October 16, 2012

count your blessings

i know that phrase is so overused, but this past weekend, it was powerful.

in case you didn't know, eight years ago, my dad passed away. he left behind the most amazing wife and mother, and five opinionated, adventurous, and independent children. despite his loss, the Lord has continued to fill the void in our family in the most incredible ways. had i never known such loss, i may never have known HIS faithfulness.

my sister had an emotional emergency over the weekend, the kind of emotional emergency only another sister can meet. i've been feeling frustrated with the physical distance between my family and me lately, but last weekend was a reminder of the closeness that is still there. while i'm in school, i'm sacrificing special moments - homecoming, birthdays, family dinners, and so on - and i can't wait to be back for those moments if that is where God leads. until then, i am so thankful for text messages and phone calls. 

anyway, back to the point. my little sister has probably grieved the most since the loss of our dad. out of all of us, she is the most sensitive, which also makes her the most compassionate and kind of us - qualities she's teaching me. she called me in sad tears, the result of a day spent alone in thought...and that's sometimes where the Enemy gets us. we get wrapped up in our thoughts, in our sadness and our loneliness, and there seems to be no escaping.

enter, the power of thankfulness. 

as i listened to her missing what she didn't have, i realized that we need to be more intentional in being thankful for what we do have. so we played the thankfulness game, until she fell asleep. and there was peace. 

we are thankful for:

technology
a roof over our head
a supportive family
the sunshine
the stars
laughs and smiles
the ability to dance
music
T
love
apples
coffee
chocolate
strawberries
an education

...and the list goes on. we are abundantly blessed, and the Enemy has no right to steal our joy. 


2 comments:

  1. love this and i love you.

    you're such an encouragement!

    ReplyDelete