Len A. Froyen

You are looking at an actual picture of me surrounded by eager, congenial, and lively university students. They were members of a Human Relations class. Their instructor, Kathy Oakland invited me to teach several class sessions using my book Gratitude: Affirming One Another Through Story. It was one of their textbooks. They were writing a gratitude story with their lives.

At the end of each semester, eight altogether, they were provided time to tell of their experience with me. Here are a few of the reflective and refreshing remarks from one class.

Len, Thank you for joining our class this semester. I enjoyed reading your book and digging deeper to find gratitude in my life. Although your book was powerful, hearing you passionately speak to us about it was truly inspiring. I appreciate the difference you have made in my life. You are such an inspiration to others! Emily Barker

Len, Thank you for being such a big part of our class! Your book was assigned reading, but I would have read it without it being assigned. Your words are such an inspiration. Thank you, Tracy Wulfekunie

Dear Len,

Thank you for being a HUGE part of our class. Your Book is AMAZING. I couldn’t have read it at any better time in my life! You taught me that all of life is a gift. You also gave me the confidence to believe that I am here to make a difference! I will NEVER forget to be the character that I want to be! Thanks again. Addi Kickbush

Len, Thank you for opening my eyes to how positive and fulfilling life can be when you look through the lens of gratitude. Your time and passion for life is so obvious and appreciated! Sincerely, Casey Johnson

Len,

Thank you for coming and speaking to our class! I LOVED YOUR BOOK! It taught me so many things about life through it and I am extremely grateful for that! I’d also like to add how much I enjoyed your speech at the Teach Education Convocation! I will carry that speech in my heart as I begin my teaching career! Thank you for all you’ve done at UNI. It has been an honor getting to know you! I ‘m forever grateful!! Margo Rozen

Dr. Froyen,

I greatly appreciate your participation in our class and everything I learned from you and your book. Your insight on gratitude truly changed my life, and my visits with my grandmother reflected your message. I search for gratitude each morning before my feet hit the floor, and each mornin I find it in abundance. Thank you, Bailey Wright.

I could have shuffled these cards, twenty-three in this instance, several hundred of them over eight semesters, and the number and use of the words would differ. However, they would still tell a similar story. They reveal part of the story 75% of the class members say they were writing and telling with heir lives.

So why this glowing personal testimony? Their words were transported to my heart, spread across the landscape of my life, and served as the geography for selecting prayer, gratitude and psalms as content for my book Backpack Prayers and Reflections. The length and depth of this classroom experience became the inspiration, imagination, and initiative for writing this book.

Readers are likely to be awakened to prayer at the breath of dawn each day, slide out of bed and make prayer a guest of their hearts. a haven of hope during the day, and love the center of gravity in their lives.

Please recommend this book to those who, like you, are disposed to make prayer a mainstay in their lives, a pathway to faith, an instrument for nurturing their relationships with God, the world, self, and others and a proclamation of goodness and grace at work in their lives.