Finding Blessings on the Journey

Women of Faith:

I’m a little late this week because I know that life is a journey and unless I look for the blessings on the journey, getting to the end of the journey will have no meaning. So I have been taking the opportunities of enjoying the blessings as they have been presented.

“Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops; What if Your healing comes through tears? And what if a thousand sleepless nights; are what it takes to know You're near? What if my greatest disappointments; Or the aching of this life; Is the revealing of a greater thirst; This world can't satisfy? And what if trials of this life; The rain, the storms, the hardest nights; Are Your mercies in disguise?” Blessing by Laura Story

Occasionally life’s circumstances become a gentle reminder to remember to look for the blessings around every turn, especially when it seems as if life isn’t going exactly as planned.

Blessings were found when I spent extra time with my mom after knee replacement surgery. The gift of a mom (who, for most, is their child’s first hero) is often overlooked especially as we get busy with our own lives and families.

Blessings were found, not only for myself but for many around, in renewed friendships with family and friends who shared grief, comfort, and memories at the funerals of those we loved and shared with each other.
Blessings were found as we became reacquainted with friends at chance meetings in “foreign” places.

Blessings were found in the “timeless” enjoyment of children and grandchildren where common frustrations of daily life, laughter of silly occurrences, and a babies babbling could all be shared without interference of the outside world.

Blessings were found in prayers, caring words, and acts of kindness for family and friends who are undergoing sufferings, struggles and family pain and grief—knowing that we could lighten their burden and share their pain made them a blessing for us, and we a blessing for them.

“And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. Jesus said in reply, “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?”  Then he said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.” Lk 17: 15-19

Each of these struggles, each of these burdens and pains is a blessing in disguise. Will we see the blessings? Do we look for and thank God for the little (and big) things in life that by God’s design are meant to be a blessing?

And do we remember to give thanks as the Samaritan did, or do we walk away as if the gifts we have received were something we deserved?

“None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself. For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord; so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s…. As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bend before me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.” Rom 14: 7-8, 12

Will we be saved by our perseverance in faith? And will we accept the “muck” of our own choices, and the happenings that God allows, so that we are saved because in faith we can find the blessings and enjoy the journey with the knowledge that God is always at our side?

Heavenly Father, It is for your glory that I live. Help everyone who is experiencing some sorrow, some suffering, or some pain, to be able to see beyond, to accept their burdens and their grief and to find comfort in the blessings you are constantly placing in our lives. May I search not for gold, but for the silver lining of your blessings. Thank you for giving me the faith to enjoy the journey. Amen.

Recommit yourself to finding the blessings in the relationships you share. And in taking the opportunity to enjoy the journey with each relationship you are given.

Life is a journey. Be blessed by it!
Charlotte

Count Your Blessings

Friends of Faith:

It is best in life to count our blessings, because from every pain or sorrow we have the choice whether to choose earthly hurt or heavenly peace.

From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. This need not be so, my brothers. Does a spring gush forth from the same opening both pure and brackish water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, produce olives, or a grapevine figs? Neither can salt water yield fresh... Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice. But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without inconstancy or insincerity. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for those who cultivate peace. James 3:10-13, 16-18

We have been blessed for the past 26 plus years to have in my mom’s life a friend and companion. Her husband, John, gave her joy by allowing her to fulfill her desires to travel across the country and by growing her groups of both family and friends. Their greatest joys together were the times any of us gathered in their home (especially the rare times it was the entire family) or that they visited in ours. She sacrificed much and in God’s time she has been richly blessed. She continues to teach us what it means to COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS by choosing to be blessed with love after love.

We have been blessed to receive another dad when tragedy could have caused “disorder.” And we have received the fruits of being blessed by a father’s guidance, wisdom and attention. We were blessed with the comfort and peace of knowing John was taking care of mom (and she, him). He was truly a blessing to our family.

Our children have been blessed to have a Grandpa and Great-grandpa. He shared his time and love of sports and fishing with them and looked forward to their visits and the opportunities to listen to their chatter. We count their blessings to have learned the gifts of kindness, gentleness and service from them.

There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens. A time to give birth, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant. A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to tear down, and a time to build. A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them; a time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces. A time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away. A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to be silent, and a time to speak. A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. Ecc 3: 1-8

Heavenly Father, You have given us everything. Help me to choose to accept and count Your every blessing given to us, for only you know in what time we need each of your gifts. Thank you for the gift of John and all of our loved ones. May he and all the faithful departed rest in peace in the richness of your heavenly kingdom.  Amen.

www.hindthudekfuneralhomes.com (John Perkins 1933-2012)

Count Your Blessings,

Charlotte

Life isn't Fair

Women of Faith:

We’ve all told someone at sometime: “Life isn’t fair.” And then when adversity strikes in our own life, that’s exactly what we seek--“fairness.” Why is it that we want and seek fairness for ourselves, yet when our children, a friend or family member complains to us that “life isn’t fair” it is easy to see just that… that we all must bear more than our fair share sometimes.

I read this week that I must bear my OWN crosses, that they are “shaped” for me. While we can help our friends and loved ones carry their crosses by being supportive, we can’t completely take on someone else’s burdens, sorrows or pain.

Our crosses were made for us, just like braces on our teeth, God makes our crosses to shape us and strengthen us. Our crosses are made to straighten out the crooked, and bend back the places that are supposed to be straight. They are designed to help me conform to be “God’s person”—not fairly, not evenly, but as God desires me to be.

Some of us will wear braces, others will wear glasses, and others hearing aids. And just as not everyone has to wear braces for the same length of time, some will suffer longer than others, and yet others will be asked to be of service to those who are suffering—the “doctors and nurses” of life.

For any of us who have worn or wear these aids, they are not only an aid, but a burden. They look and feel different; both from the inside—to those who are wearing them--and from the outside, to those of us that can physically see them. But just as life isn’t fair, each of these aids that burden us also shape us, change us, and make us better in some way, if we accept their help.

We also wish we could lessen the pain those “braces” have in someone else’s life. We wish we could take on the burdens of our friends and that life wouldn’t treat our children and our friends “unfairly.” It hurts to watch those we love suffer and to watch them bear their crosses. We can help by lightening their load, by being there for them, but we can’t take on their burdens. It’s not possible.

And just as someone else’s braces, glasses, or hearing aids won’t work in our lives, nor will someone else’s cross help us to grow as God wants us to grow. Just as braces hurt while they are on, only our teeth can be straightened.

Our cross becomes lighter when we allow God to become our strength, when we are not too proud to ask God (and our friends) to help lighten the load. God will always be there for us, so that when we give up our cross to God, we will become straighter: truer: stronger.

“For whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the Gospel will save it.” Mk 8:34-9:1

Dear God: Praise be the strength you have given me to bear the “unfairness” of life. Help me to always remember to ask for your grace when life’s burdens, life’s crosses start to weigh me down. Give strength to my family and friends who are suffering physically and mentally today. Thank you for your comfort and peace in each of our lives. Amen.

At times God asks us to be Simon of Cyrene, to help carry someone’s cross, to be the supporting friend; and at other times we are asked to be like Jesus, to “bear our cross,” to “give up our lives for our Father” and to suffer just as He did for us.

But just when we think we have our role down…. Well, life will probably change, and we may be put on the other side of the cross; because life isn’t fair. Are we ready?
Blessings,
Charlotte