Counting Our Blessings

The first of November signals us all that turkey dinners are just around the corner. More importantly, the approach to the end of the calendar year reminds us to slow down a bit, snuggle under a blanket with a mug of hot chocolate, and count our blessings.

In My Thanksgiving Blessings (©2024 by Hachette Book Group), author Jill Roman Lord beautifully reminds children and the rest of us that “Thanksgiving is the perfect time to look around and see the blessings God created and has given you and me!”

This book also encourages us to name our blessings and say a special thanks to God for all His wondrous gifts.

What an important reminder!

I often take my blessings for granted. While prayer is an important part of my daily routine, I am guilty of putting my needs and wants at the top of my prayer list. Instead of focusing on God’s numerous and wondrous gifts, I often go to bed recounting my trials and tribulations.

As Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney suggest in White Christmas, when we can’t sleep, we should be counting our blessings instead of sheep.

Laura Sassi also gives us a sweet reminder in her book My Tender Heart Devotions (©2024 by Paraclete Press). In the entry entitled “Sweet Blessings,” Sassi references Psalm 34:8:

“O taste and see that the Lord is good.”

She tells the reader, “God doesn’t bake cookies or cakes, but He sure knows how to shower us with sweet blessings.” In the same way King David praised God for His safety, His food, His forgiveness, and His love, we should also count the ways that God has blessed our own lives.

In his book Then Sings My Soul (©2003 by Thomas Nelson), Robert J. Morgan includes the backstory for the song “Count Your Blessings,” written by Johnson Oatman, Jr.

This song was a favorite of my parents, and in my mind I still hear my mother’s alto and my father’s “open-letter style” voices. According to Morgan, this song reflects Oatman’s “optimistic faith” and the idea that “it’s impossible to be thankful and, at the same time, grumpy, cantankerous, critical, or ill-tempered.”

Like Laura Sassi’s reminder, this song tells us we will be surprised by all God has done for us when we take the time to focus on our blessings.

Today marks the one-month anniversary of my debut picture book. If you have read my October blog, you know the story behind the story; and you know I’ve waited a long time for this dream to come true. I have honestly not been comfortable tooting my own horn to promote this book.  I’ve had doubts, and I’ve also struggled with counting these book blessings.

I have often wondered about God’s timing, and I have questioned why everything couldn’t work out the way I had envisioned. When reviews started coming in, however, I realized I had been truly blessed by unexpected connections. When one former student from twenty years ago mentioned that I’m still teaching her life lessons, it made me stop and realize that my blessings abound!

November 1 (today) also would have been my mother’s birthday. Because she inspired me to write Look for the Pink Ribbons, and because she gave me countless blessings, I will be donating a portion of my book sales to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

“So amid the conflict
Whether great or small,
Do not be discouraged.
God is over all.
Count your many blessings
Angels will attend.
Help and comfort give you
To your journey’s end.”

“Gratitude lifts our eyes off the things we lack so we might see the blessings we possess.”—Max Lucado

“Although the faithful will face tough times, in the end, their lives will be blessed.”–Amy Parker

“When we lose one blessing, another is often most unexpectedly given in its place.”—C. S. Lewis

“To multiply your joy, count your blessings.”—J. B. Priestley

“Always look for pink ribbons and the beauty of God’s world around you.”—Joyce McCullough

Romans 15:13; Philippians 4:19; James 1:17; Ephesians 1:3; Numbers 6:24-26; Proverbs 28:20