So I know I've been talking a lot about food lately, and that's all fine and dandy. I mean, I miss choosing what I want to eat on a daily basis. So you've heard about it, ad naseum. And you may hear about it for the next 22 days. But today I really got a reality check.
I attend a women's Bible study on Friday mornings. It's such an amazing group, filled with women of wisdom, and women of compassion, just the best group you could find. It's not big, it's not fancy, but what it is, is familial. I feel like I know many of the women in the group. I'm not just a number, but a vital member.
Our current study is on blessings. Specifically on Eucharisteo, which for those of us who are not familiar with the term is defined as 1.To be greatful, to feel thankful 2.To give thanks. I have kind of been muddling along this session. It's our last session and only 5 weeks long, and I missed 2 weeks due to my kiddos being sick. I haven't connected with the woman who wrote the studies, haven't been doing the homework, just been having a really BLAH time. But I went today to see the ladies, my friends. From the ladies who are my age, like Stephanie & Vanessa, or the friends my mother's age like Lana & Donna, to the wonderful women my grandma's age such as Phyllis & Eileen. And I am so thankful for them. So, so, very thankful for their kind, listening ears, their warm embraces, the looks, the support.
One of the amazing things this study has allowed us to do that others haven't is to have time to talk. The other studies we did had long videos, so our discussion time was always short. But today we talked and talked. I shared the worry I have about my father, about how I wish he would come and live with me, about how he feels as though he would be a burden. And I told them how much I longed for family, real family nearby. How I wished my daughters could really get to know their grandparents, and how having him here would lift a burden, instead of placing one on me. I couldn't stop sharing. And once I did, I apologized, as what I said had nothing to do with blessings and thankfulness. One of the ladies spoke up, and she said that it was a blessing, and it did have to do with gratitude. And another spoke of her undying desire never to burden her children, and explained how my dad must feel. Yet another asked if I had told my father about the feelings I had, about how strongly I wished for him to be with us. And in that moment I counted many blessings. I counted the face of each woman in the room, I counted Clay Church, who hosts the study. I counted my husband, who works so hard so that I can be home during the day and attend the study. On and on and on, the blessings built upon each other until I was filled with them, with the love of Christ, with the blessings that he pours upon me daily. And I realize no matter how much I may complain, I truly live a magical life. And in that moment I just prayed, for God to remind me when I was feeling like complaining about my lot in life, that I was surrounded, literally surrounded by blessings everywhere.
I don't know what God has in store for me next, but I know I will go into it with open hands. I will accept the love and blessings he extends to me, and use them to bless others in any way I can.
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