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/.
