“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace,” (Numbers 6:24-26).

If we take time to stop, look around, and simply soak in the awesomeness surrounding us, we realize how blessed we truly are. Blessings may seem small, like your boss telling you to leave 30 minutes early because it’s a slow day, or they may seem enormous, such as a biopsy coming back benign (noncancerous). No matter, a blessing is a blessing and is always something to be appreciated.

Sometimes we receive blessings in disguise that we don’t appreciate and recognize until later. Sometimes, we may not realize when others do things to bless us, or we may unknowingly be a blessing to others. Often, we take for granted the things, people, abilities, opportunities, and freedoms we have in our lives because, thankfully, most of us have never had to live without them before.

Just today, I had the opportunity to interact with an individual who was hearing impaired. This individual used American Sign Language to communicate, so I had to use an interpreter during the interaction. Listening to the struggles the individual endured while growing up in a “hearing family” and living in a predominately “hearing world”, made me recognize how blessed I am simply to hear and see and vocalize words.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I’ve been focusing on gratitude this year, and I’ve been journaling instances of gratefulness throughout each week. When I go back and read over those moments, I feel extremely blessed.

I feel grateful I was born in the United States and raised in my small hometown where most of my family still resides. I was blessed with two hard-working parents who love my siblings and me unconditionally, who provided everything we needed, and who stayed together through the good times and the bad.

I praise God daily for always supplying all I need. I’ve always had a roof over my head, clean clothes to wear, and food for every meal. I have a job that supports my financial needs, a vehicle that gets me where I need to go, and the ability to afford all my bills, even when money is tight. There were many times as a young mother and college student when I didn’t know how I would make ends meet, but money would always materialize somehow…a late birthday card or a check from a loved one “just because” or a winning candy bar wrapper (true story).

God is so good! “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus,” (Philippians 4:19).

Furthermore, I have family and friends who love me, good overall health, and many unique talents God has gifted me with. I’ve been blessed with a discerning mind and can critically think and make my own decisions. Life itself is a blessing, and no day is guaranteed.

I could keep going and going, just like the song, “Counting My Blessings” by Matt Maher and Seph Schlueter. God, I’m still counting my blessings for all that You’ve done in my life. The more that I look in the details, the more of Your goodness I find. Father on this side of heaven I know that I’ll run out of time, but I will keep counting my blessings knowing I can’t count that high.

One of my greatest blessings is being a mom, and my three children are the most important people in my life. They are amazing individuals, each gifted with special personalities and unique talents. They bring me so much joy. While they aren’t perfect beings, I still love them more than anyone else on this earth. Even when they don’t listen or talk back or let me down, my love for them never falters. They are my gifts from the Lord, planned by Him before I ever thought of having children.

King David wrote of the blessing of life in Psalm 139:13-16, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

Sometimes, in an effort to make ourselves or others happy, we can turn blessings into burdens…getting a new unaffordable vehicle instead of an older, yet reliable model…turning to drugs or alcohol to deal with life stressors instead of seeking help or lightening schedules to prevent anxiety and burnout…pushing children in sports or other extracurriculars they excel in to the point that they began to hate those activities…calling it quits on marriage because it’s too much work and other things or other people take precedence…overeating because we don’t want to be wasteful instead of meal prepping, saving the food for lunch tomorrow, or sharing with a neighbor who is struggling…wasting quality time with friends gossiping about others…

I’ve been guilty of some of these things before, and I don’t want to be like that. I’m sure you don’t either. Therefore, don’t complicate things. Praise God for your blessings, appreciate and enjoy them, and share them with others when you can.

Rebekah

(Genesis 24; 25:19-34; 26:1-28:9)

Rebekah was a woman in the Bible who was very blessed. She was chosen by God to be the bride of Abraham’s son Isaac. She is described in the Bible as a beautiful virgin, a member of Abraham’s extended family, and a helpful and considerate person, showing kindness to a stranger and his animals.

Isaac, who inherited his father’s wealth and covenant from the Lord, had much to offer his wife. The servant sent to find Isaac a wife in Abraham’s home country traveled with ten camels loaded with goods, and he reported to Rebekah’s family, “The Lord has blessed my master abundantly, and he has become wealthy. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys. My master’s wife Sarah has borne him a son in her old age, and he has given him everything he owns,” (Genesis 24:35-37).

The servant blessed Rebekah with, “…a gold nose ring weighing a bekaand two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels,” (Genesis 24:22b). Once her family agreed to the marriage proposal between Rebekah and Isaac, “Then the servant brought out gold and silver jewelry and articles of clothing and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave costly gifts to her brother and to her mother,” (Genesis 24:53).

While material blessings are great, as we continue to read her story, we find that Rebekah was blessed with much more. Toward the end of Genesis 24 we read that Rebekah was also blessed with something many women weren’t in her time; she was blessed with a choice.

“Then they said, ‘Let’s call the young woman and ask her about it.’ So they called Rebekah and asked her, ‘Will you go with this man?’ ‘I will go,’ she said. So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abraham’s servant and his men. And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, ‘Our sister, may you increase to thousands upon thousands; may your offspring possess the cities of their enemies,”’ (Genesis 24:57-60).

Another blessing more precious than gold was the love that Isaac had for his wife. Rebekah was a fortunate woman indeed because she had a husband who cherished her and was intimately devoted to her alone. “Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death,” (Genesis 24:67).

While blessed, Rebekah’s life wasn’t without hardship. She was barren for the first twenty years of her marriage. However, we learn because of her husband’s earnest prayers, God did eventually bless Rebekah with children. She was in fact doubly blessed! “The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, ‘Why is this happening to me?’ So she went to inquire of the Lord,” (Genesis 25:22).

I want to stop and emphasize this crucial point. When Rebekah was confused and probably scared and likely physically uncomfortable, who did she turn to? She went to the Lord, which reminds me of the hymnal written by James B. Coats, “Where Could I Go (But to the Lord)?” There’s no one better to seek out in our own lives when we need help.

God then gave Rebekah a promise for the future. “The Lord said to her, ‘Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.’ When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb,” (Genesis 25:23-24).

At the time of the births, she delivered both her sons safely (without the blessings of modern amenities and medicine), and we learn the boys both grew into healthy young men.

This is where the story gets difficult. I have never understood how a parent could have a “favorite child,” and I’m not judging anyone who does. Considering how much I love each of my children, it’s hard for me to fathom loving one more than the others. However, I know it happens, and we learn from this story that it was true with Rebekah and Isaac. “The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob,” (Genesis 25:27-28).

Because of her great love for Jacob and because of God’s promise to her, we find Rebekah later took it upon herself, in an underhanded way, to unsure her beloved Jacob received his father’s blessing instead of her firstborn son Esau.

Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, ‘Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I die.’ Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you: Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it. Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies,” (Genesis 27:6-10).

Have you ever been there before…thought you were doing something good for someone you love but maybe didn’t go about it in the best way and made things worse instead of better?

Rebekah’s interference in the Lord’s will for Jacob turned the blessing into a burden. After deceiving Isaac into giving Jacob the blessing, Jacob was forced to flee his home because of Esau’s threat of retribution. Therefore, Rebekah never laid eyes on her favored son again as she would die before he returned with his family later in life. It’s a lesson for us to allow God to fulfill his promises in His way and timing. “The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does,” (Psalm 145:13b).

Even in tough times, blessings abound. We simply need to take a moment to appreciate them. I encourage you to take time this week to consider all the blessings in your life and strive to be a blessing to others. I will do the same.

“And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work,” (2 Corinthians 9:8).

Have a blessed week!

-Becky