Counting Blessings

“Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Living in North America, the season of Fall tends to be a time to look over the past year’s many blessings in life. Whether we celebrate Thanksgiving in October or at the end of November (or both, the pleasures of living in our Community), it is always good to have an attitude of gratitude. This has been instilled in me especially since I joined the Servants in 2016, and it continues to be a priority for each of the Sisters and Applicants to practice.

I’ve heard of people who put together a “blessing jar” where they write out their daily blessings and put them in a big jar. Come December 31st, they sit down and review their accumulated blessings. Christmas 2016, during my 1st year as an Applicant, I was given a one-year date book to be used as my ‘blessing book.” Each day I wrote down my blessings. Sometimes I even illustrated with pictures or stickers. I had so much fun with it that I continued this practice ever since; 7 years later. There are times when I look back on those books to reflect on what happened during those past years and see where I have grown. The book I currently have is called “One Line a Day – a Five-Year Memory Book.” Right now, I am completing year 4. I write in a different colour every year to make it easier to differentiate. I am already starting to think about what colour 2025 will be.

When reflecting on my day, there are simply good days when I find it very easy to see all the blessings that happened. Then there are the hard days when I look back and struggle to find the good in the day. I think everyone will experience this, even if they are not writing things down. I remember looking back at one of my blessing books and found one of those hard days. I simply wrote that I woke up and lived another day. Seeing days like this, I’ve grown in gratitude where I sense God wanting me to be grateful even on these “bad days.” In the simplest of things, I can be thankful to have a bed, clean water to drink, and a roof over my head.

Another way that our Community practices gratitude is by pairing up with another of the Sisters near the end of each day and sharing 3 things that we are grateful for, in the other person, the Community, and ourselves. There have been times when I was pleasantly surprised by what a Sister shared especially in the little things they saw in me. I remember once how my Sister shared how grateful they were for making them laugh that day! My heart was tickled! I love being a comedian!!

And most of all, we remember to give thanks to God for all the blessings and graces he pours down upon us. St. Therese of Lisieux said, “What most attracts God’s graces is gratitude, because if we thank him for a gift, he is touched and hastens to give us ten more.” Again, this is easy to do on the good days, but the challenge is to also show gratitude on the hard days. As difficult as it may be to do, I have learned to thank the Lord for the struggles that I experience. It is the struggles that we go through that are opportunities for us to grow, especially in our relationship with the Lord. It is those times that we tend to lean in closer to the Lord for guidance and for strength. The Lord is there with us at all times.

Recently I had one of those days when everything seemed to go wrong. I had to drive one of my Sisters to an appointment with a priest. Unfortunately, I was distracted and missed the exit off the highway and the GPS advised us that we were now going to be 20 minutes late instead of 10 minutes early. My Sister frantically sent emails, hoping they would be received that we would be tardy. I started to beat myself up internally for this mistake causing the priest to have to wait, knowing how valuable a priest’s time is. When we arrived, I praised God for getting us there safely and asked the priest for his forgiveness for our tardiness.  To our surprise, our delay was the exact amount of time that he needed to deal with an emergency that had popped up. So in the end, we were both blessed by my mistake and still giving God the praise. I love how God honours us, that even in our mistakes, an ounce of gratitude and humble pie can be so comforting and fulfilling.

This reminds me of a line from one of my old “go-to movies” when I would find myself in the midst of a struggle. The movie is called “Facing the Giants.” There is a scene where Coach Grant Taylor tells his football team that they need to give everything they have to God. They need to “praise Him when they win, and praise Him when they lose.” That is a very bold and profound statement that reminds each of us that in all things, we must thank the Lord.

As I look back to last November 2023 there are many things that I am thankful for. First, I am thankful for my vocation. I am so grateful that God has chosen me as his own. I am grateful to celebrate my 1 year anniversary of my lifetime profession to God and the Community. I love each of my Sisters and the work that we do together in building up the kingdom of God. I am grateful for the new friendships that are forming both personally and as a Community. I made many new friendships on my pilgrimage to Italy during the summer. Our household is grateful for the Cornwall Community that has welcomed us and treats us like family. I could go on and on. … Thank you too for reading my reflection. 🙂

So, what are some of your blessings? Are there other ways that you can think of to capture those blessings and give them back to God? I would love to hear from you.