize it. To release the gratitude into the
air. To acknowledge that even in uncertainty, goodness still exists.
Gratitude grows when we notice those moments instead of
overlooking them.
🌿
Gratitude After Close Calls
In 2021, I was driving down the interstate going about 70
miles per hour when a deer ran directly in front of my car.
There was no time to react.
I hit it head-on.
The airbags deployed — but somehow didn’t hit me. My car ran
just long enough for me to pull to the side of the highway before it completely
died.
I crawled out through the passenger side because opening the
driver’s door on the interstate isn’t safe. Highway patrol arrived and checked
on me. When I told him I hit a deer, he looked surprised because the deer was
nowhere in sight — but its imprint was clearly visible on the hood.
My husband came to get me. And once I was home, the reality
hit.
That’s when I cried.
I am steady in the moment. It’s afterward that I fall apart.
That was a blessing.
A real one.
Because that story could have ended very differently.
It was also the first day of winter break. My son is with me
almost all the time — but that morning, my husband kept him home.
Afterward, my mind replayed every scenario.
What if he had been with me?
What if the SUV had rolled?
What if a semi had rear-ended me?
Shock clears, and the “what ifs” rush in.
The accident happened on a Monday.
The following Sunday, I gave my testimony via video at church
because I was so grateful. It was right before Christmas, and the thought of
not being here with my family had shaken me deeply.
Then that same afternoon, while walking Blue — my 95-pound
pitbull — he jerked the leash in just the wrong way and shattered the bone in
my trigger finger on my right hand.
Completely broken. Permanently.
It doesn’t bend. It looks slightly crooked.
But I function.
I type.
I write.
I live.
And the thought that went through my mind was this:
If a broken finger is the price for walking away from that
accident unharmed… I’ll take it.
Perspective changes everything.
A broken finger is inconvenient.
A life-altering injury — or worse — is devastating.
Sometimes gratitude isn’t about pretending something doesn’t
hurt.
It’s about recognizing that it could have hurt more.
And that realization humbles you in the best way.
🌸 Three
Shifts That Help You Choose Gratitude
Gratitude in hard seasons doesn’t come naturally. It’s
cultivated intentionally.
Here are three shifts that can help.
1. Compare Possibilities, Not Just Reality
Instead of asking, “Why did this happen?”
Ask, “What didn’t happen?”
What was avoided?
What was softened?
What was less severe than expected?
This isn’t denial. It’s perspective.
2. Look for Human Kindness
When life feels chaotic, notice the people who show up gently.
The doctor who reassures you.
The host who works with you.
The stranger who offers compassion.
Kindness is evidence that God is still moving through people.
3. Trust That Protection Exists
We don’t always understand how blessings and hardships balance
each other.
But sometimes what feels like loss is protection.
Sometimes what feels like collection is preservation.
You don’t have to understand every detail to trust that you
are being guided.
💎
Affirmations for Gratitude in Difficult Seasons
Speak these softly over yourself:
• Even in uncertainty, I can find something to be grateful
for.
• What could have been worse was softened by grace.
• I trust that blessings are still unfolding around me.
• I release bitterness and choose perspective.
• Gratitude opens my eyes to quiet miracles.
Let them rest in your spirit.
📖 Bible
Verse for Reflection
“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for
you in Christ Jesus.”
— 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NIV)
It does not say give thanks for all circumstances.
It says in them.
That difference is everything.
🎵 Song of
the Day
“Symphony” by Switch feat. Dillon Chase 🎶
I chose this song because it reminds me that even when life
doesn’t look the way I hoped, God is still leading and protecting me. I don’t
always see the purpose in the moment. I don’t always understand the timing.
When I was younger, I was often angry. I focused on what went
wrong. I blocked people out. But with age comes something sacred — perspective.
The realization that what we are walking through may be shaping us for
something we cannot yet see.
These lyrics say it beautifully:
Sometimes it's hard to breathe
All these thoughts they shout at me
Try to bring me to my knees
And it's overwhelming
Darkness echoes all around
Feels like everything is crashing down
Still I know where my hope is found
And it's only you and ooh-ooh
You say you're working everything for my good and
ooh-ooh
I believe every word
'Cause even in the madness
There is peace
Drownin' out the voices
All around me
Through all of this chaos
You are writing a symphony
A symphony
Even in the chaos, He is writing something beautiful.
🌷 Final
Thoughts: Gratitude Isn’t Denial — It’s Strength
Beautiful soul, gratitude in hard seasons does not mean
ignoring pain.
It means choosing to see the whole picture.
The surgery that wasn’t as invasive.
The trip that wasn’t lost.
The accident that didn’t take more.
The finger that still lets me write these words to you.
Life will always have storms.
But it also has small umbrellas of grace — moments that
protect, soften, and remind us we are not alone.
Look for them.
They are there.
Even now.
With love and perspective,
Angel 🤍
Founder, AMC Rise and Thrive
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Thank you for being here. Truly.
If this message resonated, consider sharing it — and explore
the archive for another reflection that may be waiting for you.
We cannot rush what is meant to unfold.
We can only remain open, steady, and aligned with what God is quietly
orchestrating behind the scenes.
#AMCRiseAndThrive #GratitudeInHardTimes #FaithAndPerspective
#FindingBlessings #TrustGod
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