Blessed With Sunshine & Blizzards

This week I've been overwhelmed with blessings and it's only Wednesday! ha. My life is flooded with blessings and I want to share how you can have that too. Don't worry, this is not a story about how to prosper. I'm not about to give you a formula to gain blessings in your life. What I'm about to share is about gratitude because really blessings for you abound but to be overwhelmed by them you've got to take notice and appreciate them.

First, what are blessings? Dictionary.com states the following:
bless·ing

   /ˈblɛsɪŋ/ Show Spelled[bles-ing] noun

1. the act or words of a person who blesses.

2. a special favor, mercy, or benefit.
3. a favor or a gift bestowed by God, thereby bringing happiness.

4. the invoking of God's favor upon a person.

5. praise; devotion; worship, especially grace said before a meal.

So good things! Uhhh, not always. Sometimes hard things happen, heartache, disappointment and God is using these things to send you off in the direction you need to go. But still it's a blessing because it's a part of his mercy (#2) that benefits you and even can bring you happiness in the end (#3). Just something to think about because in reflection of my own life some heartache, some hard times, some hard situations have turned out to really be a blessing to get me where I am now...even though I didn't see it at the time. I think this is where appreciation and gratitude comes into play because in our limited prospective we often only see and are thankful for blessings we call 'good.'

Now, in light of that...what are some of my blessings lately?

1. I had a project at work, that I was apprehensive about, go really well.

2. Another blogger decided to feature me on her blog and because of that "Silver Trumpets" will get some advertisement - which I'm hoping glorifies God.

3. I received a bonus at work. 

4. I've still been really sick lately; I have been chronically ill for a year or so now.

5. I found out that the whole roof on my house needs to be replaced.

6. I've been neglected by some people in my life recently.

The 'good' things I mentioned are obvious as blessings but the others, well, those are blessings too!

#4 Being sick - This has really caused me to cling to God. I've been learning so much about my character and about how to take care of myself.

#5 Leaky roof - I've learned to how to navigate the ins and outs of my insurance company plus I established a relationship with a great roofing company

#6 Neglected - This has reminded me how blessed I am to have a relationship with God as a shepherd who always looks out for me. Also, bad examples remind me of who I really want to be so I've been striving to be a better friend to others.

There are more examples but you get the point. I'm grateful for all that is happening in my life, good and not so good, because I trust that Jesus has a point, a reason, and desires great things for me so that's why all these things are happening.

If you get a chance today - write down your blessings. You might start with the good and then think about anything stinky that's happening in your life right now. As you pray for perspective, you might start to see all the ways God is using even the bad situations. If you don't see the good in it right away...patiently wait...because I bet you do in time! :) May you be continually reminded that you have a Wonderful Creator who is actively working in your life and be overwhelmed by His blessings.