Blessings

In good times and bad – blessed be the name of the Lord!

Love the words of this song:

And when I count the problems that I seeHope looks all, but gone (yeah)But when I count the ways You’re good to me

You got me counting all day long, oh, yeah!

Today my husband and I celebrate forty years full of life.

Between our blended families: six children, 18 grandchildren, 11 great grandchildren, and 1 great-grandchild.

We have been pastors, music ministers, missionaries.

The street where we lived in Iloilo City, Philippines. When it rained we walked through several inches of water to get to our house.

We celebrated our first anniversary walking the streets of New York with Teen Challenge sharing the gospel with drug addicts and people living on the streets.

The team we worked with each day going out on the streets of the city to talk to those living on the streets and to the many drug addicts we found. Quite an eye opener.

We have played over 1500 games of Scrabble. 🙂

We take our Scrabble games seriously…. Paul keeps our scores. We have records from 2008.

We have enjoyed reading books, watching documentaries, and spending hours discussing American history. We have planted countless hostas and flowers.

We had over 200 hostas as well as roses, lilies of the flower, columbine and much, much more in our home in Illinois.

We have driven down innumerable roads just to see where they led. Everywhere we have lived, we have ministered to the elderly in assistant living facilities and nursing homes. Sometimes conducting religious services but also many times just providing some songs from their childhood and early adult times. Sharing a meal or playing a game with them.

Our life has led us through several moves and in our retirement years we find ourselves in a small town in mid-Michigan.

Moving as we have; we have friends and family all over the country. (We have children, grandchildren in Maryland, Missouri, Texas, Illinois, West Virginia, Georgia, New York, Tennessee, North Carolina and Michigan.) Often, we miss some of our old friends and our family, but as we near the end of our own lives, we think of all the friends we have made and think what a reunion day it will be in heaven!

We have survived heart attack, cancer, colon resection, knee replacement and brain bleed.

But we have also rejoiced at graduations, weddings, births and enjoyed watching grandchildren grow up and become adults with their own families.

Looking forward to more years together as God gives us. And we know that whether we have many more or just a few – the ride has been wonderful!!!

I love music! My best times of devotion are when I listen first to a praise song and sit and meditate on God’s presence before I pick up my Bible or my devotional book. In times of great joy or great sorrow in my life I have often gone to my piano and played a song expressing that joy, that sorrow.

One of my favorite musical groups is Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. This morning listening to one of their songs, “So You Would Know,” once again my mind roamed back to all the times God has been there for me in times of great sorrow or tragedy.

I have shared in other blogs many of those times God helped!

The Day That Changed My Life

Coincidence or An Act of God?

I’m thankful for those times when God’s presence and help were so needed – and He was there. Those times when I was weak and He carried me. Those nights when he wiped my tears away. Those times when pain racked my body and He sent healing down to me.

When you walked on this problemDidn’t I step right in on timeWhen you got weak along life’s journey

My angel carried you

When the pains were racking your body
Didn’t I send a healing down to you

How many days must I be a fence all around youHow many nights must I wipe your tears awayHow many storms must I bring you safely through

For you to know just how much I love you

However, while I thank God for help in difficult times, sometimes I forget to thank Him for day-to-day blessings, the many things I take for granted.

Didn’t I wake you up this morningWere you clothed in your right mindDidn’t I put food on your able

Show UP! when your bills were due

So today I thank God

that I woke up this morning still in my “right mind.” (And at my age, that is a blessing!)
that I was able to walk all by myself
that I was able to see the first flowers peeking out of the ground (spring is coming)
that I was able to hear as my church family sang praises to God
that I had plenty of food to choose from for breakfast: bagels, cereal, bacon and eggs
that I had a hot cup of coffee waiting for me fixed by my loving husband (and at our age, to still have my husband alive and well is a blessing!)
that I have a beautiful home and a closet full of clothes
that while I am not rich by any means, all my bills are paid
that I have clean, running water (and hot water too)

And the list could go on and on. Things I just take for granted. Things that a majority of the world does not have.

I want to encourage anyone who reads this to take a few minutes to think about all the things God has blessed you with. And recognize how many times we complain about our very blessings.

We complain about our “busy” schedules instead of thanking God for the children we have or the friends we have that take up so much of our time.
We complain about shopping for groceries instead of thanking God we have a grocery store with plenty of food to choose from and money to buy food for our family.
We complain about the weather instead of thanking God for the air conditioning and heating that makes life so comfortable on those hot or freezing cold days.
We complain about our jobs instead of thanking God that we have employment (if we are still young enough to work). Or thank God for the jobs we had that have led to our retirement now.
We complain about our aches and pains and loss of energy as we age in retirement instead of thanking God that we have lived long enough to be retired.

But the greatest blessing in my life is not that He delivered me from cancer, He strengthened me when my husband died or all the material blessings He has given me. The greatest blessing is that as a young child He helped me to see my need of Him and to understand how much He loves me.

When you were lost in sin and sorrowI died to set you free

So you would know just how much I love you

Join with me in praising God today for His blessings – both the BIG ones in times of GREAT need but also the EVERY DAY blessings we take for granted. And as you count your blessings, let it be a reminder of HOW MUCH GOD LOVES YOU!!!

Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil.

WHY????

For you, God, are beside me!!!

So thankful that my husband is still painting. It has been over three years now since he had surgery for a brain bleed. Not certain how it would all turn out, but God has been so good to us.

Last week he painted Spring Time.

This week he painted Fall.

I have a birthday coming this spring. As I realize I will be three quarters of a century old and I have fewer days ahead of me than behind, I have been doing a lot of reflecting on the years gone by.

Interesting – sometimes I cannot remember what I had for lunch but memories of life when I was five or six are so vivid.

If I had to say what these reflections have led me to conclude about life so far, this song says it all. Committing my life to Jesus Christ at six years of age was the best decision I have made.

Life has brought joy and sorrow, moments of great excitement and moments of despair. But through it all, I see the goodness of God.

Next week we celebrate Thanksgiving. As I began reflecting on my many blessings and making a list of things to be grateful for, I realized we often mention the “big” ones (which we should) like knowing Jesus Christ or our family. Then I thought how often we just take much for granted without stopping to be grateful. Things that are “small” in and of themselves, but that add so much to our life.

So, here’s my 10 things I am thankful for this year.

The freshly fallen snow outside my patio window.
The birds gathered around the birth bath.
The sound of the children’s laughter playing next door.
The leftover chocolate bar I found in my daughter’s collection of Halloween candy. (Don’t tell her I took it.)
The smell of clean sheets taken from the dryer.
Holding my husband’s hand under the covers as I drift off to sleep.
Finding reruns of the Flip Wilson show on YouTube.
The smell of the apple pie as it comes from the oven.
Texts I get with pictures of great grandchildren who live in other states.
My Amazon package bringing me more coffee from around the world.

As I look at this list I realize it reflects the many “big” blessings for which I am thankful. Eyes that can see, ears that can hear, the ability to taste and smell. Family. Finances enough to be able to have food, entertainment, a home.

How often do I just take those things for granted.

This week my prayer is:

Lord, thank you for my eyesight and the beauty I can see each day; for my hearing and the joy of my family’s voices, the music and the bird’s songs; all my senses that help me experience and enjoy the world you have made. Thank you for being able to get out of bed each morning, dress myself and take care of my needs. Thank you for my every breath that keeps me alive. For the love of family and friends which make life worth living. Thank you for another day of life. One more day to love and be loved. One more day to laugh and maybe even cry. One more day to know You better.

And may my gratitude not be a momentary thing as we approach Thanksgiving, but may I be more aware of all my blessings each and every day. Amen.

A few days before Thanksgiving I posted a blog from last year where I encouraged us to give thanks even in the midst of the chaos of 2020.

Can We Give Thanks in 2020…..2021?

Shortly after posting that blog my youngest daughter called to tell me she had some bad news. Our granddaughter had been sent home from school that morning, along with all her class, because they had been exposed to Covid-19 the day before. They would have to quarantine for Thanksgiving and would not be able to join us for the day as we had planned.

Of course, my first concern was that she and her parents would not get Covid-19 in spite of the exposure. But immediately I also realized what this meant for us. They would have to spend the day with just the three of them and my husband and I would be just two for Thanksgiving.

We have a large blended family but they are scattered all over the USA. We have children and grandchildren in Arizona, Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, West Virginia, Missouri and Illinois. As the grandchildren have grown up and married with families of their own, our Thanksgiving gathering has slowly gotten smaller.

Moving three years ago to Michigan we only have one daughter nearby. And yes, she is the one who had to quarantine.

As I started to feel discouraged about that, I remembered my own blog I just posted.

So I began looking at what I have to be thankful – even as my Thanksgiving feast will only have two seats at the table.

Here are just a few of the things I found I have to be thankful for:

Thankful for cell phones and FB so I can still wish loved ones Happy Thanksgiving and see pictures of them.
Thankful that none of my family have died from the Covid-19 though a few of them have had the virus.
Thankful that I have my husband – my bbf – and I will not be all alone at the table as some may be.
Thankful for my beautiful home and that my table will still be full of good food.
Thankful for health so that I can prepare the meal not only for us two but also take a meal to my daughter’s home and leave it on the porch for them to enjoy.
Thankful for being granted the privilege of being born in this country.

The more I thought about it, the more my list of things to be thankful for grew.

The best thing to thank God for is that we will soon be celebrating his coming to earth to live, to die, to rise again. That in the midst of chaos, He is there.

How did my Thanksgiving day go?

My husband worked with me fixing the turkey and all the trimmings, then quickly took some of it to our daughter’s home. We enjoyed the meal, shared a time of prayer and Bible reading, played Scrabble (we are Scrabble’s addicts), and ended the evening with a movie.

Confessions of a Scrabble Addict!

As we went to bed last night my husband said, “This has been a different Thanksgiving and I missed family, but in a way it was one of my favorites. I spent the day with my best friend doing things we loved to do. It caused me to really take a look at all the blessings God has given us and I am very grateful.”

The day ended well for me – I won the Scrabble game!!!!

My daughter sent me a picture of my granddaughter enjoying my pumpkin pie – with loads of Cool Whip.

I’m not sure if it’s my pie she loves – or all the Cool Whip!

And after almost a week – it appears my family are free of symptoms – no Covid-19.

Thank you Jesus!