Monday 12 March 2012

Beautiful Big Blobs of Blessing


A month ago, my husband and I celebrated 26 years of married life. It was yet another milestone to celebrate. Another opportunity to pause, ponder and be grateful for God’s love and faithfulness in our lives. During that anniversary week, we had cards arrive from our extended family arrive every single day. On Monday there was one from my brother and sister in law who reside in Whyalla. On Tuesday came one from my brother and his wife in Sydney. On Wednesday, (the day of our anniversary) a card from my sister and family in Sri Lanka – perfectly timed. On Thursday, a beautiful card from my Mum graced our letter box. On Friday, a card from my sister and family in America arrived. 5 days. 5 cards. A card each day. Much better than getting them all together! Our anniversary lasted a whole week!

It felt very special to have a wish a day in our letter box all week; wishes from family who cared for us and have been part of our lives as long we have been a couple. Not just one blessing. But a week of them. So here I am today blogging about my beautiful, big blobs of blessings as they arrived that week.

We Christian writers too have many big beautiful blobs of daily blessings, don’t you think? Firstly, we have a message in our hearts to share. Even if we all don’t write about it in exactly the same way – all of us Christian writers do have something in common. We have a desire to see God’s kingdom here on earth – it’s so exciting to be part of it – no matter what we write about, be it writing fiction or non fiction; creating characters or sharing from the heart. Each of us have a different calling – but one Source of that calling. Jesus! That in itself is a great blessing, don’t you think?

We are also deeply blessed because we love books and we love reading and writing. I’m sure you will agree that Books and Reading and Writing are three big reasons to celebrate life? How grateful I am to my parents who imbibed in me a love of books and a love of words and also a love of reading and writing. We also have so much to praise God for in this modern world – computers to help us get our stories typed in double quick time – spell checkers to assist us to fix our troublesome spelling – Facebook and the Internet to keep us connected – in a world that is fast shrinking – in fact we can get help and encouragement from other writers in an instant, even if they live a world away.

Those of us who are able to use kindles and e-books can access books at the click of a finger. Even our experiences in life – be they good or bad – are all fuel for our writing and a hot-bed of ideas. Our experiences of God – add an extra spark to our writing. Yes, we all do have many beautiful blobs of blessing splashing down on us all the time. Wouldn’t you agree?

And then of course there’s more! As Christians – God lavishes many good things into our lives all the time, every single day, even if we don’t always recognise them. Bright beautiful days – supportive people in our lives - family and friends who care – fascinating books to soak up – refreshing cool weather – work that puts bread on our table – comfortable homes and a roof over our heads – the use of modern technology – medicines that treat our ailments – the freedom to worship God in this wonderful country Down Under - these are but a few blessings I can list off the top of my head – which every one of us can lay claim to, in some form or another.

Sometimes though our blessings are masked or camouflaged. Have troubles or difficulties come your way? Has a friend let you down? Has sickness been your lot? Has money been scarce? Dare I say that even the troubles in our lives are actually blessings if we but realise the truth? I’ve discovered that God has ministered to me most powerfully when my human resources have been at a minimum. When life has been difficult. When friends have let me down. When I have been forced to lean on Him.

I have to admit that yes, very special blessings have indeed been mine when I have come to Him in great need, at my lowest ebb and then found in Jesus – comfort and hope, beauty and truth, life and freedom. Yes, the troubles in my life have been much larger blessings than my moments of comfort and pleasure. They have helped me discover the rich, eternal blessings I have in God alone.

Today, dear writer friends, I would like to challenge you – and to ask you about the blessings you’d like to thank God for this Monday morning, as we begin a brand new week. How has God blessed you today? Is your book being published in the near future? I praise Him with you. That’s great news indeed! Has He blessed you with a fresh idea to write about? How very exciting! Keep writing! Has your book been a source of blessing to others? That’s wonderful. Are you enjoying your writing like never before? A big ‘Yay’ to that! Has He brought new opportunities for ministry? Always a cause for praise. Or has he blessed you with trouble – so you are forced to lean on Him in a new and more intimate way? Now that is a big blob of blessing I assure you – even if you can’t quite see it that way!

Perhaps today is a day to stop and take stock of our blessings? We have each other – a group of Christian writers – all writing to bring honour and glory to Him who called us. We have words and ideas, books and writing, songs and stories. We have the Source of all that is good with us. We have a glorious hope to cling to. We have Jesus.

I’d love to hear what blessings God has brought your way in the last few days. Perhaps it’s a good time to stop, reflect, discover and give Him thanks and praise for those big, beautiful blobs of blessings in our lives!

What do YOU think?


Anusha Atukorala has been splashing and basking in many colourful blobs of blessing all her life (sometimes in forms she did not recognise) - thanks to the goodness of her Lord and Saviour Jesus who gave her a song to sing and a message to proclaim. Her website and blog is called Dancing in the Rain and can be viewed at: http://anusha-atukorala.webnode.com/.

22 comments:

  1. Thanks for your positive, encouraging blog, Anusha, reminding us of all our blessings. Re my latest blessing, I'm thankful to God for guidance over this past weekend concerning which direction to head next in my writing. Now I can forge on with confidence, knowing God is with me. And that makes all the difference.

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    1. Thanks for sharing Jo-Anne. Lovely to hear God's led you regarding your writing. As you said, you can now freely forge on with confidence. So pleased for you. Rejoicing with you today. :) And of course looking forward to reading those writings!

      By the way, I received my latest copies of Aussie Stories for women and found you too have contributed to it. That was lovely to see. Still to read the book but looking forward to it. I have been contributing to them for 5 years now.

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  2. Too many blessings to count really. Every breath is a blessing. Thanks Anusha. :)

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    1. Hi Amanda,
      Glad to hear the blessings overflow. I have to say they do in my life to. Rejoicing with you.
      Have a beautiful day,
      Anusha

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  3. Great to be reminded about the rainbow colours of God's great big blobs of blessings.An unexpected one came my way as I said 'morning' to a man in the street. We stopped and talked. Into the conversation the Lord was mentioned. What a blessing to share with another the things of God and to give a Gideon's N.T to a grateful man.
    I like the colourful blobs from God.
    Thanks Anusha

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    1. Hi Ray,
      Thanks for sharing your big blob of blessing today. That sounds great. Let's pray that this man will read the NT and find our Saviour through its pages. That certainly is big cause for praise and I rejoice with you.
      Anusha

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  4. Thanks Anusha,
    I like how you write about Gods work in your life

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    1. Thanks Jennifer Ann for your encouraging words. Bless you.

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  5. Thanks for your lovely reminder Anusha. It immediately made me think of the old chorus "Count your many blessings, name them one by one..." It's such a wonderful way to start or end a day - or both - to acknowledge what God has done for us.

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    1. Hi Carol,
      Many thanks for reading and responding. Yes, I do remember that old chorus often (since my Grandma used to quote it often! :)).

      Blessings do abound all the time don't they?
      Anusha

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  6. Encouraging post, Anusha. I receive great blobs every day, small and big. Thanks for your reminder. I'm thankful I'm able to walk closely with him every day.

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    1. Thanks for that Laura. So good to hear of the great blobs of blessing you receive every day both small and big. Me too. And even better to hear of your close walk with Him every day.

      May God continue to bless you and use you and shine through you,
      Anusha

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  7. It is sometimes hard to see the blessings until we have passed them. In the last day I got blessings. I got to see a lovely couple get married and heard a great story about David and Abigail from the Bible.
    And I have also found a editor (I hope). I also found out today there is going to be a free writing workshop at Easter, so there are many blessings. Some I didn't think of until started to write this comment.
    Thank for this blog
    MEL

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    1. Hi Mel,
      Wonderful to hear of all the blessings that are coming your way as we now speak. I like it that you called hearing the story of David and Abigail a blessing. I do agree that hearing from God from the word is a huge blessing. Well done on finding an Editor. That is a big one. And the free writing workshop at Easter sounds good too. Thanks for sharing and God bless,
      Anusha

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    2. Hi Anusha,
      Thanks for reminding us that many of these blobs you mentioned are great blessings indeed.

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    3. Thanks Paula! Bless you for your encouragement.
      Anusha

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  8. It's so easy to take the blessings for granted. When life throws up curses, they act as clouds blocking the sun. But the sun is still there, even though it can't always be seen so clearly.

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    1. Thanks for that Peter. Yes, we often don't see the silver or gold lining and forget the sun is just hidden, isn't it? :)I think we need to constantly remind ourselves of blessings that abound because it is human nature to forget the good and focus on the bad.

      Many thanks for your thoughts Peter.

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  9. Anusha, we are celebrating my son's sixth birthday today. Except we don't have Birth DAYS in our family - we have Birth WEEKS. A whole week of celebration - a little bit each day, just like your anniversary. I just love to prolong the feeling of being valued and blessed. I loved your post.

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    1. Hi Rose Dee,
      Happy Birth week to your little boy. I hope he had a wonderful day. I love your idea of celebrating the whole week. May try that for my almost 22 year old son. Am sure he won't object! And yes, I too love prolonging celebrations! :)
      Thanks for your encouragement.

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  10. Lovely post, Anusha :) Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Thanks Narelle. Many thanks for the encouragement.

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