Blessed
Blessed.
When do you feel most blessed? Is it when things are going just right? When life is going just the way you planned it? When you can’t imagine life any other way?
I have thought a lot about what being blessed means over the past 2 months. Dan and I have realized that much of our married life has not necessarily gone as we had originally planned over 6 years ago. We thought we would stay in our current house for about 3 years (we are still there).
We thought we were going to have kids after a few years (we just found out we are having kids).
We thought we would have kids the natural way (we have a gestational carrier!)
We thought we would stay at our current church long enough to see a child born through making profession of faith (we have to leave).
We thought…We thought… We thought.
I look at the past 6 years of our life and I can truly, 100% say, we are Blessed. Our life has not gone the way we had planned. For that I am so grateful. I am sure many of you can say your life has not gone the way you thought. But does that mean you aren’t blessed?
During this time of significant transition in our life, we know that God is using this time to break us down and build us back up. The Bible study I am in right, we are studying the Sermon on the Mount. This “sermon” would not be complete without the beatitudes. How timely.
Matthew 5:3-12 says:
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you
I have read the sermon on the mount probably 100 times. I have heard sermon after sermon on “the sermon.” You would think I would get it by now. I don’t. Even though “blessed” is a past-tense word, I think it is a call to future action. I look at all those “blessed” lines and am reminded of how far I have to go. God is using this time in our life to work on these, but I am humbled at the fact that God still has to knock us upside the head to remind us HE is God. As much as it feels our life is out of control, in reality it is. Everyone’s is. I still don’t get why all that has happened has happened at once. I still don’t get why God is leading us elsewhere in what is such a confusing time. I still don’t get why God would bless us so richly with the opportunity to have our own kids through Brenda. Tears still fall because of it.
We are Blessed.
Remember the classic hym Come Thou Fount? If you are looking to hear a good rendition of it, check out Jadon Lavik’s. It’ll tug at those heartstrings. God’s mercy NEVER ceases, even though I am prone to wander. More than ever, have I wanted to cling to the cross. More than ever have I desired to sing thy grace because I am not my own, but belong body and soul, to my faithful Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Come Thou Fount lyricsCome thou fount of every
blessing
Tune my heart to sing thy grace
Streams of mercy never
ceasing
Call for songs of loudest praise
Teach me some melodious
sonnet
Sung by flaming tongues above
I’ll praise the mount I’m fixed upon
it
Mount of thy redeeming loveHere I raise my Ebenezer
Hither by
thy help I come
And I hope by thy good pleasure
Safely to arrive at
home
Jesus sought me when a stranger
Wondering from the fold of God
He, to
rescue me from danger
Interposed His precious blood
O to grace how
great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be!
Let thy goodness like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee
Prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to
leave the God I love
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy
courts above
blessing
Tune my heart to sing thy grace
Streams of mercy never
ceasing
Call for songs of loudest praise
Teach me some melodious
sonnet
Sung by flaming tongues above
I’ll praise the mount I’m fixed upon
it
Mount of thy redeeming loveHere I raise my Ebenezer
Hither by
thy help I come
And I hope by thy good pleasure
Safely to arrive at
home
Jesus sought me when a stranger
Wondering from the fold of God
He, to
rescue me from danger
Interposed His precious blood
O to grace how
great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be!
Let thy goodness like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee
Prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to
leave the God I love
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy
courts above
Hi Kristin,
So I know I haven't met you face to face yet but I've known Dan for quite a while. Anyways, I just wanted to let you know what a blessing and encouragement you and Dan are to me. You two have shown such faith and courage through all of this. It makes my life seem so plain and simple. And though that's not always a bad thing, I am always encouraged after I read your blog posts. I wanted to let you know that I pray for you and Dan through all of this and thank you for sharing all of this. I am very excited to watch those babies grow inside of Brenda. I wanted to have a baby right after we got married and we ended up waiting 8 yrs to have one. Anywas, enough babbling. I mostly wanted to say thank you for your encouragement. I love to hear new updates about those babies. 🙂 keep it coming.
In Christ,
Emily
You have to leave? I certainly, certainly hope not!!! Sending you hugs and prayers your way!!!
Diane
Diane – we have to leave our youth group kids – Dan was released from all activities so we have no involvement with them anymore, which will also make going to the church very difficult as well. Thank you for the hugs and prayers 🙂
Emily – Thank you so much for YOUR encouragement! That is crazy that it was 8 YEARS before you had children when you thought you were going to have them earlier – crazy how God works, isn't it? I'll tell ya that even though your life may seem plain and simple, it isn't – it is just as much of a calling from God as ours is. God brings us down different paths so that He may be glorified – your life can do just that :). Thank you for your prayers Emily, for your encouragement, and support. We are so eager to see where God leads us in this process and thankfully it's all in His hands, not ours. Thanks again for leaving a comment and God bless!
He truly is the fount of EVERY blessing! We have him to thank for ALL good things!