“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”—Genesis 50:20

Everyone has some kind of history. Some are better or worse than others. Many people reading this may not have had the best childhood, others have had to deal with health issues, broken marriages or relationships. Whatever your hurt or heartache was or is, you have a choice on how you are going to look at life.

There is a saying, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” Despite your circumstances or what you have been or are going through, you can either suck on that lemon and be sour or you can add a little bit of sugar and find the sweetness left in life. Trust me, it wasn’t easy focusing on all of my blessings when I was a widowed, pregnant single mom at the age of twenty-eight.

However, in my mind, it wasn't much of a choice. I was thankful, that both me and my unborn daughter weren't swept into the ocean. I was thankful for all of the love and support from family, friends and complete strangers. Were there things I wasn't thankful for? You bet! I was angry that my children would never get to know their father. I was angry that I was a single mom having to start a new life. There were a lot of things that were torn away from me, but I couldn't focus on what I didn't have but what I did. Most importantly, I found a relationship with Jesus Christ.

I don’t know why bad things happen to good people. I can’t even begin to try and answer that, but I do know that God can use what was meant to harm us for good. I know my main motivation for making prayer shawls for people who are grieving is because of the grief that I have experienced.

I led and facilitated a support group through Widowed Persons Services for two years for men and women in their 20's-40's called Widowed and Young (WAY) because there wasn't anything available for me. I can not tell you how much of a blessing it was for me to be able to be a part of that group. Your pain can become one of your purposes in life, if you will let God use it for His glory. I received much more than I gave as a leader of this group.

It doesn’t matter what you are going through or have been through, think of ways where rather than being sour and sitting on the sidelines, that you can bring a little sunshine to someone else's life. Taking the focus off of self and onto others is a good way to not wallow in self pity.

This week I am going to pray that God lead me to the person that needs me to bring a little “Sonshine” to them. I will give them one of my praying hands washcloths with a tag on it.

Dear Lord, lead me to a recipient of my gift this week that needs some "Sonshine" in his or her life. Help me to be a light to someone's broken soul. I praise you for all of my blessings and how you have cared and provided for me over the years. Amen!

Continue to to commit to memory, “Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.”--Psalm 106:1