Diana, my bride of almost 40 years, and I just travelled to Germany to see our four month old granddaughter Ruby for the first time as well as our grandsons Finn and Louis, and my six siblings and loving mother. We chose to fly through Toronto this time.

It was a very positive experience. I must admit, I am always a little nervous when flying such a long distance. It is not that I fear flying, I feel very safe in big planes and enjoy flying immensely, it’s more the worry whether connections, baggage and border controls will go smoothly after having missed flights in London twice in the last two years due to delays, fore-field parking positions and too few buses, not to mention the additional security screening in London.

Grateful for the little things

This time flights were on time, connections worked like clockwork, border and customs officers were friendly and efficient and the flights were surprisingly comfortable for economy.

When a trip like that is uneventful, it is easy to realise we have all reason to be grateful. Being here we are having a blast with little Ruby, the weather is sunny and dry. What more can you ask for?

Sometimes it is the little things in life that we easily take for granted. Only when we think a little deeper we realise how amazing the world can be and how much mankind has achieved.

You step into a metal tube with wings and within hours you travel thousands of miles around the globe. How different it must have been centuries ago, when settlers tried to get to Jamestown on the Sea Venture and ended up after a ship wrecking on Bermuda, or Somers Isles. Then they had to build a new ship, the Deliverance, to get back to civilisation with all the dangers of a sea voyage back then.

Connecting with family and friends

But even more amazing for me is the fact how nice it is to be with family and friends enjoying light long summer days (it is light here from 6am to 11pm).

Summer always has been a time of fun and joy, travel and sunshine for our family. My brother and I have a sack full of anecdotes, stories when we were teenagers, travelling to Scandinavia, France, or across Germany, without adult supervision, on cycles or hitchhiking with a tent and a backpack.

Memories of when our own children were so small come back to life, all the joy and fun we had as a family travelling together. Summer brings back those memories, of picnics and barbecues on the beach, long walks in the sand, refreshing lemonade to cool down.

Being back in Germany nephews and nieces come together with their very young offspring, and the house is filled with laughter and song and play.

Contemplating all those moments a modern doxology comes to mind I learnt at St Andrew’s a couple of years ago (Henry Smith, 1978): Give thanks with a grateful heart, give thanks to the Holy One; give thanks, because he’s given Jesus Christ, his Son. And now let the weak say ‘I am strong’, let the poor say ‘I am rich’, because of what the Lord has done for us.

A deep feeling of wholeness

That is how I feel these days. I feel grateful and at the same time I feel new strength that does not depend on my capabilities alone and I feel rich because we have everything we need and can afford so much, including travelling.

I feel that way and it leaves me with a deep feeling of gratitude, and a feeling of grit. If my God has provided me all this, when my experiences, despite all difficulties I had to come through and setbacks of the past, are experiences of joy and thankfulness, what can stop me on my way forward. I find grit through my trust in God.

We need gratitude combined with grit

With this confidence I am reminded of when I was confirmed as a teenager and my confirmation verse was from Philippians 4:13 (NRSV): “I can do all things through him who strengthens me, [Jesus Christ].”

In times when it is easy to let bad news get us down I think it is important to take an inventory, identify the blessings we receive daily, and connect to our God and get our strength, hope and grit from him.

Recent research suggest that people who actually take the time for a gratitude journal regularly, have less stress symptoms and in turn have even less physical health problems.

If this gratitude is connected with grit and grace it empowers us for what lies ahead. It gives me courage to try new things, to be positive and open minded. I know that I will face obstacles at times, and situations I cannot change, but it enables me to respond differently to those challenges and develop resilience.

It encourages me to connect with friends and family and even strangers to create synergy to make the world a better place, not only for me, but for all people of all nations, including my dear grandchildren.

I hope and pray that you may have a great summer, empowered by gratitude, grit, and grace and a heart full of love as God loves you and you pass this love on to those around you.

• Karsten Decker is a German theologian with a double degree equivalent to an MTheol and MDiv. He studied in Marburg (Germany), Knoxville (USA), and Toronto (Canada) and comes from a united church of Lutheran and Reformed Churches. He was the pastor of Peace Lutheran Church in Bermuda from 2010 to 2017, and after returning from Germany is now the temporary pulpit supply at Centenary United Methodist Church in Smith’s