"Many, LORD my God,
are the wonders you have done,
the things you planned for us.
None can compare with you;
were I to speak and tell of your deeds,
they would be too many to declare. "
~ Psalm 40:5
I think this is the Bible verse of my life. I am thoroughly blessed. Do I live in a mansion? No. (Not yet. I'll have one in heaven.) Do I have millions of dollars? No. Do I have a rockin' job? No. Do I drive an awesome car? I think it's good, but based on other peoples standards, maybe not. Do I take lavish vacations where I'm tended to hand and foot? Nope. So why do I think I'm so blessed?
I'm so blessed for many reasons and as the verse above states, I'll never be able to list them all, but here's a decent start:
1. I am blessed to have a God who loves me. I am blessed to have a God that knows my faults, my sins, the worst of me and yet made a way for me to spend eternity with Him. That "way" is Jesus Christ. I am blessed to have a Savior, who died on a cross to do what I could not do, pardon my own sins, make a way, bridge the gap that my sin created between me and my God. Simply put, God loves us, but our sins have put a chasm between us and God, the persecution and death that Jesus endured on the cross bridges that gap for us. All we have to do is accept the sacrifice. Thank God! If you have questions about this, I suggest checking out this site: http://peacewithgod.jesus.net/steps-to-peace-with-god/.
2. I am blessed to have Christian parents that love me, that raised me in a home that taught me the values that I strive to teach my boys. My parents sheltered me and my brother from many things. As a teenager, I thought they were too strict. Now as a mom, I appreciate it. My parents faithfully took us to church and taught moral truths as laid out in the Bible. I grew up in the backwoods of SC. We didn't have cable or satellite. (We had the 4 channels on TV that we could get in with bunny ears and the antenna on top of the house.) My parents did not use profane language. I actually remember my Mom telling me that the words, "Shut up" were curse words and we were not to use them that I could say, "Be quiet" instead.
3. I am blessed to have the most wonderful husband that loves me and supports me in every way. I'm going to call my hubby, Handyman (because he can fix anything!), so anyway Handyman and I met on a Wednesday night at a church potluck dinner. We attended a church with a large number of members and it was not uncommon to see people at church you didn't know, so these smaller gatherings during the week allowed people to get to know others that they may not otherwise have a chance to meet on a normal Sunday. So that Wednesday, I went to the potluck with my girlfriend, Sharla, who was home from college for the summer. I remember the first time I saw Handyman across the room at church, he looked at me and I at him and we smiled. (Aww.) I remember thinking he was cute. So we were instructed by the church staff to make our way through the line and get a plate of food and sit at a table with people we didn't know and that they had "conversation starters" on the table to help us get to know one another. So I grabbed my friend Sharla and said for her to sit with me because I didn't want to sit with all strangers, so at least we would know each other. So we sat at the table and Handyman sat down at the table too. We all introduced ourselves by first name and went around the table chatting about our conversation starters. During this time we figured out that we had gone to the same high school and that we knew of each other and that there were times when in our past we should have met, but never did. So we ended up talking for 4 hours that night and oh how I hoped that he would ask me out on a date, but it was getting late and we had talked and talked and he hadn't so, I said, "I probably need to go now. I guess I'll see you Sunday (at church)." And to that Handyman responds, "Unless I can see you before then." (Aww... yeah I hear all the girls saying Aww) And well, the rest is history. ;-)
4. My boys: Big D and Little D. I could write a whole book on these two little fellas. I tell ya, they are just such wonderful blessings. Big D is 4 1/2 years old. We found out that we were expecting him on our 3rd wedding anniversary. We had hoped that we would be having a boy to carry on the family name and when we found out that we were, we were so thrilled. He was born healthy, happy and just perfect in every way. Wow, it's just amazing how much you can fall in love with that little person from the moment you see a "plus" or 'two lines' on a pregnancy test, then the day that they are born, you really just get to put a face to all of that love you have had for that little person for months anticipating their arrival. What a great feeling! With Little D, who is now 5 months old, we found out we were expecting him about 3 days before Thanksgiving. (For both pregnancies we waited to tell our families and friends until we had gotten later into the first trimester. Actually, I was 13 weeks along when we told our families we were expecting Big D. For Little D we waited until about 9 weeks.) Anyway, my pregnancy with Little D was certainly a little more interesting. We decided not to find out what we were having. That was definitely Handyman's idea, but I went along with it because I knew I wouldn't be able to keep the secret to myself if I knew. Also, my due date was August 2nd and I started having contractions mid-April. (I'll expand on that another day.) Little D was born happy, healthy and perfect in every way at 38 weeks and 2 day. That was a miracle!
5. Friends: true, faithful friends. I use to think as a Christian I was suppose to be everybody's best friend, to know that ins and outs of everybody I come in contact with; however that's not true. I was once reminded of a verse, "The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray." ~Proverbs 12:26. I have many acquaintances, I have several friends, but I can easily count the number of true, life-long, Christian friends I have on 1 hand. For those, the true friends, I am truly thankful and blessed to have them in my life.
6. Peace. "The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace." Psalm 29:11. It seems to me that people often times live their lives stressed out. Now, I know that I am a task-oriented person. I like to get things done. I also think it gives me a feel of being "in control". (Being "in control" is seriously one of my issues.) When I fee like things are out of control, I tend to let myself get stressed. But something I've learned and am still learning every day is that I can have peace in knowing that I know the God who can handle any situation I'm in. He can deal with any "problem" that I see and what's even more encouraging is that these things are not daunting to Him. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." ~Phil 4:5-7 God does not expect us to handle our "problems" on our own. We are instructed to not worry and take our requests to God with Thanks!
7. Material things. God has provided for our needs. We have a beautiful little home, with the perfect yard for our boys to play in. We have food in the pantry. We are able to pay our bills. We have cars that run and get us safely from one place to another. We have heat to keep the house warm.
8. Good health. At this moment in time, our family members are all relatively well (besides this little cold that Big D is hanging on to) and compared to what some of our dear friends and family are going through, we are blessed to be in good health.
I know there are millions of things that I could say and list here, but I think you get the idea. I am blessed and you are blessed. It's just a matter of taking time to make sure your perspective is right so you can see those blessings. Look past the hard times, the times of frustration, fear, and failure and see the blessings you've already been given!
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