Counting My Blessings...a reflection on the week from Dan

Our lives, whether here in Africa or back in Canada, are full of ups and downs, stresses and joys.  Cathy & I try to teach Jessica & Micayla to be thankful in every circumstance.  We tell them that difficulties are unavoidable, and encourage them to anticipate the potholes of life and plan their reactions in advance.  In fact, we believe that the troubles often coincide with our times of personal growth.  God seems to use difficulties to teach us that He is in control, and that every day we need to remember to trust and not to worry.  A thankful life is a response to seeing life as a gift from God and realizing that our lives belong to God.  In fact, the discipline of gratitude is probably at the core of what we believe it means to live like a Christ-follower.

 

It's easy to tell my kids all that; the hard part is living that way myself!

 

All too often I respond with defensiveness or anger when things aren't working out the way that I'd like them to.  Or I get stressed, trying to make myself look better to others when my ship feels like it is sinking.

 

This past week definitely started that way.  At the beginning of the week, I was wallowing in self-pity and navel-gazing.  By Wednesday, I reached my nadir, and suddenly we began to experience one encouraging thing after another.  By evening I chuckled to myself, because it seemed like God, perhaps to help me get my eyes off myself, had saved up a bunch of blessings to drop on us all at once.  Here's a few that arrived just that day...

• a long internet phone conversation in the morning with a good friend.
• a surprise package in the mail from SCCC, our church back in Calgary!  It's the first mail we have received since coming here, and included were some thoughtful treats and gifts.  More importantly we found pictures of and encouraging notes from friends back home, people who love us and whom we love. 
• an email from a long-lost friend who stumbled onto our blog and wrote us to tell us how inspiring he found it.
• a late afternoon walk that turned into a serendipitous and heartening meeting with Mrs. Collette Mkhize of the Kwa Thintwa School for the Deaf...Jessica has already described it in her March 29 entry: http://gowellstaywell.blogspot.com/2006/03/hello-from-jess.html

Of course, the reality is that we are showered with blessings EVERY day.  Here in Africa, it is actually easier to remember that each day is a gift: because we are transplanted out of our normal routine and environment, each sunrise, each stunning vista, strange bird call, flowering plant, or over-sized insect is a new experience and a catch-your-breath reminder of the wonder of creation.  Every conversation with a local South African is a reminder of how fortunate we are to be here, and how the hand of Providence has blessed and guided every step of the journey. 

 

Now I just need to remember this when I return to life in Canada...and when I wake up tomorrow!

 

Dan