Count Your Blessings

One of our girls has a dad who is serving in Iraq. He was there when she came here earlier this year. He came home and saw her a few months ago, and now is back in Iraq.
One of the toughest things I think that can happen with the people who serve our country is the separation of families. This particular family has need to be together…to take part in therapy and marriage counseling. Obviously, this is quite difficult when one family member is 8,000 miles away.
He tries to be part of the family by sending me letters that I copy and give to his daughter. He is beginning email and phone therapy with the counselor. But these things are a poor substitute right now for the real thing. And the girl and the family are not doing as well as they could in part because of this separation.
Life isn’t fair sometimes. We know that, but we sometimes think that applies to people other than us. And in some respects, we are treated more than fairly. We consume most of the world’s wealth and resources. We are not hungry, homeless, or naked. We have access to health care and clean water. We have friends, family, and those who care about us that we’ve never met.
I know that we could improve health care, and that there are hungry people in this nation. I know people in my community are homeless. The point of this article, however, is not to point that out, but rather to let us who read this know how blessed we are.
I told one girl once, “So your Dad abused you, your Mom abandoned you, and you’ve been in four foster homes in the last year and a half. So what?”
She looked at me rather quizzically. I didn’t say that to be mean or uncaring. I said it to say (and I did tell her) that life wasn’t fair to her. However, she now has the opportunity to pick up and go on rather than let those people of her past continue to drag her down and control her future.
This girl was blessed to be in a place where she was safe, had good food and clothing, a roof, bed, and place to call her own, and people who loved and cared for her. It was time for her to realize that and start to put her life back together, even though she had suffered torturous unfairness in her short time on earth.
“Count your blessings; name them one by one.”
“Count your blessings, see what God has done.”