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Overwhelmed and Grateful

Dericka Canada Cunningham, GBW Founder

February 9, 2026



This Week's Anchor


“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your

lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as

 you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”

Colossians 2:6-7 (NIV)

If you’ve ever met a psychotherapist, you might have noticed our frequent and intentional use of the word “and” in place of “but” in our conversations. As therapists, we’ve come to understand the sobering reality that our complex (and sometimes contradictory) experiences and emotions often coexist in messy, complicated ways, and that “and also” is a better conjunction for illustrating these interconnected feelings. This certainly resonates with me, and many of you might relate. Here we are, standing at the intersection of feeling moved by the ongoing grief and pain in our world, and yet incredibly thankful for things big and small. That’s the beauty of gratitude—it isn’t this thing we have to wait for better and brighter days. In fact, as our anchor scripture highlights, connecting with gratitude when we are in the trenches can provide the strength and faith needed to sustain us through our circumstances.

 

Our anchor scripture this week calls us to be grounded in Christ, sustained in faith, and overflowing in thankfulness (Colossians 2:6-7). To be honest, I sometimes hesitate to offer gratitude as a source of hope for others, because it can feel invalidating to be told, “You should be thankful.” Thus, I want to discuss gratitude from a different perspective. First, let’s collectively throw “shoulds” out the window. We approach this conversation with a nonjudgmental, compassionate perspective on the challenging life experiences each of us is wading through. Second, gratitude is not intended to eliminate difficult emotions. It is not intended to be rooted in toxic positivity or unrealistic optimism. However, in practicing gratitude, we acknowledge our challenges and the impact of our struggles while also being deeply appreciative of what we have, and more importantly what is consistently and Divinely provided to us.

 

From a mental health perspective, research has highlighted numerous benefits of practicing gratitude—from reducing stress and depression to improving mood. From a spiritual perspective, gratitude can help us feel anchored to something meaningful and strengthen our connection with God. Therefore, I invite us to simply consider gratitude as an open door to a closer relationship with the Holy Trinity. I realized these benefits myself during a frightful doctoral internship year—the year that, at this point, many of you are very familiar with. For our new GBW crew who might not know the story, imagine a year of transition where mental, emotional, and physical struggle and spiritual warfare were everyday battlefields. With all I waded through, meditation became a central part of my healing and dealing during that year. One evening, I stumbled upon a sleep meditation on my beloved Calm App that focused on gratitude. At the time, getting a good night’s sleep had evaded me, so I figured that meditating at night was the perfect way to help.

 

The meditation began with having us visualize a night on a beach (I was immediately sold because the beach is truly my happy place). The narrator then simply said “thank you” aloud, and the guided meditation led the listener to express thanks for literally everything and anything. I was only 5 minutes in before I was lying in a puddle of tears. There I was, broken, exhausted, emotionally overwhelmed, and yet, I had so much to be thankful for. These were welcomed tears, though—the kind that feel good to your soul to release. I started the meditation feeling overwhelmed by tribulation, and I ended it overflowing with the presence and love of God and sincere gratitude. Looking back, I can easily see that this moment marked the beginning of my healing that year. Following that night, I decided to incorporate more gratitude into my everyday life. As a result, practicing gratitude helped me navigate the toughest moments of that year.

 

As a witness to the power of gratitude, I want the same for everyone. So, I invite us all to consider how we can cultivate meaningful moments of gratitude. In the mental health field, we often describe wellness as multidimensional, encompassing multiple intersecting aspects of wellness: emotional, financial, social, spiritual, occupational, physical, intellectual, environmental, and, in addition, cultural. I’d like to apply this framework to gratitude and identify dimensions of gratitude we can connect with when possible. I will share my gratitude and hope it empowers you to connect with your own:

 

  • Emotional—Thank you, God, for the ability to experience life through emotion. Thank you for every feeling, good or bad, each of which helps me understand myself, others, and my experiences better. Thank you for the growth journey that I’m on to help acknowledge, name, and understand my feelings. Thank you for the ways I’ve healed, am healing, and continue to heal emotionally.

  • Financial—Thank you, God, for teaching me to navigate tough financial times—these meaningful lessons and skills will stay with me. Thank you for ensuring my basic needs are met and for connecting me with resources when I need support. Thank you for the upward mobility that you have provided my family across centuries and generations.

  • Social—Thank you, God, for every relationship I’ve ever had with another human being—for my patient partner, a loving family, and good friends; for thoughtful co-workers and considerate neighbors; for church communities in the many cities I’ve resided; for teachers and mentors who saw the best in me; for the gift of being a mother, daughter, and sister; for moments when I felt seen by another person and just a little less alone; for those conversations that meant everything. Thank you to my therapist, who has undoubtedly made me a better wife, mother, friend, and therapist.

  • Spiritual—Thank you for You—for your Divine presence that surrounds me everywhere. Thank you for calling me into this faith community and for allowing me to be connected to a Source greater than me. For finding life meaning and purpose in spiritual groundedness, for guiding me and giving me direction, and for the ways this spiritual relationship has sustained me and continuously makes it all worth it.

  • Occupational—Thank you, God, for a job that helps me take care of myself and those I love. Thank you for this career that you’ve called me to, and for allowing my career, calling, and passions to be aligned. Thank you for the honor of doing the work I do. Thank you for the job rejections and transitions I’ve endured over the years—how each new job has helped me grow, sharpen my tools, and develop my professional identity.

  • Physical—Thank you, God, for being able to breathe new life each day. Thank you for this health journey that I’m on—the good, bad, scary, and ugly. Thank you for the resources that enable me to proactively care for my health and seek help when needed. Thank you for helping me tend to my basic needs—having food to eat, clean water to drink, a place to live, and the ability to rest at night.

  • Intellectual—Thank you, God, for this mind you gave me—this over-thinking, ever-running mind. Thank you for the opportunity to learn and grow, and for providing an education that has laid the foundation for where I am today. Thank you for the tough questions and hard lessons. Thank you for the gift of curiosity and intentionality.

  • Environmental—Thank you, God, for this beautiful and unreal place that we get to call home. Thank you for the thoughtfulness you’ve placed in my heart to take care of it, and for the way that nature calls us into the present moment.

  • Cultural—Thank you, God, for the beauty of all of who I am racially, ethnically, and culturally. Thank you for my journey of understanding this beauty more and more as I grow. Thank you for the community I’ve found. Thank you for the strength and wisdom of my ancestors, and for the opportunity of cross-generational healing. Thank you for the conviction of justice that runs through my veins and wells in my heart.

  • Your additional own unique dimension(s)—Thank you, God, for everything! As always, I humbly acknowledge the unearned privileges I hold that afford me the undeserved ability to have these experiences, relationships, and things for which to be grateful.

     

As we enter this week and continue in this new month, let us find joy and strength in holding gratitude alongside everything else. May we be moved and sustained by remembering everything we are thankful for. And may our gratitude overwhelm us with the presence of God and overflow us with peace that surpasses all understanding.


Reflection

  • What is resonating for you about this scripture and/or this devotion?

  • What are you grateful for this week? What do you need from the Holy Trinity to help you be more anchored in daily gratitude?

  • What intention(s) do you want to set to connect and/or reconnect with being grounded this week?


Related Scriptures to Ground You Through this Week

  • Tuesday: 1 Chronicles 16:34

  • Wednesday: Psalm 95

  • Thursday: 1 Corinthians 15:57-58

  • Friday: 2 Corinthians 4:15

  • Saturday: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

  • Sunday: 2 Thessalonians 1:3


My Through-the-Week Reflection Guide


A Song of Inspiration



Quote of Love & Liberation

“Helped are those who are content to be themselves;

they will never lack mystery in their lives and the joys of

self-discovery will be constant.”

Alice Walker









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