Blessed

Last Sunday, our pastor was preaching on The Beatitudes to conclude his series on the Road to Recovery.

Somehow, my mind wandered a bit and and I began thinking about how blessed I am. This is what I was reading:

1Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them saying: 3"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. 10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

-The Message

Now my Bible I take to church with me is a parallel text (NIV & The Message). I like to have it with me because frankly, sometimes I just need to read it in different words.

Often I tend to notice the things that are going quite so perfectly in my life. The stupid dishes are dirty. I didn't fold the laundry and now all the clean clothes are too wrinkled to wear. We stay too busy during the week and never see each other. The organic food store is closed and I really don't want to drive all the way to Orlando just to buy food. My black car with black leather interior doesn't have rear air conditioning and my baby is slowly sweating to death.

Now I'm not being persecuted, I'm not being pushed to the end of my rope. In fact, in the grand scheme of things, my life is amazing. Why is it so difficult to constantly know that?

I mean, seriously.

I have dirty dishes because I had food to put on those dishes to dirty them. The laundry didn't get folded and put away immediately because we have plenty to wear and didn't need the others. We are involved in our community and church and have things to do at night. There are local stores that sell organic and/or natural foods, just not everything I seem to think I need. I have a nice car to drive, it isn't broken, it runs well, and has air conditioning--and I have a sweet little baby to sit in the back of the car.

I know I am the Queen of overlooking Thanksgiving to hurry and get to Christmas, but the truth is, I love the Thanksgiving holiday. We have the most AMAZING food, it is one of the few times a year I get to see my twin cousins (Matt & Jenne) and my Aunt and Uncle. It's a nice time with family.

While I may still continue to put up my Christmas decor a tad bit early, as Ansleigh grows up, I want her to know what Thanksgiving is about, and by that, I do not mean the Pilgrims and the Indians. I want her to know how blessed we are and how we should thank God for that. I want her to be thankful for all the amazing food she gets to eat. To be thankful she has a family (and extended family) that adores her. I want her to learn to give thanks, and the way she is going to learn that is from me, her mommy (yes, of course, and Anthony too).

Have a blessed and Happy Thanksgiving!