Counting Your Blessings

As I sit and reflect on my previous entries (and entries from my other blog), I start to feel guilty for even attempting to complain about my life. Who am I to complain? (I’m sure you’ve asked the same thing about me)

I left for lunch today at 1:30. I walked the steep hill to my new car, I got it, put the car in drive and drove to Mellow Mushroom to pick up an order I placed. As I was driving off, I said ‘Thank you, God’. I was thanking Him for my ability to buy food … then it hit me … I should have been thanking Him for EVERYTHING I have.

So many times we get caught up in the drama of our lives. So many moments we complain and despair about the lacking aspects of our lives. So much of our time is spent on whining and wishing for more. When is what you already have enough?

I am truly and ENORMOUSLY blessed … and I shouldn’t be … I’m a heathen. I’m a woman who has, at one point, complained about EVERY aspect of her life. And for what? Individuals would kill for the life I have. I’m in graduate school. I have my independence. I have a family that loves me. I have great friends. I have a decent job. And yet, because I don’t have what I want just yet I dismiss all the other ‘goods’ and complain about that one ‘bad’ aspect of my life.

Sometimes I leave class at night in the bitter cold ... and even with a pea coat on the coolness shoots through my body. What about those people who don’t have a coat … period? I have a roof over my head. What about those individuals on Courtland Street sleeping in a parking lot on concrete? I have food in my pantry and fridge. What about the people who dig through the trash can near Georgia State University in search of scraps we’ve thrown away? I have a college education. What about people who don’t even have a high school diploma or GED due to circumstances beyond their control? And that’s just here! What about the millions of international children who’ve lost their lives from natural disaster, disease, and famine? What about the people dying as we speak of AIDS?

God has blessed me (and probably you too if you are able to read this) so much … yet I neglect to give thanks and praise to Him for those blessings. Instead, I slap Him in the face by complaining about things I don’t have, forfeiting the physical proof of the goodness in my life. While I’ve had some unfortunate things happen to me, my life is good … everything is as it should be according to God. And I’m going to let Him continue to lead me. And hopefully, He’ll continue to bless me as He always has.

God, thank You for my blessings. You could have given them to anyone but You gave them to me. And for that I praise You. Count your blessings, people ... you may not always have them!