Need a blessing this year?

Last year I worked with a sweet woman called Cindy.  Cindy is an physician who loves the Lord and desires to help her patients not only with their physcial needs but also their spiritual needs.  She is one of those lovely people that the Lord placed on my path for a short time, but will always be in my heart and mind. 

In the lunch room at the office, Cindy placed a large glass jar with a pen and paper next to it.  The idea was to write down your daily blessings, or someone who did something that was a blessing to you. Each time you would walk into the lunch room, that jar seemed to beckon you to place a note inside.  "Surely you have a blessing today!"   Each day would find you "seeing" more clearly all the blessings we often overlook in our lives.   I know that I found myself thanking God for the sunset over the mountain,  the pine-scented smell that filled the air as I walked through the trees,  a woman that day who told me she prayed for me, or the patient who shared his story of struggling with cancer and his faith in God. 

We are told that in this world we WILL have struggles (John 16:33), yet we are to look for the blessings.  We are to look for that ray of light in the darkness that may surround us.  It is there that we will see the blessing that He has waiting for us.   The blessing is His grace to handle any situation. 

The short time I worked with Cindy was a time of blessing.  God had another path planned for her as she and her family were led to move to Asheville, North Carolina.  I was saddened to see her move on, but knew in my heart that it was all in His plan for her.  She was another blessing on my path. 

Maybe you would like to make a "blessing jar" this year.  You will find that there are many blessings that fill each and every day and many reasons to thank God --- for His supplying for your daily needs, for family, for faith-filled friends, for physcial and emotional needs.  

Maybe you have a loved one who is struggling with illness or emotional pain...or maybe it is you.
Open His Word and seek out His blessings.  It will fill you with comfort and draw you closer to Christ.

Dear Lord,  each day you bless me in more ways 
than I can count.  Every breath, every blink, 
every heart beat...thank You for blessing
and loving me!