Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Day 25 - of 30 Days of Happiness

Day 25 - Notice a blessing today

I am exhausted, tired beyond weariness but in the mist of my tiredness I can not help but think about how blessed I am.

There was an old Hymn that I remember from my childhood. I can't remember which church they sang it in - do you remember Bettsy? But I can assure you when I was a child I did not come close to appreciating the words of the Hymn like I do now.

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS

When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Refrain

Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,
And you will keep singing as the days go by.

Refrain

When you look at others with their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;
Count your many blessings. Wealth can never buy
Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high.

Refrain

So, amid the conflict whether great or small,
Do not be disheartened, God is over all;
Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.

Refrain

So here are my Blessings I'm counting today

  • I'm thankful for God and all the patience and love He shows me everyday
  • I'm thankful for my husband who helped me wash the floors tonight to get ready for tomorrow
  • I'm thankful for my daughter Debbie who came over to my house today, knowing how busy I am, and cleaned my house and put together all my flower arrangements for tomorrow.
  • I'm thankful for my son and his sweet wife to be
  • I'm thankful for all of you!

3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Ephesians 1:3 (New Living Translation)

Remember tomorrow is a Day to Give Thanks and Gratitude for all our Lord has done and for all He is.

Have a Blessed and Happy Thanksgiving!


2 comments:

betty said...

I love that song, Kathy. I think many of the churches we attended sang that song. But it sounds like a baptist sort of song, or church of God of Anderson. I think you could sing the choras all by itself! I don't remember some of those verses, but I love them. :)

Juliette said...

Well I thought today I would be going to Lowry Park with our grandson but it is raining. And my plans for a morning in the yard are postponed. The next thing on my list is to clean the house so that I can put up Christmas decorations. I began to think about how I would record my blessings for today under these circumstances, what would I recognize in the mundane.

The Lord drew my attention to a journal entitled ‘Counting My Blessings – A Journal of Gratitude and Thanksgiving’. This was given to me by my travel agent who has become a good “email” friend. She got one every year and this year she decided to bless someone with one too and that someone was me. Here is what she wrote –

“Some years I do a ‘Journal of Gratitude and Thanksgiving’; every day I write three things for which I am ‘thankful’ so I get through challenges easier.”

During this past year her husband of over 30 years passed away of heart failure after open heart surgery. Sheerin has always been faithful to her promise – she continued to write always keeping God there. She was Christian and her husband was Muslim. He was a psychotherapist/psychologist. Just before Thanksgiving her brother also passed away.

I have not been faithful in keeping this journal even though I am good at recognizing God’s hand of blessing in my life. So I decided to go to today’s page and see what it had to say –

Nov. 25 – “Keep your eyes open to your mercies. The man who forgets to be thankful has fallen asleep in life.” Robert Louis Stevenson

That was thought provoking so I thought I would peak at tomorrow’s also since it was Thanksgiving Day.

Nov. 26 – “It is always possible to be thankful for what is given rather than to complain about what is not given. One or the other becomes a habit of life.” Elizabeth Elliot

Well these two combined were very good for me to start my list today, being very conscious of making a habit of living thankfully. And here it is –

1. I love above all, days of constant rain; rain that comes down heavy and softly at the same time. It is dense yet not destruction. All you hear is the water and it washes everything. The sky is gray yet not dark, accentuating all the colors around you. The air is not cold and you wouldn’t mind just playing in it, feeling the freedom and touch from heaven as you swirl.
2. My friend Sheerin, for always reminding me to look for things to be thankful for and not dwell too long on loss. Of especial note is that we live in this country where we can worship and we have loving families that surround us.
3. I have a daughter-in-law and her family that actually like to spend time with me, including us in all of their activities down to second cousins’ birthday parties.
4. My husband and son – how much I am continuously blessed by God because He gave them to me.
5. I have good friends and a church family.
6. Everyone is healthy.
7. Grandchildren.

I am thankful that Jesus died for me, a sinner, and that I have a place in heaven with Him everlasting.
Lord, help me to keep my heart sensitive, my ears sharp and my eyes bright so that I might see, hear and understand fully what You have for me.