Last week I chose the song, Count Your Blessings, as the hymn of the week. Sometimes when we get feeling down we need to just take a few minutes and actually do what this song suggests. I did that recently, writing in my journal as many blessings and things to be thankful that I could think of in a short amount of time. Here's some of what I wrote. Maybe this could get you started on the same exercise.
Spiritual blessings: salvation, forgiveness, God's love, presence, protection, guidance; the Scriptures with their message of salvation, hope, promises, assurance; Holy Spirit; prayer; singing; God's creation in general; His creation of me with particular strengths and weaknesses, gifts and lack of gifts.
Family: loving wife; her good cooking, support and encouragement, love and attention; her care of our home and our children; her thriftiness and planning; children; their spouses; grandchildren; good relationship with them all; sister and brother; a mother who is still going strong at 90.
Church: godly pastor; Christian friends; opportunity to serve
Creation: sun sets; pine trees; blue birds; flowers; green grass; rain; sunshine; snow;
Misc: running water; flush toilets; hot showers; soap; good health; refrigeration; electricity; heat in winter; roof over my head; phone; email; skype; US mail; good food; spices; car; auto mechanics to fix car; abundant fresh produce; pizza; radio; tv; Internet; dentists; doctors; medicine; MRI; lawn mower; snow blower; good music
And the list could go on. As you read this you probably thought, "Why didn't he mention ....? " Obviously the list isn't complete yet. You can use the things you thought of to start your own list. Let's be thankful for what we have and not complain about the things we don't have. God has been gracious in giving us all things richly to enjoy.
2 comments:
How about adding brothers and sisters-in-law, too? :) We are thankful for you!
Absolutely! I knew at the beginning that there would be some left out, but not purposefully for sure. I'm blessed to have brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law with whom I can have good fellowship and have contributed much to my growth as a person and as a Christian.
I was amazed as I began this project a week ago at how quickly the count of blessings reached nearly 100. And then an a little more thought the count goes much higher.
What about nieces and nephews -- thankful for them too.
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