Tag Archives: Blessings

Lots of Family

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I started last week’s discussion of thankfulness with the overwhelming and obvious. I think this week’s follow up is also a clear choice.

I’m thankful for family, both by blood and by choice.

I’ve chosen to live far from my family not because I don’t love them (really, I do!) or don’t want to spend time with them (I still choose to see them a few times a year), but because this was where the school I wanted to go was.

But that was 3 years ago. Why am I still here?

I’ll blame that on my “family by choice,” the people in my small group at church. These are the people I see at least weekly and do life with. These are the people I call when I need a place to do laundry, a ride to the airport, or someone to talk to. These are the people that call on me when they need help around their house or with their children or want someone to talk to. These are the people who see my struggles and strengths everyday and help me see them too.

My life would be very different and less colorful without both types of family. I thank God for each one of them.

How Unemployment is Like Singleness

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I wasn’t unemployed a week before I realized the similarities between unemployment and singleness. Hear me out:

  • You’re in the minority. “Everyone” around you is in a relationship and employed.
  • People look on you with pity/sympathy.
  • You get a lot of one-time gigs/dates. Okay, I don’t really get dates, but some do. I have been blessed with a few random jobs here and there though.
  • Both give you a great degree of freedom. Combined, I could easily turn my schedule upside down, and I’m not sure any one would care. I don’t have any plans on becoming (more of) a night owl. In fact, I’ve slowly been shifting my schedule about an hour or two earlier.
  • They are just seasons of life…neither is likely to be terminal.

See what I mean? I’ll enjoy both unemployment and singleness for as long as I have them!

“Life’s Not Fair”

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All my life, I’ve been blessed.   These undeserved blessings have come in many forms, but one way I have been blessed has been in material goods.

I’ve never had to worry about where my next meal would come from.  I’ve never wondered how I’d pay the rent or figure out when I could pay the power company enough to convince them to turn the lights back on.  There’s always been a sound roof over my head and a warm blanket in my lap.  I’ve never ran out of shampoo or toothpaste or had less than a (couple) dozen outfits in my closet for each season.

Of course, I’m not the only American who has been equally blessed.  Many of the people I know or have known have been similarly blessed.  And one thing I’ve heard them say (and I’m sure I’ve said) is, “Life’s not fair.”

It’s a reasonable statement.  Certainly true.  But is it easier to say it when you’re the one being blessed unfairly instead of suffering?  Yes, I think so.

When we see someone suffering, it’s tempting to say, “That’s too bad” and move on.  It’s the easy thing.  It’s what we do all the time without thinking.  If we don’t get involved, it’s unlikely that anyone will confront us about it.  After all, it’s not “our” problem, right?

I don’t want to do that anymore.

Photo by Alex E. Proimos

The Example of Hannah

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Of all the people we’re introduced to in the Bible, the one I most relate to is Hannah.  In my recent struggles for contentment in God, I turned once again to the familiar passage of 1 Samuel 1-2.

Hannah is a woman who knew unmet longings.  Just like my desire for a husband is good and natural, her desire for a child is good and natural.  She wanted to be a mother: something that as a woman, God designed her to do.

One thing that always stands out to me about this passage is Hannah’s emotions are spelled out for us.  Hannah calls her childless state an “affliction” (v. 11).  It wouldn’t be hard to imagine what a woman longing for a child might be feeling, but the Bible makes it clear:

“…her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her…” (v. 6, ESV)

“…Hannah wept and would not eat.” (v. 7)

Hannah’s husband: “Why is your heart sad?” ( v. 8 )

“I am a woman troubled in spirit.” (v. 15)

“…my great anxiety and vexation.” (v. 16)

Clearly, having a son was not a passing fancy for Hannah, any more than my desire for a husband is a fleeting thought in my life.  In fact, I just noticed for the first time that in verse 7 it gives us a bit of time reference for the events: “So it went on year by year.”  Year after year!  While we don’t know how many years, I’m sure it was quite a few or it wouldn’t state it like that.  During this time, not only did Hannah remain childless, she was being provoked by her fertile counterpart, likely daily coming into contact with her and her growing family.  Her childlessness is being rubbed in her face (something that I’m thankful not to have experienced).

The thing is, though Hannah was missing something that she rightfully desired, she was also blessed.  She had a husband who loved her and was well cared for (let’s leave out the bigamy as a topic for another day).  Compared to many who suffered in Israel, she had it made.  I can say the same for myself: I have been overwhelming blessed in almost every way.  Except for a companion in life, what more do I lack?  But like Hannah, what I lack seems to eclipse all the many blessings.

What I love so much about this little vignette is Hannah’s response to her unmet desire.  She offered herself to the Lord, emotions and all.  Though her desires were a mix of sinful and godly (as mine are…I love that the Bible doesn’t gloss over it’s hero’s–and heroine’s–sins), she brought them before God.  My favorite verse in this passage is verse 10:

“She was deeply distressed and prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly.”

Now this I can definitely relate to.  The good, the bad, and the ugly, all wrapped up together in one sticky mess.  She took her unmet longings and all the emotions tied up with them to the One who could fix them–and her.

And the Lord answered her prayers.  I love the language the Bible uses to describe the conception of Samuel: “…and the LORD remembered her” (v. 19).  When (Lord willing!) I’m pregnant with my first child, I think that’s how I’d tell my husband, “The Lord remembered me.”

Of course, this was likely not the first time that she prayed to God.  No doubt, this was a familiar scene for Hannah, offering up her desire for a child again.  But in His timing, God answered.  This gives me hope–not a promise, but hope–that God will answer my prayers for a husband.

And until that time, I will wait, continually giving up my desires to the One who can fulfill them and use them to mold me.

Positive Day 2009

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Positive Day

Today is the first ever Positive Day in the blogosphere.  It’s an act of Diva Daughter‘s future presidency (I think she’d make a good one now, just she’s a wee bit under the 35 age limit).  In celebration of Positive Day, I’m going to share just a few of the many blessings God has given me.  I know I don’t dwell on these things enough.

* My family.  I’m one of the rare people that actually had a good home life, complete with 2 parents, an annoying brother, and grandparents nearby.  Now I get to add to that a wonderful SIL?  Awesome.

* My church.  Until I came to my present church, I didn’t really know what a great blessing God gave us when He founded the church.  While things are far from perfect, the church (I’m not referring to the building, but the people) is the place where I can be encouraged and sharpened.

* My job.  Hey, getting an increase of pay at any time is nice, but during a nasty recession?  Definitely a blessing.  Doesn’t hurt that I enjoy what I do, either!

* Food of my choice.  This has come to mind a lot lately how incredibly blessed I am.  Essentially, my food choices are an all-you-can-eat buffet of every food in the world.  If there’s something that I want, I can have it.  And to think that so many people today and in history would consider the scraps from my table to be a feast.  Yep, this gets to me.

* My singleness.  Yes, I don’t always see singleness as a blessing.  Sure, it can be a thorn in my side, but it’s also a gift.  There is many things I get to do because I’m single.  I don’t know if I’ll have this gift another year or the rest of my life, but either way, I thank God for it and seek help to use it wisely.

Five’s a pretty good number, so I’ll leave it at that, though I could go on for much longer.  What can you count as a blessing?

What I Learned from the Fire

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This month’s “What I Learned From…” is about adversity.  Immediately when I heard this topic, I knew I had to talk about what happened to me a year and a half ago.  Many of you are new around here, and probably don’t even know about it.

In August of 2007, I had a small apartment fire.  Pictures can be found here, but they don’t do justice to the amount of damage done to our apartment, primarily through the sprinkler that shot out 45 gallons of water a minute (it was on for about 20 minutes).   While cleaning and packing up the apartment in just a couple of days, we had to withstand 90 degree heat (the air conditioner wouldn’t work because it was clogged up with smoke) and the overwhelming smell of burnt oil and mildew (the water was still standing in our apartment for several days).

Yet through it all, I learned to trust in God in a way that I’ve never had to trust in Him before.  As organized and as type-A as I am, I was thrown into a situation where I didn’t know how I would get through the current day, let alone what was going to happen the next.

More than that, I learned that God is trustworthy.  I’ve never counted myself as blessed as I did during those days.  As soon as a seemingly-insurmountable need would present itself, someone would offer to help or provide what would meet that need.  Just a few examples:

We had no where to spend the night – the seminary put us up in an emergency apartment, complete with washer and dryer (we needed those to wash all our clothes that now smelled like smoke)

In the first few minutes we were scared and emotionally exhausted – a friendly paramedic checked us out to ensure we hadn’t inhaled too much smoke while the firefighters completely cleared out the living room, used brooms to get the foot of water out of our apartment,  and put our belongings back inside on tarps

We had so much to pack, both in our bedrooms and in the common area – women from church came and packed up our kitchen, so we wouldn’t have to

We had a whole dining room full of furniture and other items that were ruined in the fire to haul to the dumpster – several able-bodied teenagers and a woman with a van hauled it all out

We needed tons of workers to move our items into the new apartment – the seminary hired us movers so we didn’t have to touch a thing

We lost our small kitchen appliances in the fire – every one was replaced at no cost to us

Every other little need we had – the church provided us with a substantial gift card to care of them

These are just a few of the little things that blessed me those days.  We didn’t have family that lived nearby, but the church was our family and acted accordingly and sacrificially toward us.  Just like they helped me financially in my hard time, I’ve been working on doing the same to others while so many are struggling with the loss of work.

Butterfinger Blessings

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Don’t you just love it when God shows His love for you in the little things? Wednesday I decided to get a little treat while I was at work. Since our little “cafe” was suspiciously closed for undisclosed reasons, I visited the vending machine. It was Halloween so I went for the good stuff.

As I was looking over the possible selections, I wondered why the good candy bars only come in king size, which cost more than I had on me and were more than I should consume, anyway. I decided to get a Mr. Goodbar, so I typed it in. The Mr. Goodbar fell down…and so did a Butterfinger!

I greatly enjoy a Butterfinger every once in awhile, but I refuse to buy them in vending machines since you can’t tell if they are all crushed or not. Another blessing…this one was whole.

I decided not to be a total pig, so I put the Butterfinger in my drawer for later and ate the Mr. Goodbar. Yesterday, I was looking for a pickmeup to help with my headache and reached for some Tylenol. Right next to it was that Butterfinger that I had already forgotten about.

I was blessed with that same Butterfinger two times.

Ronnica
NaBloPoMo, Day 3

Smiles

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I have nothing really to say and no particular reason to be happy, but here I am writing and smiling anyway. There are so many things for which to be thankful. I’m loving my classes which are sufficiently challenging and interesting. My team is winning which always feels good. I’m loving the time I spend with friends. I enjoy my jobs and my work with the children at church. I love that I’ll be getting to be involved with a care group there. God has blessed me in so many ways.

No wonder I’m smiling.

Ashes and Aftermath

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When I first saw the fire, I felt nothing. In fact, I don’t ever remember an emotional reaction at all until 3 days later. Instead, my mind was racing as what to do and what all would need to be done. Even standing barefooted in the dark outside of our apartment without a clue to the extent of the damage, I was focusing on what I needed to do. This is apparently my crisis mode. It was easy to be upbeat about the situation, because I love to do.

The next several days were spent trying to pick up the pieces. We found that almost everything was salvagable, but there was a lot of work to do to get everything moved to our new apartment. I found myself occasionally being frusterated by different aspects of the situation, but it was relatively easy to stay energized and active.

The following Sunday, I finally cried. I was already amazed with the way God has provided through His church for us and our needs, but I would still be blown away the next day. His provision and care was more real to me then than it has been at any other point in my life.

Monday we received blessing after blessing. I think I counted at least 7 major ones in my journal that night. It was overwhelming to see one need after another taken care of until they all were met. I know that one reason God waited to give them to us until 4 days later was so that we would have 4 days of awareness of our utter dependence on Him.

I found it much easier to give praise to God in those first few days after the fire, even when I didn’t know how everything would work out, than I have in the last week. It seems easier to trust God, praise God, look to God when I’m reminded the answers aren’t in myself.

The last couple of days I’ve noticed this inward focus and have made more of a conscious effort to work on my spiritual life. It’s not about trying to earn merit, but seeking to put myself in appropriate relationship with God. I need Him now, not just when my things are a mess. He is THE reason for everything.

Thank God for the blessings, both big and small. Thank God that He not only has provided for my life on earth, but for my life forever. He has provided a way for me, a vile sinner, to escape the just punishment of eternal hell. He has done this through the death of His sinless Son, Jesus Christ, who came to this earth to demonstrate God’s love towards us by dying on the cross in our place.

By trusting in Christ, I am no longer a slave to sin. Instead, I get the immense pleasure of serving the One who loves me and helps me, both now and forever. But it’s not just me–God offers the same gift to all men, women, and children on the earth, regardless of their background. The Bible tells us that God showed us His love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were sinners. There is no sin too horrible to keep you from that love unless you choose to let it. God is offering you a gift, but the question is whether or not you will take it. Will you?

I’m praying that God can use my story to bring others to know Him and trust Him more. If you have any questions, feel free to email me: ignoranthistorian (at) gmail (dot) com.