Count Your Many Blessing!

When I was a little girl every couple of months we would have a Sunday evening service that was JUST singing hymns. I LOVED these nights so much! The first few songs were chosen by the minister and his wife to get us started and then the congregation would call out titles and page numbers as each song came to an end. My very favorite song was Count Your Many Blessing, and I can even remember that it was page number 539. As I got older if was kinda of a joke with the adult members who came to KNOW that I would request number 539 every single time.

Well here I am all these years later and once again I'm calling on number 539! 

I had an amazing visit earlier this week with two beautiful women from my church who prayed over me and just blessed me so much! As we talked they suggested getting a few members of the church to bring me meals a couple of times a week, just to take the load off of Randy some. No more than an hour after they left I had already received an email with the line up of meals for the next few days. My heart just melted! The response was such a quick one! I was blown away by these beautiful women who stepped up to care for my family and I.

Later that afternoon I got a call from another sweet friend and member of my church. She too had gotten the call to help out, but was going to be out of town for a while so she asked if she could bring by some freezer meals and a few staples for easy lunches and snacks. All of this was a huge blessing but also hard for me to accept because I hate to feel weak or dependent on others. After all, I'm the helper! I'm the one that makes meals an runs errands! I'm the caretaker! However, I did agree and she was off to the store.
I was at the vet with a sick puppy when she came by to drop things off, and I never expected to see what was waiting for me at home. My refrigerator, freezer and pantry are now full to the brim! I even have snacks and stuff stored on the craft table for now because I had no more room in the kitchen! Can you believe that? I couldn't! I was in complete shock! Braydon was elated! He kept coming into the kitchen saying "Mom, this is just too much!", "Mom, oh my gosh!", "Mom, you've GOT to call and thank her! This is just too much!"

When I FINALLY got everything put away and sat down to call her, she said something that touched my heart and changed the whole meaning of counting your blessings! She told me not to deny others the blessing of helping me. I had honestly not thought of it like that - ever. Those few words gave me such a peace about letting others take care of me for a while! I am so grateful for this precious church family of mine and for the things they are teaching me!

Are you allowing others to bless you when you're in need? If not, I recommend you start. Blessings are not just things you have received but also things you are able to do for others... or let them do for YOU!

You know you've sunk to an ALL TIME low when you threaten to get rid of the dogs!!

This last week has really been a hard one. Maybe it's because Randy was out of town, or because I did WAY to much, or maybe it was because my appointment with the surgeon opened up more questions than it answered. Regardless of the WHY, it's the WHAT that made an impact.

You see, keeping my house in order has become pretty much the bane or my existence! The boys started out helping in every way, but as time has gone by, and I have gotten a little more mobile, they seemed to be slacking off a bit. The frustration of not being able to do just exactly what I want to do, coupled with the added stresses of the last few days, took me to a place I'm not proud to talk about.

In an attempt to get their attention, I threw that typical "I need more from you boys" mom fit that we have all had from time to time. The difference this time was that it got out of hand and I fought dirty. With Randy out of town the dogs had not been waking me up to go out at night. Instead, they decided to sneak off to the back bedroom to handle their business. Well, I had had my fill of cleaning up doggy accidents so I did it! I said we were getting rid of them. Once it was out of my mouth, the reaction it brought gave me a strange sense control. I have felt out of control for so many months that I grabbed a hold of it with both hands!

Do you ever do that? Not just take things too far, but take them so past far that far is no longer even in sight? Why do we do that? Why is our need for control so overwhelming? Why do we give it so much power?

I'll tell you why... because we are human! Clinging to our own abilities is in our nature, while clinging to God is not something we do with ease. I'm not saying it's foreign to us, because we all have that need and desire to draw to Him, it's just not easy.

**Insert that all too common saying here..."If it were easy then everyone would do it".

Well I disagree, I think it IS easy, it's US who make it hard! Whether we like to admit it or not, worldly desires are very appealing. It takes a conscience effort to turn from the world and all of it's evil. That's right I said evil! The material needs are, in my opinion, the least of our worries when it comes to this world. I believe it hinges much more on pride, and pride is most definitely an EVIL!

Pride will make you do some crazy things and assure you that anything that benefits YOU is good. Well folks, I'm here to bust our bubble! Pride will never lead you to the Father! The only thing that will do that is laying EVERYTHING down at the foot of the cross.

So next time you feel pride sneaking in, whether it's thinking how great you are at a task or how good you are at your career, or yes, even thinking empty threats will give you the power to turn all eyes on you, I encourage you to take a step back and drop it all right then and there.
Then I encourage you to RUN! Run to the Father! Take refuge in Him and let Him remove that pride from you life!