Wonderful Blessings of God

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How has the Lord blessed you? I often find that God has blessed me in so many ways when I start counting blessings. I recently discovered an old 2017 calendar upon which I kept track of one thing for which I was grateful each day during the year. As the end of 2020 is approaching, I thought it would be nice to do something similar for 2021. The only change is I want to try to focus upon ways in which God has blessed me each day. It might go without saying that I will be grateful for those blessings, but I like taking a different approach this coming year. 

What were some of the things I was grateful for in 2017? 

In 2017, we had two little toddlers and a teen. It would be the year we received a new washer and dryer (after more than two years without a working washer in the house) and my Aunt (who turned 90 that year) and Uncle helped us by giving us food several times a year. While we were struggling, we still had days when we made crafts, played in the snow, enjoyed homemade cookies, and celebrated birthdays. 

What were some of the things that I wrote down? 

• Breakfast food for dinner 
• Hot chocolate
• My daughter's laughter 
• My husband helping me clean the television/gaming system wires 
• Walking with my son to the library 
• A teen who can mow the lawn 
• Naps 
• Old hockey equipment fitting our older son 
• Children who eat their dinner 
• Time to read
• A good night's sleep 
• A warm house  

How did God bless me in 2020? 

We have had a lot of struggles this year – from needing to replace our refrigerator (we are still waiting for this because there are some key measurements that make getting a new one difficult and there is low stock due to the closure of factories earlier in 2020) to having to replace our furnace. These are both huge financial hurdles to running a smooth household but when I think about it I am blessed that we have a somewhat working fridge and were able to purchase a smaller fridge for the basement.

We have also been struggling with family stress and issues. My mom has been living with us for a while now and things are not easy. She has had declining health problems which impact the rest of the family. We are trying to show her the love that we have for her by taking care of her. We want to demonstrate and share with her the love that God has for her. Even with all the problems that are creeping up because of her failing health, she is a daughter of God. God loves her. I love her. 

I reviewed a wonderful book of prayers – Warfare Prayers for Women – in which there are several prayers that I have been trying to read on a regular basis. As in prayer, "For a Parent with Dementia," there are days when I feel like I don't know my mom anymore. She does things that seem odd to me and she can't explain why she is doing what she is doing. I regularly ask God to: 

"Show us how to deal with her situation and keep her safe. Lord, we need a solution. Please guide us to a doctor or social worker who can convince her of what is best for her remaining years. I love her dearly and am saddened by her regression." (144) 

I am blessed because even though my husband lost his job (more financial strains), he has been home to help alleviate family stress. He has been a tremendous support to me while we are homeschooling our three children. I can almost always count on him to help with a science experiment from our son's astronomy course. 

A science experiment where our children would spin the bottle with the
water in it and then flip it to see an example of a hurricane-like storm.

Homeschooling our three children has been a wonderful blessing. I have seen our younger two children grow and our oldest expand his knowledge. The other night at dinner, our oldest was explaining that his younger brother is learning things he never learned in public school. This was after he remarked that he was dumb and I said jokingly, "I am glad that I am only responsible for three years of your education." I am glad that we are able to homeschool all three our children now so that they can receive the best education for them. While it is not possible to close all the gaps that our oldest feels he has in terms of his public schooling, I can share with him the tools and places where he can find the information he needs. That he recognizes the gaps says a lot about him and his self-awareness.

God's Love 

I am so blessed that even through all of our adversity I can still remember that God's love is always there for me. I could compare it to the waters of Earth. The oceans cover the entire globe and they are so vast. God's love covers everyone and He is more vast than those beautiful oceans.