Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Counting My Blessings

Today is my birthday. I was born on the 7th day of the 7th month in the 7th decade of the 20th century. So in honor of that, I thought I would list the 7 most significant blessings in my life. To be honest, each year when my birthday comes around, I am tempted to feel sorry for myself about how my dreams of being a wife and a mother are (as yet) unfulfilled. But I know God has a plan, and He has lavished so many blessings on my life. Innumerable blessings, actually. But for now, I'll list the biggest 7. Thank you Father, for your immeasurable love for me, and for your faithfulness throughout these past 37 years!!!


1. Salvation. What a merciful, gracious Savior we have! And a Heavenly Father that loves me unconditionally, no matter what I look like or what I do. I was saved at a young age and God's faithfulness to me over all these years is very humbling and encouraging.


2. Family. Of course no family is perfect and we all have our scars, but I'm thankful that God gave me 2 godly parents that are still married to each other after 41 years, that I have 2 brothers, 2 sisters-in-law and 1 niece who is the love of my life. I also have aunts, uncles and cousins to enjoy.


3. Friends. God has been so gracious to give me true, loyal, sweet friends. Throughout all the stages of my life, no matter where I lived or what I was doing (even when I was straying away from the Lord), God has provided me with a support system of friends around me. Most of my friends live in other states and one in another country, but as a plaque I have says "the distance to a friend's home is never far."


4. Church. I was first in church at the age of 2 weeks old. Since my extended family was on opposite sides of the country than where I grew up, our church family was our family. In all the areas that I have lived, God has provided a great church family and opportunities to serve. My current church has been a huge blessing in my life and I am very excited about what the Lord is doing in the life of our church.


5. Job. No job is perfect of course, but I have been blessed to work for a great boss and with a good group of people. I know several people that have been out of work for an extended period of time and so I try not to take my job for granted.


6. Health. While I do have some health issues, none of them are life-threatening or cause me to be in severe pain, and I'm very thankful for that. I've also got very good health insurance and that's so helpful.


7. Apartment. God has always provided me a place to live, even when I had to move sight-unseen to a place in Dallas from MI nearly 9 years ago. My current place is relatively quiet, no issues with neighbors at the moment, and only 1.1 miles away from work!

"This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it"--Psalm 118:24 NIV

1 comment:

  1. His love is rather overwhelming when we start listing, isn't it?! Have a great day, friend!

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