Blessings

The words God gave me at the beginning of last year were "Joy and Peace." I had thought this to mean that the year was to be filled with those two qualities. It wasn't quite that simple, however. I was able to have those fruits of the Spirit, but I often had to choose them when I didn't feel peaceful and joyful. The experiences of the year were much about learning how to be joyful and peaceful in the midst of circumstances that are anything but. God certainly did provide for our needs, and near the end of the year we were given great joy in the form of Calla!

This year, I feel that God is speaking "blessing" to me. I'm not exactly sure what this entails. The year has already provided more blessings than I deserve, mostly in the form of visiting family and friends in Oregon. The list of blessings from those four weeks is long: being spoiled by my mother's cooking, lots of family loving on my children, getting to meet nieces and nephews, spending close moments with my sisters, hugging my baby brother, seeing friends from elementary through medical school, all my children meeting my grandpas, spending time on the beach and at the family cabin, bringing home suitcases loaded with Tillamook cheese and other foods..... At one point I felt that I must have used up all my blessings for the whole year, only to have the Lord remind me that His blessings never end.

As my Grandpa prepares to leave this world to join my Grandma in heaven, I am especially thankful for the blessing of the moments I got to spend with him. I knew it was "good-bye." I got to speak with him and tell him I loved him. All the children got to show him love. He held Calla and did not want to let her go. I know that this was a special blessing that would not have happened if we had gone to Oregon a few months later, and am so grateful that the Lord allowed Grandpa to be there for me.

So here I am back in Thailand with a laptop from my Daddy so I can write more again, five wonderful children to love and teach and hold, a home, a ministry, and more. I often long for the next step - to be away from the brick oven in which we live and the moped throngs out our window. My goal this year is to truly seek out blessings in what seems like the every day grind; to be present today. And to choose to be a blessing to others.

For You meet [me] with the blessings of good things;
You set a crown of fine gold on [my] head.

Psalm 21:3