Blessings!

In your mind's eye, picture this with me...

Jesus is leaning over the tapestry of life. He is lovingly pulling a thread over here, and then on another one over there, knowing soon the threads will touch and another blessing will be given and received.

If you're like me, you probably think of the blessing in terms of one you have received. Most of the time, I'm not thinking, "Let me go and bless so and so, today." I'm not thinking about the giving part of it, but it truly isn't just receiving. God isn't just handing down our blessings straight from heaven, if you get my meaning. (Yes, every good and perfect gift comes from above... James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.) I mean God isn't throwing down money straight from Heaven. He's moving on someone's heart to give that money. He knows that we will be fulfilled in the giving and in the receiving. Sometimes the blessing is as simple as looking another person in the eye and giving them a smile. They were just thinking they were invisible and no one ever noticed them, and then you did!

This can be a choice we make. I choose to look over our lives and see the hand of God in just about everyday and every way, over the years. As a parent I know what it feels like to give my children and grandchildren great gifts. Looking back, I see that our whole marriage has been a series of amazing blessings that many were asked for, but many more have been gratefully, happily received. A blessing is a living, breathing gift, often working on multiple levels and touching many people at the same time.

The next time you receive a blessing (and yes, that parking spot that's so close to the door when you are so tired and your feet ache that just opened up, truly is a blessing), first of all be on the look out for them, because our Father in Heaven is looking for ways to bless you, and second, be thinking of the giver and maybe sending up a prayer for them to be as blessed by the giving as you are by the receiving.