A Bevy of Blessings

“Count Your Blessings” was one of my favorite songs when I was a child. I loved to hear the separate alto and bass parts on the chorus. Sadly, we tend to sing it only around Thanksgiving time, but I am singing it in my head now.

I think December 31 is not only a time to reflect on the year behind me but also to look forward with hope to the year ahead. The older I get the more reflective I become.

I always feel a bit nostalgic during the holidays because I miss my parents. I also feel lonely at times because I don’t have an immediate family of my own. However, I am blessed to have a sister and brother-in-law who willingly share their family with me.

McCullough, Catherine, Patton, and Sarah, you are four of my favorite blessings! Thank you for letting me read to you and for loving to read.

I love family get-togethers with nephews, nieces, uncles, aunts, cousins, and casseroles. I wish we could break bread together more often, but I am grateful for the times we share.

I am blessed to be a part of the family of God. I love worshipping, praying, playing, singing, and studying with my church family. I thought of you as I read Max Lucado’s recent book Because of Bethlehem:

“Something happens in corporate worship that does not happen in private worship. When you see my face in the sanctuary and I hear your voice in the chorus, we are mutually edified. Granted, congregational worship is imperfect. We often sing off-key. Our attention tends to wander. The preacher stumbles over his words, and the organist [and often the pianist] misses her cue. Even so, let us worship. The sincerity of our worship matters more than the quality.”

I am blessed to have wonderful friends. Even though Facebook is a paradox of blessings, I am grateful it has kept me connected with some of these friends. I am also blessed with a cell phone that keeps me connected to friends near and far.

Even though I never had any biological children, I am blessed to call several thousand former students in Coffee County “my kids.” You have given me a purpose in life. I am blessed to have been your teacher. (Kevin and Alex, our conversation in the grocery store recently still makes me smile.)

From loss of property, loss of limbs, loss of jobs, loss of life, I know many people who have suffered physically and emotionally over the past year. I pray that they can find hope in the midst of their despair. May they allow God to turn their tragedy into triumph.

According to my favorite author, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering, ‘It will be happier.’”

“Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord.”—Jeremiah 17:7