Counting Blessings: When Life Forces You to Reevaluate What You Have

Growing up in a small country church, I learned very quickly to appreciate all of the old hymns.

One of my favorites has always been "Count Your Blessings." I really like what it encourages each of us to do.

When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed,

when you are discouraged thinking all is lost;

Count your many blessings, name them one by one,

and it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

One of the reasons that song really sticks in my head is a story I heard a few years ago. Whether it is true or an urban myth, I'll never know. I don't really care either - I just like the story.

It seems that a musician went to a leper colony to lead music in revival services. He decided one night to ask for requests. One woman in the back raised an arm and shouted out "Sing 'Count Your Blessings'!"

The man craned his head to get a good look at the woman making the request and what he saw made him cringe.

The woman was very badly afflicted by leprosy. Her face was so disfigured that the man could barely look at her. The arm she had raised was merely a stump - her fingers and part of her hand had already been taken by the leprosy. The rest of her body bore similar scars.

The one thing that really struck the man, though, was the brilliant smile shining from what was left of her face.

He wondered how someone in such a condition could possibly be wanting to sing "Count Your Blessings."

What blessings does she have, that she can thank God for?

I have often found myself wondering the same. Sometimes when I'm feeling sorry for myself or looking at all of the negatives around me, I wonder how I can possibly count my blessings.

Just recently, God gave me good opportunity to see the blessings I should count - and be thankful for.

Our oldest child, son Kage was recently very sick with the stomach flu. So sick that he wound up in the emergency room. He couldn't stop vomiting and wasn't eating or drinking. We could see that he was getting sicker by the minute.