So, what in the world is a "blessings blog"? In all truthfulness, I don't myself know. I think I have been searching for a method to be more systematic about recognizing the blessings in my life each day, perhaps not commentating as I notice them throughout the day to the nearest set of ears or burying myself in a journal (which I have tried for many years but put too much pressure on myself to record and forget to experience), but letting my mind and heart rest peacefully at the end of the day with the weightlessness of God's grace.
Thanksgiving's imminence actually catalyzed this endeavor as I decided to post on Facebook each day of Thanksgiving week with a daily status of things I was thankful for. All originating from today, as I coasted down the highway, realizing, holy wow, it's November in Minnesota and I'm warm in my jacket?! "Today I am thankful for driving with the sunroof open and hearing '10,000 Reasons' on this glorious November afternoon," I posted. Day one of thanksgiving for Thanksgiving, check.
But the first spark of this project was one of the assignments in an online bible study I did with the book Unglued by Lisa TerKeurst. The bible study challenged its followers to better understand what makes us come "unglued" and recognize how "God gave us emotions to experience life, not destroy it!" (Here's a plug: you can purchase the book here - I would recommend it!) One night, our homework was to make a list of everything we were thankful for that day. Even if you do not write your list down, simply intentionally seeking the beauty, fortune, opportunity, and love you saw and received that day is an incredible process.
Fast-forward a couple of weeks, and the I-should-really-write-these-things-down-every-day thread had wormed its way back to the front of my consciousness. Maybe I'll just make a new journal. But good luck with that, I thought, considering how many quarter-filled journals occupy a shelf in my closet because the cover or a particularly pivotal time in my life got me all jazzed about journaling again. I wanted something more sustainable, a longer-term spirit of gratefulness that really should last beyond a holiday prayer and enter our daily being. I will do my best to post each day with gratitude for the blessings I have received, and there maybe even some bonus thoughts and reflections. As the song on shuffle while I write has tobyMac asking me, "If you gotta start sometime, why not now?", tonight is the night. I know it is not the day of official Thanksgiving, but the writing bug has caught hold and isn't letting go just yet.
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