Forgotten Blessings.
I know that I am blessed. I have a home with air conditioning and heat, a shower, clothes, a well-paying job, a husband that loves me, a community of believers surrounding me...even as I write this just now, I am realizing that I have so much more to be thankful for that I never even stop to consider. My list could go on and on and on. But truth be told, I rarely stop to recognize the small, large, and miraculous details that God has abundantly blessed me with.
In this season of life, I have found myself taking note of how ugly and unthankful my thoughts can be sometimes. As my husband would say, I get into a slump of seeing the glass half-empty instead of half-full. And if I'm honest, most of my life I have been this way, always expecting more and thinking I missed out on something better. It's a sad way to live, friends.
Just the other day, I got embarrassingly unhappy over the fact that my husband wanted to host several people at our house during a snow storm that we had. My automatic thoughts were that I wasn't going to be able to have a sweet and special first snow with my husband with everyone at my home and that I was going to have to clean up after everyone non-stop and not even get to enjoy myself. Yeah, I know...I'm pretty rotten.
I completely missed the truth that God has blessed me with a home for a reason: to share and have fellowship within it. In my cup half-empty mentality, all I could see was all of the possible ways that it could negatively affect me.
Selfishness is the real problem here. Nine times out of ten, selfishness will be the blockade that keeps you from truly seeing and understanding how blessed you really are. I wonder, do you miss many of your blessings, as well?
Ephesians 5:20 has led my heart in many good ways, and I hope it does the same for you. The scripture says, "Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." With this in mind, we are called to remember the often "forgotten blessings" that come our way that we take without the slightest acknowledgment or gratitude.
Check out these practical ways to help you count your blessings:
Stop in the morning and the evening to write down your blessings.
Take a walk around your home to look at the photos and memories that you have been blessed with.
Stay off social media for an extended period of time. Stop the comparison scroll.
Call a friend/mentor to remind you of what God has brought you through in the past. Be reminded of his faithfulness.
Maybe you have some other suggestions and practical ways that have helped you? Let me know! I would love to hear from you. Just drop your practical ways in the comments below.
words by Joy Payne and photo by Hailey Pierce