REJOICING

We went to the house of our oldest son and his family this past weekend. Our granddaughter (Lindsay) is sixteen months old already. Usually when our families are together Lindsay is very partial to me. One of her earliest words was “Grandpa.” This past weekend Lindsay stuck like glue to Eileen. Lindsay even said “Grandma” more than she said “Grandpa”…but who is counting!! Actually, it’s quite thrilling to see Lindsay love on Eileen the way that Lindsay does on me. It does my heart good.

It’s good when we rejoice at the blessings of others. It’s our destructive pride that tends for us to resent or to be jealous of another’s good fortune. Blessings aren’t in limited supply and we don’t get fewer blessings if someone else gets blessed. It renders our heart a good measure when we are not only thankful for our blessings but also rejoice at blessings of others.

BLESSING OTHERS

Many of you know that I have worked with families, marriages, and individuals for many years. Some refer to my work as “counseling” but I usually don’t. Instead, I’m more like a teacher or life coach. It’s sort of like this: We know that the Pharisees were very religious people. They worshipped God, read and memorized Scripture, prayed, and attended to every religious matter, feast, and festival. They strictly adhered to the Jewish traditions and laws. Even so, Jesus was very critical of them. In fact, Jesus said to us, “Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Well, I’m not sure we can get more religious than the Scribes and Pharisees but our righteousness certainly can be better. So, our eternity seems to have more to do with our righteous faith life than it does our formal religion. That is the area that I offer my assistance: I work with people’s life challenges via the faith life.

I don’t charge for my work and neither do I accept reimbursement for gas money etc. I have been offered a cruise, vacations, extravagant gifts, and money as articles of appreciation. I’ve declined them all. However, I have received wonderful cards, emails, letters and such. This past week a new form of appreciation was extended to me that kind of shocked me. A couple that I’m working with told me that they scheduled a Catholic Mass to be said in my honor at their church. I certainly don’t deserve it but I’ll take it!! Anytime someone wants to bless me for any reason or no reason…I’ll take it!!

We have many opportunities to bless other people. We can do it with a smile, a phone call, or an email etc. If we stop and think about it, we could probably think of times that someone did something for us which still blesses our lives or warms our heart. It’s good to remember those times and then look for opportunities to bless someone else. Doing something or being someone for another not only blesses them but it also blesses us.

BLESSINGS

For those of you who started reading the Bible one chapter a day with me a couple of years ago, yesterday is when we finished reading the entire Bible, Genesis to Revelation, one chapter at a time. For all the Christians there are in the world, most of them never read the complete Bible; most rarely read it at all on their own. Reading one chapter a day will get you through the Bible in due time but at least you will have read it. On the other hand, at your current rate, will it ever get read?

We all have our challenges and I certainly have mine. Yet, I try not to focus on the challenges. Instead, I try to stay focused on the blessings. We can’t always obtain peace externally in our lives but we can achieve internal peace. Being thankful and reminding ourselves of our blessings, big and small, keeps our hearts supple and gives us a healthy dose of inner peace. So, despite my challenges, I live a life filled with blessings. Invariably though about the time that I feel so humbled by our blessings, I’m reminded that it can get even better.

While our son was traveling with work, his wife and daughter (15 month old Lindsay) were going to stay with her sister’s family in Ft. Walton. She was going to spend a couple of evening with us. However, her sister’s kids got sick and so our daughter-in-law and Lindsay stayed with us for the entire week. We had a grand time and the interaction with our granddaughter was very heartwarming. We enjoyed our daughter-in-law too; I want to be sure to say that!! However, there is a little place in the heart that lights up with a grandchild, that I didn’t even know was there. While the cold weather has laid siege to my arm, my heart is warmed by our many blessings.

CHALLENGES

I’m not sure that I can tell you anything new about my health status. The way I feel is predictably unpredictable although there are a few constants. This past week has been mostly noted with marked nausea. I had to pull over a few times while driving because of the sickness and have spent some extra time in bed. Some of my nausea comes from the oral chemo, Gleevec, while some of it comes from my arm pain. I try not to let it slow me down too much but it does win sometimes. I’m also back to almost full strength on the pain killers and it adds to my fatigue.

But speaking about nausea, I have a friend who is fighting her own battle with chronic pain. Her pain is primarily with severe headaches that are resistant to treatment. The relentless pain also gives her nausea.

One doesn’t have to look around too far to see a lot of people facing all kind of challenges. I received an email from a guy who lost his job. I was inspired by his attitude and his plan of action. We can’t always avoid the challenges we face but we can choose the attitude we have with the challenge. Granted, the longer the challenge persists then the harder it can become to maintain a healthy attitude. Yet, a bad situation is made miserable by a bad attitude. Even if we don’t face tough challenges, I’m sure we know someone who is. It’s good to not only maintain a good attitude ourselves but to also help spread a little love, hope, and joy to those facing challenges in their lives.