Counting Our Blessings

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 – Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. (NIV)

It was Thanksgiving, but I was having a hard time finding something for which to be thankful. It hadn't been a good year, and, as a child of nine, I was struggling with the fact that we had to move away from family in order for my father to find work.

My mom was thanking God for an abandoned apple tree laden with luscious fruit that she had discovered on one of our walks. To her, this was God's way of providing for us, and soon she had us filling our toques with apples for the pies that she would make when we finished our walk. My father was thanking God for the chicken our new neighbour brought us. It was meat for the table, something he'd rarely been able to provide since he shattered his leg in a nasty fall and hadn't been able to work for months.

My brother and I talked about what our prayer of thanksgiving should include. "Not dinner," I stated emphatically, "I don't want to thank God for Becky." We'd become friends with the farmer's hens, and had named the speckled one Becky. Now she was missing, and we were sure she was going to be part of our Thanksgiving meal.

"What about thanking God for our cat?" my brother asked.

"We could do that," I agreed. Our father had objected to the idea of us having a family pet, until the day he discovered a family of mice having lunch on his prized sheet music.

Sometimes because of trials in our lives, it is easy to overlook the blessings God has given us. However, when we become aware that God cares for even the tiny details, we will soon be counting many blessings.

Prayer: God, today we'd like to say "thank You" for Your tender care and Your many blessings. Amen.

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