Blessings

Even though I’m sitting here with a heating pad on my lower back, I am overwhelmed with gratitude and contentment. I feel so incredibly blessed! I just wanted to share some of the reasons that I feel this way.

First of all, I am blessed to be a child of the God of the universe. I understand this always, but it gets brought home to me especially on the Lord’s Day. Singing songs of praise to God and His Son stirs up my emotions and helps me focus more perfectly on how much I have been given. Remembering Jesus’ sacrifice every 1^st day of the week, helps me to keep fresh in my heart how much love He has for us and how much He demonstrated that love through His death. Hearing thoughtful sermons brings principles to mind that I need to focus on more and more as I grow in His love. Being with my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ brings me joy and encourages me and helps me remember to reach out to others.

I am blessed with a beautiful family. I’m not talking about physical beauty, even though I think each and every one of them are attractive. I’m talking about their hearts and their spirits. None are perfect, and I understand that full well! But each one has a love for God and for their fellow man, and each of them finds ways to reach out to help others using their unique talents. I’m proud of the people that my kids have grown into, as well as the ones that they have chosen to spend their lives with. I don’t mean proud, as in feeling like I deserve any credit for who they are. I mean it in the sense that I recognize and rejoice in who they are and what they do. They have all grown beyond their upbringing. Each has spread their wings in a slightly different direction from the others, but they all strive to serve God to the best of their ability and to His glory. 3Jo 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

One of the reasons that I have such beautiful children is because of the wonderful man that I’ve been blessed to spend my life with. I’m not sure why he chose me, but I am so very thankful that he did! There are days when he drives me crazy, but I’ve never regretted my decision to become one with him. He has devoted his life to serving God and has never let anything get in the way of doing that. Lord willing, we’ll celebrate 43 years together in a few short months. I hope that the Lord blesses us with many more to come!

Of course, some of my very best blessings are my grandkids! I’ve always loved babies, and I’ve discovered that the very best babies are the ones that come from our kids…whether they be biological, adopted or steps. The burdens of old age are more than offset with the joys of grandchildren. They aren’t more loved than our own children, but they are able to be enjoyed more without having the responsibilities that come with parenting children. I dearly love each of them and look forward to having a few more in the future!

I am also very thankful for where I live. I’m thankful to live in this country and be able to enjoy the freedoms and abundance that we have here. I’m thankful to live in MW. The longer I live here, the more I appreciate it. It is just the right size for our desires and needs. It is a friendly and caring town, and I love the rich history and the newfound appreciation for and restoring of that history. I love my home. Even though it has been a work in progress for 5 years, with each improvement made, it becomes more comfortable and compatible with our needs. Ricky and Amber spent the day here yesterday, and we were able to use our living room for the first time in months. It felt SO good to relax and see things coming along. Our house will never be fancy or trendy, but it reflects who we are and satisfies the lifestyle needs that we have chosen.

I’m thankful for the health that we have. We are getting old and have our aches and pains and physical limitations that come with our advancing years. We’ve each struggled with different diseases and/or injuries at different times, but we’ve made it through them. The tribulations that we’ve faced just sharpen who we are and strengthen our faith. Even though I hate it when one of my family is suffering, I know that God will see us through it, as He always has. Even when a loved one dies, I know that God is still present and gives comfort and strength to deal with our grief. And just as a forest grows more lush and healthy after a fire, and just as rushing waters polish rough stones into gems, beauty can always come from pain…when we allow God to use it for our good.

I can’t list all of the things that I’m thankful for or that have me feeling so blessed today. There are too many to count and too many for me to even recognize. I strive every day to see those things and focus on those things. Some days it is harder than others. Some days, like today, it is as easy as breathing.

I hope that each of you can focus on your blessings and think on these things: whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy.