I can go an entire day and not recognize the blessings around me. You too?
Sometimes I can go two days and not recognize the blessings around me. You too?
Sometimes I can go through a whole season and not recognize the blessings around me. You too?
Honestly, that hurts my heart to admit. And I have a pretty good feeling I am not alone in that.
Life can get busy, and we can unintentionally miss the blessings right under our very nose. Busy-ness is a tool the devil uses to distract, distance, and keep us from noticing the gifts around us. What happens when we stop focusing on the gifts around us? They get smaller and smaller until we forget for an entire day, or two, or a season.
I don’t want to be a woman who misses the goodness around me.
Not coincidentally, the hardest times for me to find the blessings are when I have walked through pain, walked through trials, been in the pit of parenting, in the pit of marriage, or in the busyness of life.
Do I really enjoy disciplining my kids? No. Is it fun? Absolutely not. But the gift here is they learn boundaries, they learn that bad choices have consequences, and they learn how to be good citizens in the world. When my husband and I walk through something difficult, do I always count it all as joy? No. Is there internal growth inside of me? Yes. Is there a gift somewhere? Yes! The gift is that my husband and I draw closer to the Lord independently AND together as we lean into Him. Our relationship is able to reach new depths because of honesty. Did my heart shatter when our adoption fell through? Yes. Did I have a chance to show love and Jesus to that mama? Yes. Even through pain, even through the hard seasons, we can recognize goodness. We can find hope in situations that beg to steal our hope. I call these silver lining gifts.
Recognizing gifts is not always easy. But it’s always possible.
We can smell the freshly baked cookies, see the sky give way to fiery pinks and reds and oranges as the sun sets, hear the laughter in the next room coming from your children, smell the comfort of coffee, watch the butterfly flutter from flower to flower, notice the leaves changing hues as they fall from trees, appreciate the lady in the store who offers a smile, amuse over the baby calf whose legs are so wobbly as it learns to walk, embrace the school children who give you the biggest hugs, see the grandparents waving from the stands, or maybe it’s the sweet friends who check in, the husband who gives a knowingly loving squeeze to your arm and the faithful hand of our Lord. I call these immaterial gifts. Ones we often get comfortable with and take for granted.
Immaterial gifts are different for every person but the feeling of the joy they bring is the same.
I don’t want to be a woman who misses the goodness around me. Because there is “always, always something to be grateful for”.
How do we reel ourselves back in? We SLOW down and intentionally create time and space in our schedules to listen and see the gifts around us. We shift our focus. One person called it a “gift shift”. We remember that there is a gift somewhere in whatever we are growing through.
Lauren Daigle has a song called “Look Up Child” that reminds us to keep our eyes upwards in a posture of anticipation for what’s to come. A person that is looking upwards can physically breathe better and that was on purpose. As we habitually look up our hearts become more conducive with the good and beauty in our world.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable – if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy – dwell on these things.
Philippians 4:8
I will give thanks with all my heart; I will tell of your wonderful deeds.
Psalm 9:1.
Never forget to be thankful for what God has done for you.
Colossians 3:15
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, his love endures forever.
Psalm 107:1
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Let’s be women who notice the gifts around us!
We want to thank Julea Bouma for sharing this post.
Women's Ministry 