All too often I find myself saying thanks for the blessings God has given me. I make note of the obvious things such as being provided with food, shelter, clothing, a new job, health, being accepted into a master's program at Alverno, making headway with relationships, being in a wonderful relationship, etc. The list goes on. These are all things that have been larger, and quite obvious blessings in my eyes.
However, most of the time simple, and just as wonderful blessings go unmentioned. Tonight I found myself relaxing and doing some research for my new job, and then ended up reading a few passages in the Bible. Much needed reading, as I haven't been diving into the Word as much as I think I should be lately.
When reading the above passage, it made me start to think about what little things excite me. What little things I am thankful for. How even these little things are blessings from God. I thought about the water I had after my workout. I thought about what the grass in the Spring was going to look like after this snow melts. I thought about how each snowflake that fell the past few days was so delicately created into something so beautiful.
Our lives each day get busier. We have distractions. We have agendas. We continue to fill up our day so that we are constantly stimulated, and in my opinion often it leaves us not enough time to contemplate and appreciate why we are really here. We talk about politics, our reality tv shows, our friend and family issues--but how often are we talking about our relationships with eachother. About the person we know needs prayer more than anyone. What we love about one another. What people we know need help and prayer? What we can do to help? Most likely, the answer is not as often as we should.
We're worried about money, finances, our mortgages, our work, our education, our career path... and yet we always seem to forget that no matter what has happened in our lives, we have always been okay. Everytime a bad situation arises we have doubt in our hearts. We get angry. We get scared. Yet every time "we" persevere. "Someone" has stepped up at the right moment to help, "Something" has turned around at the right time, and you have always had enough to get by. Blessings. God meets our needs daily. His gifts are wonderful. Sometimes we're blinded and do not see our answered prayers. Sometimes His answers are not what we thought they were going to be or what we want to hear, but they are there.
Tonight what is on my mind is how to start recognizing and praising God's goodness. For the large and the small. Good and Bad. Right and wrong. In every situation. God finds a way to bring light to any dark situation. There's a blessing to be found, but will we take action and look for it? Perhaps as we do this, the scales will be lifted from our eyes and we will begin to see God's bounty for what it really is.
My prayer is that we stop looking at our differences, we stop sitting in the comfort of our own homes, and we start living as we were intended to...in community. My prayer is that when our eyes are sometimes closed to our blessings that they be opened to help us see His great gifts that surround us. To take those extra steps to make a difference. Encourage change. Make someone's day a little brighter. You may be surprised at how somehow your life and sense of being improves ten-fold in the process.
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