Heavenly Father, on this day, as I come petitioning your throne, I want to thank you. Thank you God for allowing me to see a new day with the activities of each of my limbs, for the warm blood that’s flowing through my veins, for my heart that’s beating, my mind that’s regulated in the right way, for my eyes that see, for my lips and tongue that allow me to speak, for my ears that hear, for all my organs that are working together today so that I might be alive, for the appetite that I have and for the means to get food and for the pain that I feel because it further lets me know that I’m yet alive. God, I’ve got to thank you because when I could have been dead, you allowed me to live. When I should have been buried in my mess, you simply brushed off the dirt and told me to stand. When I thought my knees would buckle from the burdens on my shoulders, you gave me extra strength to walk on. When I thought I wasn’t worthy of your calling, you intensified my gift. When I shouldn’t have been surviving, you provided. When all I say was a dead end on my left, you made a path that made me go right. When I wanted to give up, I realized that it wasn’t one of the options to choose. When I should have been drowning in my tears, you simply used them to wash away the dirt that had been thrown on me by folks. When I could have been strung out on drugs, you gave me grandma who drug us to church. When I could have been a hard core alcoholic drunk, you gave me momma who was hard core and didn’t mind using the rod of correction. When I could have been a street walker, you gave me a granddaddy that walked in front of me to make sure I was walking right. When I could have been a high school dropout, you gave me uncles who would show up at the school just to check on me. When I could have been a single parent raising children in this mean world, you sent me a husband who is the head of his household. When I could have been diagnosed with cancer, you gave me a clean bill of health. When I could have been at the unemployment office, you gave me a job instead. When I could be standing at the bus stop in the cold, you gave me a car instead. When I should be working on Sundays, you gave me a job that will work around my schedule.
Oh, when I think about all the things that could have happen to me, the things that should of happened to me, the things that could have taken me out, the things that should of taken me out, the sickness that could have killed me, folks that could have hurt me, burdens that could have depressed me, struggles that could have overtaken me, grief that should have consumed me and pain that could of weakened me; my soul rejoices. When I think about the places that my gift will take me, the doors that my calling will open, the territory that my God will enlarge and the increase of joy and peace that I already have; my soul rejoices. When I think about the family and friends that God has surrounded me with, my soul rejoices. Oh, my soul rejoices for the good and the bad. My soul rejoices for the happiness and the sad. My soul rejoices today, it did on yesterday and it will on tomorrow. I shall not be defeated by anything or anyone because I declare on today that my soul shall rejoice in God’s goodness and that everything that I shall want and everything that I shall be; will come to pass. I claim it in my rejoicing soul!
Lakisha, the Author 