Simply put, we all look at blessings differently. Some look at blessings as a tangible item or an event; ie. what a blessing I got that job or I passed that test. Many look at blessings as what it actually means; God's favor and protection. In death, a lot of this feels like a big lie because we wonder why wasn't our person protected?
I have thought about this, journaled about it, and I've prayed and actually questioned God many, many times regarding the blessings and his protections. In the midst of those painful events, I experienced God’s richest blessings. A stronger faith than I had experienced before. A deeper love than I had ever known. A more intimate walk than I could explain. My trials grounded my faith in ways that prosperity and abundance never could.
I know my heart so much better now than I ever have. I feel the peace and anxiety of the world's problems just roll away. How do I do that you ask? I work on this daily and I work on using the Bible and my journaling and praying. I have been asked, but HOW? I believe, I have faith, and I have hope. We look too hard and too deep to find they how and why, when we should truly lean into the WHO.
I can say I feel blessed. I am blessed that I was Garret's mommy and that I get to continue to honor & live for his short life. I am blessed to have been married to my late husband Jack; he taught me love & life that I get to carry and honor every single day. If I have a struggle, I can turn and ask myself, "what would Jack say or do" and I pray about it and the peace and wisdom comes to me. I am blessed that Jack taught me to love and that I was able to connect with another man to love, marry, and live a life with. I am blessed that I was able to experience a childhood with my brother and learn to grow with him and learn to understand the in's & out's of doctors and hospitals as it prepared me for Jack's journey. I am TRULY blessed and I want you to find the blessings in your life through the journey of life and the people you live with.
Some may not be ready for this; some may not even believe in this; some may be thinking I just needed to read this to understand it. Wherever you fall in this line of belief, own it and let it be yours. Lean into your knowledge of what you have or had and if it's not prayer, journal. If it's not the Bible, find the words in a book. If you're not ready at all to feel the blessings, become one with nature and let it be.
I wanted to bring up blessings in a blog more so about the craziest, unfair, and downright scary and devastating weather we have had this year in the Omaha, NE area. We suffered an EF-4 tornado early May that blew by our house, but demolished others homes and lives. It ripped apart our cemetery where those we love are laid to rest and brought up a new feeling of grief that most of us couldn't understand. But through that all, we were all blessed because in the Omaha, NE area, no lives were lost. We were protected in ways that I've heard people say "I'm not sure how no one died or I'm not sure how that didn't happen or this didn't happen". This week, Wednesday night to be exact; we felt blessed again. We were caught up in another crazy weather storm that brought us winds up to 100 mph and completely destroyed trees, old trees, new trees. It left 200,000+ people without power in the 90+ degree hit this week with no idea when it will get back up and going. I feel blessed that I only lost a couple small growing trees, my family was safe, and no major destruction to houses like the tornado left behind.
With this, I felt no anxiety or presence of fear. Why? Because I have been blessed and I believe that God’s greatest blessing always rests in God himself. When it is my time to go and as I gain years closer to seeing God and my family again, remember that I truly was the blessed one here on this earth even through all the hardship I received. It's not lost on me that I always say we are BETTER TOGETHER because of the blessings we bring each other and the lessons some bring us that in turn bring us the same blessings of peace.
Blessings to you all!