Count your blessings

"Count your blessings, name them one by one
Count your blessings, see what God has done
Count your many blessings, name them one by one
Count your many blessings see what God has done"

I like to sing this little song sometimes when the kids are complaining about things in their lives...or when I find myself complaining about the things in my life (which I rarely do) *ahem*  Rather, I wish I could learn how to not complain. 

I just filled up my van today with gas.  It cost close to $60.00.  I usually fill it up at least once per week, sometimes It's every 6 days, I am blessed.  Sometimes I pull up to the gas station to find that the person before me put $3.00 of gas into their vehicle.  Where will they go on that, I wonder?  Could be a teenager scrounging for change...or it could have been a mother, just trying to make it to the store to buy a little food for her family.

I keep my thermostat @72-73 degrees, usually all the time.  I get cold easily, and I don't like to be cold.  Sometimes the electric bill comes and I think "WHOA...did they raise the prices?"  No, it's my fault.  I like to be comfortable, live it up in my cozy little home.  My husband writes the check out to IPL...never a concern that we're not going to be able to buy food because I like to keep it warm inside. 

I met a little boy once at Garfield Park.  I was swinging Isaac and he was digging through the dirt. He was a friendly boy, and seemed pretty smart.  It was a warm day in February, but there were still many more cold days ahead of us.  He found a rusty, dirty hotwheel buried in the dirt.  He was overjoyed.  I wondered why.  I struck up a conversation with him, asked him where he went to school, etc..(He was around 9 years old and it was a school day)  He pointed to a beat up old car in the distance.  He said he lives in that car.  "I don't go to school, we travel too much.  My whole family sleeps in it."  I offered him the lunch I had packed for the kids.  He was embarrassed and ran off.  I wondered if I had done the right thing.  It got very cold the next night.  I thought of him in his car, trying to sleep, and probably very cold.  I turned up my thermostat.  I wonder how he's doing now?

Count my own blessings...that is all I can do.  I am not big enough to solve the worlds problems of homelessness, hunger, drug abuse, and depravity.  It's sad, it's depressing.  God allows it.  He has allowed a lot throughout time.  Why has he blessed me so?  I am not bragging, please don't take this the wrong way.  But I am a very blessed woman.

My kids all have coats, shoes, a hot family meal every night. 
We go to the doctor when we're sick, and don't worry about how the bill is going to get paid. 
My husband has a steady job. 
We are all in relatively good health. 
I can buy Christmas gifts for my children.
We go on family vacations.
We have running water that is clean.
The list could go on and on...

I thank the Lord for showering His blessing upon me, more abundantly than I deserve.  In an instant, it could all be taken away.  Would I be able to find blessings amidst the muck and mire...I sure hope so.