Some of the greatest blessings You have given us, Father, are those around us. My helpmate in life is one straight from You. Bless her, Father, and may I be a blessing to her as well. Amen.

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I think I’m the only one in my home who loves classic old movies. This past Christmas season, if I remember correctly, Karen and Massey had gone down to spend some time with her parents. I stayed home to write my blog or wrap up some things for Sunday, I don’t remember exactly. I finished what I needed to get done and with some time to spare I sat down to watch a DVD of It’s a Wonderful Life with Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Another old Christmas movie I have is White Christmas with Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, and Danny Kaye. I watched it a couple of years ago. But as I wrote my opening prayer this afternoon, I thought of one of the lesser tunes from that flick, entitled Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep). It’s a simple song, and the lyrics don’t really say a whole lot to me except for the refrain.

When I’m worried,
And I can’t sleep,
I count my blessings instead of sheep,
And I fall asleep,
Counting my blessings.

How often do we forget our blessings? Especially amongst the stress of life, it is easy to do. It is so easy to take those closest to you – those who mean more to you than you could ever begin to say – for granted. They do what they do, and we do what we do, and sometimes that’s the way we live for extended periods of time.

Unfortunately, far too often we only wake up to the blessing we really have when their or our lives are in jeopardy…or worse still when they are taken from us. What a great tragedy!

We should count our blessings every day! Take today’s post as a wake-up call.

None of us are perfect. We sure know that we aren’t! So why do we expect perfection from those around us…family, fellow workers, our church family, our neighbors, etc.

I should never take Karen for granted…but I do. I let her do what she does (which is a lot!) and I do what I do (which I’m sure is not nearly enough…) My prayer recently has been to appreciate her more and I’ve asked God to help me love her more in what I do, in what I say, in how I act.

When I first started driving a school bus, I prayed pretty consistently for my fellow drivers and the students on my routes. I’ve allowed myself to get out of the habit. This week I’ve started doing it again. It takes me most of my early route to get through everyone. I know that I can tell a difference in my life. And I pray that they will, too!

There are always things we can improve upon, especially in our spiritual lives. Prayer is one of those things that impact us and those for whom we are praying. And…it draws us closer to God, in that of course, that’s who we’re talking to! So, it’s a win, win, win!

So, there’s your wake-up call and your challenge for the week! May God bless your efforts!

And my God will liberally supply (fill until full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19 AMP

Feb 9th, 2022, Wed, 1:12 pm