Is it just me, or is it truly hard to believe we are at the close of another month and in a brand New Year? Not that other month's don't have their ups and downs, but this month has been hectic with happenings, and with all that goes on in our lives we've been blessed.
Blessings come in many forms. When you think of blessings what do you think of? You might only think of things you recognize; like an unexpected gift, surprise visit from an old friend or maybe being rewarded for a job well done. Some of our blessings are our children -- a true gift from God -- or enjoying the sunshine, or feeling a soft warm breeze blow over our face. Laughing is a blessing (a merry heart) it's truly good medicine for you as stated in Proverbs.
Dictionary.com lists nine different dictionary results for the word blessing; the definition that I'm looking at today is "the act or words of a person who blesses, as well as, a flavor or gift bestowed by God, thereby bringing happiness." One of my study Bibles defines word's -- bless as "to bestow blessing upon;" blessed as "the object of God's favor;" and blessings as "the gift of Gods graces as used in (physical & temporary, National & Israelitish, spiritual and eternal)."
A favorite verse of mine is found in *Ephesians 1: 3 ~ "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ," (I used to say Ephesians was my most favorite book of the New Testiment; I've been finding out more and more that I have many favorite books in God's word). Think of how awesome this is to the child of God!
In my previous post you may have read that our son, Mathew, was here with his fiance for a visit. It was a wonderful blessing to have them with us, if only for a short time. He and his brother, Aaron, along with their Dad, spent a stressful time working on his truck. The repairs took much longer than anticipated (as always) and the weather was such that even in the shelter of a garage it remained below freezing most of the time. The whole process proved to be stressful on all of us. However, if one were to look at it honestly and objectively, there were many blessings to be found. I had a good time getting to know Dannielle better, we had fun checking out a few wedding gowns, and a little creative crafting. Since we only had boys I never got to do that -- at least looking at wedding gowns. Thank you Dannielle, if you're reading this I really liked the first dress you tried on, it was beautiful and you looked beautiful in it. All of this was a blessing for me.
*(The footnote found in my Bible states: "blessed...blessing, Jewish people used the word "bless" to express both God's kindness to us and our thanks, or praise to Him. (Zondervan's INV study Bible))
Winter is a happening season for sure and can be hard in its own right. This winter is no exception and is suppose to be one of the hardest we've had; so far its been holding true. When you mix this harsh winter with trails you're going through it makes things that much more daunting. Overall I'm weathering quite well (I believe) and I thank the Lord for His helping me through. My husband might think differently (as far as suffering with the blues) everyone has their good days and bad. But there are many blessings to help weather the winter; God has blessed me with a wonderful friend who for a Christmas present gave me a gift certificate for a local beauty salon, and I was able to get my hair done this past Tuesday.
Another blessing was going to see my very best girl Monica's 6Th grade choir and band program. Monica loves to sing and it showed as she and the sixth grade class did a beautiful job -- it was hands down best winter program I've seen in years - maybe ever. Dannielle who's also been involved in drama and singing said it was the best sixth grade program she ever heard, including a number of grades on top of that! Watching Monica made me cry, I was so proud of her. I have been watching her grow since she was 4 and I feel so blessed to have her be a part of my life, let alone a small part of hers.
I'm often asked if I like living here in Ohio, I usually always answer "No." Let me say that out of all the places we've lived Ohio has been my least favorite. Every place we've lived I've been able to find something about it I like - even Ohio, although it has been the hardest place for me. It may be that from moment we first move here it seems as though there's been one bad/negative thing after another happens. I really didn't want to move here; I did leave NM with anticipation of being closer to family and getting to know them better. I've also been asked, "What made you leave NM? The reason for moving was to allow my husband to take a job which allowed him a rare opportunity to move from the consulting world to executive management which he was by any objective measure extremely successful; unfortunately it was his success that ultimately caused his boss to feel so threaten that he forced him to resign. We have been blessed with God's provision through all this. Even with most recent hardship, his service connected illness that has ultimately prevented him from working for the past two years. God has supplied all our needs.
I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in aany and every circumstance I have learned (almost [my word]) the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and sufffering need. Phil.4:12, 19
Even before dealing with the past couple years, our youngest son had to retire from the USCG at a young age due to a serious illness. Praise God he's had a full recovery! We've also had to deal with aging parents and their eventual passing. But perhaps the greatest disappointment of all has been that despite my hope that by living close to my family I was unable to fully reconnect with them. I've always had such wonderful childhood memories my family, that I hoped to relive. I do get to see them from time to time but it's not what I expected. Nevertheless, God has been so amazing in our lives. His grace has been sufficient for me/us. He has met our needs and continues to daily. To Him be all praise and glory.
I guess you could say this was a rather lengthy post. I just wanted you to look for and SEE the many blessing God has for you. Granted not everyone goes through the same thing. God NEVER changes who He is.
When I was looking up the definition of blessing, I noticed the word of the day was yielding. This is also a blessing. Its a blessing for the man or women to yield themselves to the Lord and for His good purpose. Have you yielded to His call or have you been resisting? Being shaped by Him gives you all you need to face life's challenges and this is a blessing.
Word of the day
Wednesday January 28, 2009
yielding \YEEL-ding\, adjective:1. not resisting; compliant2. not stiff or rigid; easily bent or shaped
It's still snowing here in Ohio, but wherever the Lord may lead us, I'm happy to say that all though Ohio hasn't been a favorite I still can find something I like. I have been truly blessed with dear life time friends.
Blessings come in many forms. When you think of blessings what do you think of? You might only think of things you recognize; like an unexpected gift, surprise visit from an old friend or maybe being rewarded for a job well done. Some of our blessings are our children -- a true gift from God -- or enjoying the sunshine, or feeling a soft warm breeze blow over our face. Laughing is a blessing (a merry heart) it's truly good medicine for you as stated in Proverbs.
Dictionary.com lists nine different dictionary results for the word blessing; the definition that I'm looking at today is "the act or words of a person who blesses, as well as, a flavor or gift bestowed by God, thereby bringing happiness." One of my study Bibles defines word's -- bless as "to bestow blessing upon;" blessed as "the object of God's favor;" and blessings as "the gift of Gods graces as used in (physical & temporary, National & Israelitish, spiritual and eternal)."
A favorite verse of mine is found in *Ephesians 1: 3 ~ "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ," (I used to say Ephesians was my most favorite book of the New Testiment; I've been finding out more and more that I have many favorite books in God's word). Think of how awesome this is to the child of God!
In my previous post you may have read that our son, Mathew, was here with his fiance for a visit. It was a wonderful blessing to have them with us, if only for a short time. He and his brother, Aaron, along with their Dad, spent a stressful time working on his truck. The repairs took much longer than anticipated (as always) and the weather was such that even in the shelter of a garage it remained below freezing most of the time. The whole process proved to be stressful on all of us. However, if one were to look at it honestly and objectively, there were many blessings to be found. I had a good time getting to know Dannielle better, we had fun checking out a few wedding gowns, and a little creative crafting. Since we only had boys I never got to do that -- at least looking at wedding gowns. Thank you Dannielle, if you're reading this I really liked the first dress you tried on, it was beautiful and you looked beautiful in it. All of this was a blessing for me.
*(The footnote found in my Bible states: "blessed...blessing, Jewish people used the word "bless" to express both God's kindness to us and our thanks, or praise to Him. (Zondervan's INV study Bible))
Winter is a happening season for sure and can be hard in its own right. This winter is no exception and is suppose to be one of the hardest we've had; so far its been holding true. When you mix this harsh winter with trails you're going through it makes things that much more daunting. Overall I'm weathering quite well (I believe) and I thank the Lord for His helping me through. My husband might think differently (as far as suffering with the blues) everyone has their good days and bad. But there are many blessings to help weather the winter; God has blessed me with a wonderful friend who for a Christmas present gave me a gift certificate for a local beauty salon, and I was able to get my hair done this past Tuesday.
Another blessing was going to see my very best girl Monica's 6Th grade choir and band program. Monica loves to sing and it showed as she and the sixth grade class did a beautiful job -- it was hands down best winter program I've seen in years - maybe ever. Dannielle who's also been involved in drama and singing said it was the best sixth grade program she ever heard, including a number of grades on top of that! Watching Monica made me cry, I was so proud of her. I have been watching her grow since she was 4 and I feel so blessed to have her be a part of my life, let alone a small part of hers.
I'm often asked if I like living here in Ohio, I usually always answer "No." Let me say that out of all the places we've lived Ohio has been my least favorite. Every place we've lived I've been able to find something about it I like - even Ohio, although it has been the hardest place for me. It may be that from moment we first move here it seems as though there's been one bad/negative thing after another happens. I really didn't want to move here; I did leave NM with anticipation of being closer to family and getting to know them better. I've also been asked, "What made you leave NM? The reason for moving was to allow my husband to take a job which allowed him a rare opportunity to move from the consulting world to executive management which he was by any objective measure extremely successful; unfortunately it was his success that ultimately caused his boss to feel so threaten that he forced him to resign. We have been blessed with God's provision through all this. Even with most recent hardship, his service connected illness that has ultimately prevented him from working for the past two years. God has supplied all our needs. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in aany and every circumstance I have learned (almost [my word]) the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and sufffering need. Phil.4:12, 19
Even before dealing with the past couple years, our youngest son had to retire from the USCG at a young age due to a serious illness. Praise God he's had a full recovery! We've also had to deal with aging parents and their eventual passing. But perhaps the greatest disappointment of all has been that despite my hope that by living close to my family I was unable to fully reconnect with them. I've always had such wonderful childhood memories my family, that I hoped to relive. I do get to see them from time to time but it's not what I expected. Nevertheless, God has been so amazing in our lives. His grace has been sufficient for me/us. He has met our needs and continues to daily. To Him be all praise and glory.
I guess you could say this was a rather lengthy post. I just wanted you to look for and SEE the many blessing God has for you. Granted not everyone goes through the same thing. God NEVER changes who He is.
When I was looking up the definition of blessing, I noticed the word of the day was yielding. This is also a blessing. Its a blessing for the man or women to yield themselves to the Lord and for His good purpose. Have you yielded to His call or have you been resisting? Being shaped by Him gives you all you need to face life's challenges and this is a blessing.
Word of the day
Wednesday January 28, 2009
yielding \YEEL-ding\, adjective:1. not resisting; compliant2. not stiff or rigid; easily bent or shaped
It's still snowing here in Ohio, but wherever the Lord may lead us, I'm happy to say that all though Ohio hasn't been a favorite I still can find something I like. I have been truly blessed with dear life time friends.
Blessing come in many forms,
Many shapes and sizes.
The best blessing -
is to know the Lord;
and follow His horizon.
VLB 1/30/09
The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanses declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; Their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their utterances to the end of the world. In them He placed a tent for the sun. Psalms 19
