Unexpected Blessings

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do NOT see.

It's January 2nd and a new year has begun. I was feeling especially reflective at the beginning of a new year. Those close to me know why. I have come to see this month differently and my blog article choice explains more of that. This morning I sit here with an added sense of appreciation. On one hand I could be frustrated on a few external minor set backs, such as having a headache for the second day; however, the blessings our family has experienced over the last month have been so amazing, I cannot be downcast.

We started the Christmas season in a state of circumstances that most would consider bleak and many would not have thought wrong of us at all to complain or be discouraged in the least. I was scheduled to have brain surgery on December 13 for a condition that affects the Trigeminal Nerve which causes a great deal of pain to the face. I finished my first semester of graduate school on December 12, I was also homeschooling two of our three children, though we will have some catching up to do because of the times I needed to take off due to my own sickness. As Christmas approached and my surgery was just around the corner, we realized it would be necessary for my husband to take off work the week of my surgery, because he has been substituting for the Knox County school system, he would not be paid for his time off and with the Christmas break right after my surgery he would be off for a little over three weeks with no income. With that in mind, we had a family meeting with our children and we all decided we would do our family gift exchange (something we have been doing for several years and something we all LOVE to do) a little later when dad got back to work. This is what we were experiencing when Christmas approached for us.

Then the blessings began to spill upon our family. First, our church helped us by paying something extremely necessary. Then one night, I came home from some errands and my husband was giving directions to someone to our home . . . Our children told me some teachers were bringing by some lesson plans they needed to go over with him for some classes he would be teaching the next week. I didn't think anything of it, but I was not up for visiting and went back to our room. My husband came back to get me and asked me to come out and meet them when they arrived, and although I protested, I came out and to my surprise!!!!, two of my good friends from Indiana had come with presents for our kids! They had been emailing Shan because of a prayer request I had given one of them over a month before and their whole small group (that we were apart of ten years ago) had all gotten together and bought many things on the Christmas list I had originally made for the children's grandparents. I watched with tears as our children opened their gifts and we had such a nice visit and were blessed by their generosity.

A few days before my surgery, our landlord stopped by to check in and see if we needed anything and how things were going, he was going to be going out of state for two weeks. We had planned to call him because we had not paid our rent for December, and we knew we would have to pay January's rent late also; my husband explained to him again about my surgery and how he would be off of work for so long and that we would pay him as soon as we could; catching him up even with the fees. Our landlord blessed us so much beyond our understanding -he simply stated that he understood everyone was having a hard time right now and for us to concentrate on my surgery and to get the rent to him when we could.

The blessings didn't stop there, I could go on and on, we received two weeks of meals from friends and we received monetary gifts from family and friends. Then on Christmas Eve our older two children decided that they just didn't want their little brother to wake on Christmas morning without something to open, so they gathered up some video games and CDs and asked their dad to take them around to game stores to sell them. They bought Bryant something for Christmas and to his surprise, on Christmas morning he had some new video games under the tree! That was a great present for a mama, to see my children loving each other so much!

We are still on the roller coaster, as we drove home from the store on New Year's Eve our only running car broke down; we think it's the fuel pump. Each of us has had moments of frustration, you know how it is; you become used to being able to do what you want when you want. I drink a mix-in each morning with a bit of caffeine and I used my last one a couple days ago; without it, I get a headache. Needless to day, today is my second morning with a headache. I know I am spoiled so to speak, wanting to jump in the car or have my husband run to the store and pick something up for me; however, I can't help but remember our landlord or how much we have enjoyed playing the games our friends from Indiana gave us for Christmas, and in the bigger picture, isn't that what it's all about? Even now, as I was working on this article, my husband came in and told me that we received a call last night from a friend from church, she read on my Facebook where I had posted that we were needing help with our car and she told him her husband could fix it, he has always worked on their cars! God is so good!

This next year, I want to strive personally to focus on the blessings, not only when things are going well, like when there is always enough money to meet the need, when there is no pain, or when the scale is going down; but also when its hard - when things aren't adding up, when the jeans are too tight, when stress is high and tempers are flaring, because I think that is when focusing on the blessings is most important. Isn't that what faith is all about? Isn't that what seeing a blessing AS A BLESSING really is!

James 5:13 The Prayer of Faith
Is anyone among you in trouble? Let him pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise!