CELEBRATE YOUR BLESSINGS
November 29, 2021
Prayer: Dear Lord, You have given me so much. Please remind me to spend some time enjoying all that I have from Your generous hand. Amen
Scripture: But God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer. Praise be to God, Who has not rejected my prayer or withheld His love from me! Psalm 66:19-20 NIV
Over one summer my brother Keifer, his wife Jolie and their baby Elizabeth flew out to Colorado to visit us. Keifer and I have always been close. As children, we never fought and when my mom brought him home from the hospital after giving birth, I announced that he was “Mine!” and I have treated him that way since.
I love Jolie, she is a wonderful wife and mommy and a special friend to me. We have a lot in common and have so much fun laughing our way through our times together. Elizabeth is my only niece – so far.
We waited and waited for Keifer and Jolie to have a child. Every birthday and holiday, my kids would say, “Uncle Keifer, do you know what I want for my birthday… a cousin!” We waited and prayed and finally – when they and God decided that the time was right – we got Elizabeth!
If you have ever had company, you know that it takes a little extra work to get ready for them – especially when you have to baby-proof your home. Then, there is extra work of preparing special meals, keeping your house clean and running while you are entertaining your guests. You still have the everyday chores, such as laundry, to tend to as well. If you are not careful you could spend every minute of their visit cooking and cleaning. But remember, we waited for Elizabeth; we prayed and asked God for Elizabeth. And now, Elizabeth lives two time zones away and we do not get to see her – I mean them – very often.
In a very uncharacteristic move, I dropped everything and played with Elizabeth (and Jolie and Keifer of course.) I still cooked and kept things neat but the laundry piled up. I let the answering machine get the phone; work collected dust on my desk for a week while I played with the baby. The laundry would wait; they would only be here for a week. Remember we prayed for her, asked God for her, waited for her and God answered our prayers and blessed us with Elizabeth. It was time to enjoy the blessing!
I think back to how many times I have prayed and begged God for something. When He answered my prayers and blessed me, I hardly said, “Thank you,” much less celebrated the blessing. It seems that once we have received what we asked for we are quickly focused on the next thing we think we want or need. I deliberately decided to play with the baby, to enjoy God’s blessing and soak up every minute I could with her. I made myself demonstrate my gratitude for answered prayers.
When was the last time God answered your prayers? What or who did you beg Him for? Was it a spouse, a baby, a new something, opportunity or healing? How did you celebrate? Are you still celebrating or has that blessing become just a part of your everyday life? My prayer for you is that you would take time, a long time, maybe even a lifetime to celebrate your blessings.
Copyright Kathy Branzell. To connect with the author, email [email protected]
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