a few of my favorite things...

You are a kindred spirit if you just started humming Maria's song from The Sound of Music.

Anyway.  (I hate segues...).

I find myself making wishes a lot.  Like, a lot a lot.  In light conversation, in joking with friends, in deep contemplation:

I wish I were a better dancer.
I wish this person would shut up.
I wish money weren't an issue.
I wish there were more time.
I wish I were prettier.
I wish things had happened differently.
I wish this person would just listen to me.
I wish they would care.
I wish I wouldn't procrastinate.
I wish God would do this or that.

Perhaps not the wishes of fairy tales, but these are ones I find myself making - daily - nonetheless.  Every now and again life shakes you up a little and lets you think... and it is interesting (slash frightening) what you find.  There are a great many things I take for granted, and I am just beginning to realize the sheer enormity of those undeserved blessings.  And my poor stewardship thereof.  Unfortunately, my daily wishes display my constant craving for all I lack (or fail to do) - always looking outside, reaching out to grab and take... rather than looking at my own wealth of blessings to see how graciously rich I am.  What a selfish punk.

Truth time.  It's at this point that I stop reading a lot of people's grateful soliloquies, because the message is the same - gratitude, blarty blar blar - and I am well aware that our gracious God is the one to be thanked.  Their blessings are important to them, and I am happy for them, but unless I am intimately connected to that person, their blessings have little personal value to me.  (Callous, I know.  Resist the urge to throw stones).

More than that though, I think my eyes glaze over because blessings are a heavy thing.  They aren't gifts forked over to gratify our ridiculously selfish tendencies.  While blessings often bring us pleasure, they are not items given solely to please us.  And just saying, "Gee, thanks, God," in a blog really does not mean much.

Blessings are the gifts God entrusts to us: they reflect his loving kindness and they are meant to multiply.

God demonstrates his love in many ways, but one of the most readily recognizable is in his blessings to us.  They are every variety of his realized grace (the senses, relationships, intellect, community, material possessions, talents, etc.).  Unfortunately, we tend to perceive only those that appeal at the moment, and they usually end up on shelves, collecting dust - whether they be Precious Moments figurines, Great Aunt Ruth, or a natural knack for playing the didgeridoo.

Blessings require stewardship.  And yeh, stewardship means work.  It means trust.  It means investing wisely, cultivating talents, taking time, sharing with others.  It means a new mindset and it means lifestyle change.

Big responsibility.  Fortunately, as Gospel people, we know that we can't do this alone.  God helps.  It's like a dance: the Holy Spirit holds us, leads, teaches, and picks us up when we fall on our rears.  But we are an active part of that dance.  Trust, invest, cultivate.  Make effort.  God has blessed us with the grace to do those things.  So do them!

I'm preaching to myself more than anything... but this has been on my mind a lot lately.  You know that part about life shaking things up and provoking contemplation?  I thought some very precious things were going to be taken away from me recently... things that would profoundly affect my life.  And it is amazing how startlingly you remember the value they hold when they are taken away.  Fortunately, God is a God of second chances... and third and fourth, etc... (you have no idea how much prayer has happened in this vein lately).  All the blessings that I have and that have been taken away have poignantly acquainted me with the great big reality of God.  His love.  His unending grace.

And with the fact that selfishness sucks.  Why be full of myself when God is offering to fill me with him?

You know what?  I don't want to wish anymore.  I don't need to wish anymore.  (Ha, I almost began listing my blessings... I'll spare you since you didn't throw stones earlier).  Suffice it to say that the blessings I have overwhelm the begeezers out of me.  Believe me, wishes are completely unnecessary.  In fact, instead of wishing, I have begun praying instead... it helps with perspective.  And it means lots of chatting with the big man.

God is... amazing.  And I am so glad he loves us.

...

Well, this post started with that title from The Sound of Music because I thought I would reflect on a few things I like.  Blessings, if you will.  Guess I'll save that for another time.  When you don't have stones.

Thanks for listening, friend.