A Year of Blessings - January 16, 2010

Tomorrow is Zach's birthday. He will be three and wanted a 'Herbie' cake. It has been a few years since I tried to make a birthday cake for one of the kiddo's, and I had never attempted a car one before. So I surprised myself. I tried something new and it was...good!

I wonder how God felt when he tried His creative hand in making us. Did He have a brainstorming session with the Spirit and Word? Did He have to redo things a few times before it was just right? Was he excited when he picked up the dust and started to fashion arms, legs, fingers, and toes? Did he have to play rock, paper, scissors to choose hair and eye colors? I have no idea! But I DO know the end product was proclaimed to be VERY good. And we are a part of that 'very good'!

Creative. It is what our God is. It is what our God does. And he passed it on to us with His blessing to continue being creative.

Genesis 1:31
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning - the sixth day.

A Year of Blessings - January 15, 2010

The fog rolled in today. And watching it made me feel rather melancholy. I prefer sunshine. Period. But the fog was a reminder that not every day is sunshine. And the fog is very temporary. Give it one good ray of light and poof, it's gone.

Kind of like life (oooo...this thought is deep). We are walking through fog in our short vapor-like lives. But when the Son appears, these vapor bodies will disappear in His light and become like him. (Told you...deep.)

My blessing in the fog is the reality that life in this body is short. God made it that way. And just like the fog, our bodies won't last long. The pain and suffering we experience is very, very temporary and shows the wisdom our God has placed on us with mortality in these bodies. May we never, ever take for granted one day. But oh when the Son breaks thru.....!

Ecclestastes 3:11-14
He (God) has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil - this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.

A Year of Blessings - January 14, 2010

The reason I named my blog 'Thoughts from a Brain in a Blender' is because I spent over 3 years battling migraine headaches sometimes on a daily basis. They were both optical migraines and strange ones that occurred in my brain stem. Together they really scramble my thought processes and affected my body like a stroke would...except the symptoms would gradually go away. Only to return with the next migraine. I really felt, at times, that my brain had been taken out, put through a blender, and poured back into my head leaving me with not only a headache, but trying to sort out every piece of information coming in and trying to connect with memories that I knew were there.

After finding a really great doctor, she found the medication that would control the migraines. They haven't completely gone...but they are much less frequent. I will take that!

So why is my blessing today my glasses and contacts? My eyesight was so affected by the migraines my prescription changed 5 times in 3 years. I brushed it off as old age until my eye doctor connected it with my migraines. Now that they are under control, my eyesight has not returned. So...my glasses were a lifeline to ALL my photography and computer work. And recently I found contacts that would work with all the differing aspects of my eyes. Eyesight is something I took for granted. Now, it is a precious, precious gift from God.

Thank you, Father, for blessing me with eyesight that can see your handiwork in people, my doctors, nature, and just absolutely EVERYTHING!

Psalm 94:9,12
Does he who implanted the ear not hear?
Does he who formed the eye not see?

Blessed is the man you discipline, O Lord;
the man you teach from your law;
you grant him relief from days of trouble...

A Year of Blessings - January 13, 2010

My feline companion, Luke, is such a comfort. Last summer when I was confined to bed, he was right there with me. Every morning while I drink my coffee and study, he's on my lap (or trying to get on my book!). He provides me warmth during the cold, cold winter days at no cost to me...well, except for an occasional head scratching, and there is nothing quite so calming as rubbing a purring cat's tummy.

The blessing of being owned by a cat...I love it!

2 Corinthians 1:3,4
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

A Year of Blessings - January 12, 2010

Five boys and a Mema. We had fun! Eating cupcakes, playing Mario Cart, doing homework...(ok, I thought it was fun), reading books; we had fun! So here's to the blessing of just kicking back and having a good time!

The blessing of being a child!

Matthew 18:5
And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.

A Year of Blessings - January 11, 2010

The SUN!! One good thing about cloudy, dreary days? They make me appreciate the sunlight more than ever! One day we will stand where there is no need of sunlight. Our Father, creator, provider, King will be our sun and He will never let dark, dreary day intrude again. I can't wait!!

Thank you, Father, for the sunlight today! What a blessing!

Revelation 21:23
The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.

A Year of Blessings - January 10, 2010

We had our small group Christmas party today. Yes, it was a little late...the snow is just now melting enough to safely get together. We had food, fellowship, food, games, food, gift exchange, and yes, more food! The gift exchange is always fun! We all bring a wrapped gift and put them in a pile. Then each of us choose a number and from 1 to 17. We go in order and randomly pick our gift from the pile. The catch is, that gift can be taken away by any person who picks after you and then you choose another gift...or steal another person's gift. Confusing? Oh yeah! But a lot of fun!!

I got the gift Jenny H. brought...but not by randomly picking. She refused to let anyone pick it up until my number was called. The she told me to pick hers. (We call her 'Mom' for a reason!) When I opened it she whispered to me, "I thought of you when I found this and really wanted you to get it!" ...LIVE... she really wanted me to get it. What a message!

So my blessing? Jenny. With her precious message to me. Live. What a blessing!

John 14:16-19
...I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever - the Spirit of truth.
...you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
...Because I live, you also will live.

A Year of Blessings - January 9, 2010

All who know me are snickering at my blessing for today. The gallons and gallons of water my friends have seen me consume is...funny. Coffee and water are my beverages of choice for anytime. And as soothing as I find coffee, I find water refreshing anytime, anywhere.

So my blessing today...water. A gift from God for quenching thirst, cleansing the body, dedicating the soul, and as a reminder of the river of life we long to see.

Psalm 46:2-4
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.