Showers of Blessings

The Lord has blessed me in so many ways. I have come to realize that a number of things I have taken for granted are mine because he has been gracious to me. I thank God for my family. I thank God for my friends. I thank God for everything he has given me.

I thank God for challenges, realizing that if life remained routine I would soon wallow in complacency thinking that everything I've achieved was due to my puny efforts. I don't want to wallow in complacency, nor do I want to remain in the pit of despair. I've been there far too much lately, blaming everyone for things they couldn't control.

The meaning of Christmas isn't in the gifts we receive. I realize this. It is in the showers of blessings I receive from knowing others and the feeling I get when I know that I've made a difference in someone's life.

I haven't felt that way for a long time. Frankly I blamed my interia on economic and social trends. I wanted, and still long for meaningful work that supports me and my family. Yet, I can't help thinking that I need to step away from this attitude and move forward towards what the Lord has for me. He has placed some ideas in my heart, and asked me to step out in faith.

It won't be easy. I do have no place to go but up now. I am almost at the end of my strength, but the Lord gives me hope. I can grab onto that hope and spread it around to others.

Faith In Action-Blessings of the Season

The nativity scene never grows old for me. When I watch the pageant with the children I get a new perspective every time. I see that faith in action of these children who have faithfully come to practice the pageant year after year. I am blessed by their innocence and the joy I see in their faces.


I marvel as I contemplate what it must have been like that first Christmas morning when the angels came to proclaim Jesus' birth. The more I learn about Jesus, the more I want to learn. Sometimes I'm overwhelmed by the love God has for me that he would send his son to die for me.

The world may increasingly grow darker as the message dims. More and more churches are foregoing these scenes. It is hard to grasp why there isn't more people coming out to support these children. What message are they getting for that? Yet I see that faith in action. It's the faith of a community that longs to maintain stability in a world that wants to rip things up.

I can dwell on the negatives or I can focus in on the positives. God has given us blessings this season. We can rejoice in the hope that we have in him. We can hold onto the good, instead of wallowing in the evil. We can act in positive directions, not negative ones.

I do have hope. I see the hope in these young people as well. They are the ones that need to know that God offers hope and salvation to those who ask for it. I thank God for that hope that blooms in each heart this time of year.

Learning to Be Grateful

It isn't easy to be grateful. The weight of the world falls on your shoulders. Sometimes it feels as if you're in a deep, dark hole with no way to get out. Grateful feelings don't come naturally. They come because someone does something that uplifts you. They come when you realize things are not as bad as they seem.

I could let fear drive me. I won't do that. Learning to be grateful is hard work. It takes determination and sense that you have someone in your corner. It takes learning to trust in God, and hoping for a better future.

It's not good to bottle things up. When you start thinking positive, and let the negative feelings go...things will change for the better. I admit that it has been extremely difficult for me lately to be grateful. Things pile up. You stuff them in, putting on a mask and trying not to panic. Sometimes though you have to let it out.

I am grateful for the opportunities I've been given to express myself like this. I am grateful for family and friends. I am grateful that I am loved. I am grateful for shelter, food and electricity. I am grateful for water, relatively good health and knowledge.

Making the Most Out of A Bad Situation

I'm learning gradually to make the most out of my current financial situation. I've given up feeling sorry for myself. I've also tried to make the best out of the world's situation. It isn't as bad as it seems. There is a light at the end of this very dark tunnel. I have to believe and hope that God loves me.

I know that there are still some things that I can do to make things better for myself and for my family. I can't give up on them even when it seems that they have given up on me. I don't blame them. I feel their anguish with the situation. It does pain me that I can't do anything about it. I'm completely burnt out.

The only reason I keep going is because of the promises God whispers to me in his word. I know I need to trust him and his timing. I can't let fear and despair overwhelm me. Love casts out fear. I know this, yet sometimes I'm still afraid.

It is a bad situation. Some would even call it dire. I honestly don't know what to do. There is no viable solution to the increasingly difficult situation I find myself in today. Some days I wish I could wave it all away and go back to the relatively stable situation I had seven years ago. Then I felt secure in knowing that I had a position that would last. I was receiving enough to support myself and my family. I had no worries about what would happen once my savings was gone. I was free to dream. My family was in good health and I felt good too.

Yet there are so many things I would have missed....friends and acquaintances I would have never known had I remained where I was. Yes, I am in a bad spot right now. I have hope through that the Lord will see me through it.