Blessed

God has really blessed us. When we pray, we thank Him for "everything", but I don't often stop and reflect on exactly what that everything is. We enjoy so many things that a lot of people don't have - and not just people in Africa or third-world countries... Even people in our own neighborhood don't have some of the things we are blessed with. Our house, Paul's job (and mine too!), two beautiful and healthy boys, a church family we love, food to eat, and enough money to be able to do some extras, and not just merely scrape by.

On a separate note, I read this yesterday, and it just spoke to me. Even though the passage doesn't explicitly say this, what I get from it is we have a reason for JOY! We are justified, we are learning by our experiences, we are redeemed.... And we are friends of God!
I hope His Word will bless you today.

Romans 5:New Living Translation
Faith Brings Joy
1 Therefore,
since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God
because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2 Because of our faith,
Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now
stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.
3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know
that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of
character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this
hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us,
because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
6 When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for
us sinners. 7 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright
person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is
especially good. 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die
for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God’s
sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation.
10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while
we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his
Son. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because
our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God."