The Discovery of Blessings

I love reading H. Jackson Brown Jr.'s Life's Little Instruction Book(s). In his introduction to Volume II, he writes, "Life is a process. We are all works in progress--green tomatoes ripening on the windowsill of life.  As I experience more, learn more, and contemplate more, I often think of what use my discoveries might be to my son, Adam."

So, begins my journey of blogging, the discoveries that God has revealed to me. Psalm 23 in the Bible states that "His goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life." God's goodness and mercy, His unrelenting grace, can be seen in the everyday and the ordinary. My goal is to chronicle what He has shown me and what I have learned. As these words hit the page, may my heart say "thank-you"....for everything. I thank you for coming along on this journey with me. May the words and thoughts that follow bless you.

I discovered Ann Voskamp's book One Thousand Gifts a little over a year ago. It will revolutionize a life. It is a book about finding the blessings that are so abundant in our every day lives. A friend challenged her to find one thousand "blessings" and write them down. Yes, write them down. She challenges her readers to do the same. I smile as I look over the entries in my "Blessings" journal....giggling, recipe for my grandmother's hotdish, stoneware mugs, calculator, a kind nurse at the clinic, scrapbook sale, warm shower, encouraging words.....and the list goes on. I have jotted over 1,600 "blessings" for 2013, and I continue to write more. Contentment (simply being thankful for what we have) is so missing in our culture today. By simply stopping, breathing, and becoming aware of the blessings in our life, we start to become aware of the goodness and mercy that God has placed in our lives. I often wonder what would happen if, when we turned on the nightly news, we only heard about the good in the world?

The unthankful heart discovers no mercies....but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings. ~Henry Ward Beecher

I am learning to be thankful.....