You Know You're Blessed when ...

It was less than a week ago when the basis of this article was formed following one of my wife's squeaky clean laundry washing sessions.

As I sat with my wife folding our family's clothing, we came across a tee-shirt that my six-year-old son Emmanuel wears on a fairly regular basis.

As I remarked to my wife about how old the tee-shirt was, she quickly reminded me that the shirt, which is still in decent condition, has been passed from my oldest son to my youngest daughter and finally on to my youngest child.

In total, the hand-me-down tee-shirt has been in our family for nearly 15 years. As I smacked my forehead and simultaneously commented on how fortunate we have been all these years, the foundation of this writing was quickly and officially formed.

Many times in life, the blessings we have stare us in our faces so often that we fail to realize how much of a blessing they actually are.

Hopefully, this article will be a reminder to all of just how fortunate - and blessed - we may be in these tremendously trying times.

You Know You're Blessed When ...

You open your eyes in the morning.

You see a horrific accident that you avoided by mere minutes or seconds - all while complaining about the slow-moving traffic.

God blesses you with another spouse, child or friend after you've lost one.

You're in dire financial need only to have an unexpected check arrive in the mail just in the nick of time.

Your feet hit the floor in the morning.

You meet someone that walks in Christ's footsteps.

You're complaining about how cold it is outside - inside the warm comfort of you own home.

You have a job in 2009.

You have no money and barely any gasoline, but your car gets you to your intended destinations all week.

You've kicked more bad habits than Pele did soccer balls in his Hall of Fame career.

You have friends that ask you about your relationship with Christ.

You see your prayers come to fruition.

You've got a six-year-old that is wearing a hand-me-down tee-shirt that was given to him by your now, 12-year-old - who, incidentally, inherited it from your now, 17-year-old son!