Counting Your Blessings

Many times we hear people say how they count their blessings. Have you ever really listened to what exactly they consider blessings to be? I never paid any attention to this and always thought it was nice whenever anyone acknowledged thanks for their blessings, no matter what they considered them to be.

An incident took place this past Thanksgiving, which touched my heart tremendously. At the start of the Thanksgiving dinner, the hostess suggested that each person say a few words about what they are thankful for and the first person started off by saying how blessed she is to have a wonderful husband, a beautiful home, good children, a new car, and lots of money. Others followed suit with similar items on their list. Then a woman, 76 years of age, who was widowed at the young age of 42, lost her son to cancer when he was only 38, lives on a very fixed income in a tiny cottage behind her brother's house, never had a new car or lots of money, but has always held on to her faith, began to speak. If you didn't already know this wonderful human being, you would wonder what it is that she could possibly give thanks for. With her warm, genuine, positive, and always happy personality, she said that she was so very thankful that she was blessed with the time allowed for her to spend with the most wonderful man she had ever met and then to be given the precious gift of such a good son even if they both had to be taken from her sooner than expected. She went on to say she appreciates having a good daughter, a roof over her head, good health, good friends, and enough to get by. There was a lull filled with silence after she spoke and I can't help but wonder what everyone's thoughts might have been.

Thinking back to when I was much younger, I remember when acquiring all kinds of material things were blessings in my eye. As I get older, though, I do look at things differently and I'm sure this is how it must be for most people. There is no right or wrong answer as to what should constitute a blessing in someone's life. I am just more aware of this topic now and how it might relate to the age bracket the person is in. Next time you hear someone talk about their blessings, you'll find it interesting as to what they say and what age they are. I'm finding that the older a person gets, the more it is that material things don't rank as high on their list as does good health, happiness, and good friends.

As for myself, one of the biggest blessings in my life has been my mother. I have always learned great things from her and continue to do so. You see, I am proud to say that my mother is the 76-year-old widow I spoke of.