That's how I am feeling this Thursday morning, blessed!
I can feel God loving me this morning. I do not have to ask anybody, if I am blessed, I
can feel it as I sit here at my keyboard.
God has a way of knowing what we need and when we need it. Just like a parent.
My parents did not believe in fads when I was growing up. They believed in the
essentials, the real needs.
I never wanted for anything. But occasionally it did make me a little envious that my
friends had all the flash, bang and whistle items of life and I only had --- the
essentials.
Perhaps my biggest disappointment, and now I am showing my age a bit, was when Walt Disney
released its Davey Crockett series on television, a lot (spell that most) of the kids in
my neighborhood got two things: a real coon skin cap and a little log cabin to play in.
Needless to say, I got neither. After some persistent whining, I did eventually get
a vinyl cap, that looked more military issue than Davey Crockett, with something that
looked like an imitation squirrel's tail hanging from the rear of it. The closest it
came to Davey Crockett was the name printed in big letters on it.
After a week or two, the coon skin caps got moths, or chewed up my family dogs, who
thought they had a new furry play mate. The log cabins were forgotton, and became
cramped tool sheds before they eventually became firewood for a cold night. These
fads were flashy but they didn't last.
Sometimes even as an adult, I feel sorry for myself. I look around and it seems all
the people who are doing the worse things have the best toys. The biggest houses.
The newest cars. A huge roll of money in their pockets. And me, I have what I need.
Sometimes the little boy in me arises. I look at "these treasures on
earth" in envy before reality kicks in.
I have found over the years, thanks to the foundation laid by my parents, that having
treasures does not equate with having love. I might not have had every fad that came
down the line but I had so much love, I wanted for nothing. And some of my friends that
had everything, what they wanted was the love my family gave me. That was something money
could not buy.
God is that kind of parent. He makes sure you have everything you need. He
occasionally even throws in a "want" or two. But more importantly,
He loves you unconditionally like any good parent.
He loves you even when you do not love yourself. He loves you when you are acting
unloveable. God loves you in and out of season. God loves you forever.
It is easy to look around and start counting what you do not have. But when you are
feeling, under-appreciated, over-worked, under-compensated, used, and abused, take a
moment to place your blessings, one by one, on the balance of life.
That new car the neighbor just bought, it will be in the junkyard, old, beaten and rusted
and God still will be blessing and loving you.
Today when woke up (which is a blessing in and of itself), I started stacking my blessings
up in a pile before me. The "blessing pile" just kept getting higher and higher.
In just a few seconds, my "blessing pile" had gotton so high, I
could not see my little "wants pile." And when I tried to look around and
find my "needs pile" it was not to be found. Turns out, my blessings
had covered all of my needs completely..
I am feeling blessed. Are you feeling blessed today?
