New Year

It’s a new year, a new you…right? Isn’t that what is supposed to happen? The new year comes along, and it’s supposed to be a chance to start over and make things better, or so they say. Honestly, 2016 has started out pretty rough for me! So far, my husband injured his finger, my mother-in-law fell and broke her femur, my husband got an infection in his eye, our dog died and the very next day my parents were in a car accident that sent my mom to the ER. So far, we’ve made three trips back to Kerrville, only one of them was planned. We don’t usually make it back home that many times in a six month period – AND IT’S ONLY JANUARY!!!

I know I am not the only one who feels that it would be so very easy to get caught up in all the negative and let it overwhelm me. I see the posts everyday on Facebook, in the news, and hear it from the patients who come into my office – 2016 and life in general have been rough for so many people. James 1:2 says we should “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”  In the middle of all these trials, I have had to be intentional about finding joy and the only way we’ve been able to do it is to keep focused on the One who loves us more than we could ever imagine and count the blessings these experiences have brought.

1.   Although, I would never have wished a broken leg on my mother-in-law, I am so thankful that we were able to go and be with her. We were able to spend some real quality time with her, which is something we don’t get to do often. It also gave us a chance to see a different side to her relationship with her boyfriend. It was reassuring to witness how much he cares about her. I’m thankful she has someone who cares about her and is willing to be there for her when we can’t be.

2.   I’m not sure what blessing the injured finger brought – perhaps that is one that God will reveal in the future. However, Larry was blessed by the fact that the infection was limited to one eye and that it is healing. The rest of the family was blessed by the fact that although it was contagious, no one else got it. J

3.   Although we loved Murphy, our dog, very much he was old and was suffering. He died in his sleep and is no longer suffering.

4.   The wreck – you wouldn’t think it, but there are many blessings here. First off, my mom is okay. She has a concussion, whiplash, a huge knot and an abrasion on her head but she is alive! It was an elderly man who hit them. Evidently, he was having some sort of medical issue. His blood sugar was extremely low and he had evidently blacked out. He does not even remember hitting them. His car ended up in a tree-filled field, with rebar and utility poles, but he managed to miss hitting any of them. His car was finally stopped by a large rock planter at the top of an incline – so he had already started slowing down. He too was taken to the ER. When mom left the ER she asked about him and was told that he was stable. There are so many other ways this could have played out all with much worse outcomes. God was definitely in control!!

5.   Larry and I are both blessed with very understanding employers who have allowed us the unplanned and spur of the moment time we needed to be with our families. We are also blessed by other family members who are just a phone call away and willing to go the ER to be with our parents until we could get there. I personally count my brother and sister-in-law as a double blessing. They’ve stayed with my parents this week to help out and keep an eye on them. They’ve even called me to tattle-tell when needed. Knowing they are there made it so much easier to come back and take care of our responsibilities here.

There are lyrics to a song that keep running through my mind: “Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your blessings and see what God has done.” I encourage you to in the midst of your trials to count your blessings. God is so good at providing for us but sometimes we are so caught up in ourselves that we don’t take the time to see it. In those times we need to take our focus off the problems and put it back on the problem solver.

Hebrews 12:1-3 “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.³ For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.”

1 John 5:4 “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith.”

Keep the faith, count your blessings, know that you are never alone and hold strong to the promise that as a child of God, you are an overcomer!

 

Written by Brenda Johnson