Thankful

Today I met with a former professor of mine from Baylor. She is a very wise woman and has helped me immensely in the past and continues to share her wisdom with me. Today as we met I explained some of my feelings of guilt because of how blessed I am. When I look at all that I have been given and realize that it is only because of God's grace that I have received what I have sometimes I feel guilty. I could've been born in a country that persecutes believers in Christ. I could've been born in the ghettos of New York City where a crack addicted dad beats his wife regularly and then leaves. But instead God chose to place me in the United States where we have freedom to worship Christ. I was born in a family who had all they ever needed. I also was born into a family that encouraged education and encouraged us to get ahead. As a result I have a degree in religion and I also have a degree in physical therapy allowing me to work a couple of jobs. I also have a loving wife and three loving children. And although our family is not perfect we love each other and forgive each other. But as I relayed my feelings of guilt for feeling so blessed my professor reminded me that it was God who placed me where am. And because God placed me where I am, I am supposed to bloom where I am planted. But she also reminded me that I am responsible for the blessings for which I've received. If I choose to spend them solely on myself and solely for my pleasure then I have misused the blessings that I have been given. But if I use the blessings that I've been given to help others then I have chosen wisely. And I am reminded as I was able to bless a couple of people this past weekend that I am blessed for giving. There is an incredible joy that I receive when I give to others and by sharing the blessings that I've been given, I myself am truly blessed.

Pets

Pets are a huge blessing in our life. We were very blessed to buy a new puppy this past weekend. This little puppy in this post replaces one of our pets that we lost recently. My son was devastated by this loss but I praise God that we were able to buy a new puppy to replace this one. Since then he and this puppy have been great friends and they have enjoyed a significant amount of time together. I praise God for the blessing of sight and sound so that I can watch and hear them play together. We often take such blessings for granted. However when I look at my grandmother or other elderly individuals who have lost either their hearing or their sight I am grateful for mine. May we not take these blessings for granted and may we always remember to share what we have with others.

Prayer

I am the pastor of our senior adult group at church. This Sunday morning one of my senior adults called me. He has had cancer and has been suffering from significant pain. He was in significant pain this morning and asked me to pray for him. After I opened up the church I went out to his house and prayed with him for a little while. Then during the church service he called me to let me know that his pain was completely gone. What a blessing it was for me and for him to have a time of prayer together.
I often pray with my church members. Sometimes it is over the phone. In fact probably most of the time it is over the phone as I travel down the roads of our little town. Even though the prayer time may be short it is a blessing for them and for me to have this time together. And I certainly do not close my eyes while praying and driving!
Praying for others is a blessing. Even if you cannot pray WITH them, you can pray for them. One of the greatest blessings is to let them know that they are being prayed for. Sometimes I will let church members know that I am praying for them either by text or perhaps by a card.
I know that when I am in meetings and others pray for me it gives me a very blessed feeling to hear someone lift my prayer request up to God.
I would encourage each person who reads this to lift others up to God in prayer. In doing so you are a blessing to them and by doing this you will be blessed as well!

The Blessing of Time

Today I was blessed to spend time with my son one on one. (I hope it was a blessing to him as well!) We spent some time digging some holes for some roses. I didn't think that he would want to help me. However he was interested in getting a workout! And digging in the dirt near some trees made the digging difficult because of the roots. I wanted to put these roses near the trees because they are climbing roses. They are multicolored roses called Joseph's coat. These trees really aren't trees anymore. Rather they are very tall stumps. We lost all of our trees in our backyard due to the drought here in Texas and possibly Oak Wilt as well. As we dug we got to spend time together and talk about pets. He recently lost his dog to an illness and we were talking about getting another pet. It was a good visit and I hope it is one that he will remember.

As I write this blog I want to bless others with the blessings that God has given me. But so often we think about blessing those outside the family. Strangers, or friends that we find in need. But what about our family? They need our blessings as well. They need the blessing of our time and our ears. To listen to them and to take the time to spend with them. So many children and spouses want our time and we can bless them with this! Take some time to spend with your kids and your spouse. They need you!
As Christians we want to influence our children. But how can we influence them if we don't spend time with them? How can we get them to listen to us if we only see them at night before they go to bed? We need to be involved in our families lives and this requires time. By spending time with them we make an impact on their lives and bless them. In return we are blessed as well!

Small blessings

When I think about all that God has given me I realize that he has given me so very much. At times I then want to turn around and try to give big gifts to others. However that is not always possible. What we need to realize is that we can bless others with very simple gifts. I was blessed to be able to give small gifts to people today. I was able to visit a widow in the hospital and share my company with her. I was also able to visit another widow in the nursing home and shared many laughs with her today. I then was blessed to visit my grandmother. It is a blessing for her for us to visit her. One reason our visits are so important to her is that she has macular degeneration and has lost almost all of her sight. Since much of her joy in life has been lost because of the loss of her sight our company and interaction with her is of utmost importance to her. Sometimes the greatest blessing that we can give to another person is simply the gift of our presence. That is not because we are so important. But rather because they need human interaction and desire someone to listen to them and someone to talk to them. God has certainly given me big blessings. But while I may not be able to give big gifts to others I must not neglect giving small gifts when I can. As a result I was very blessed today to be able to share my company with others. For that I am very grateful.