Look Up

It's easy to forget to "look up", because there's so much right in front of us demanding our attention.

I was thinking about how long it's been since I've seen a "blue heart", and I started looking for one the other morning while Max and I were taking a walk. Guess what?

Maybe not a perfect heart but a heart, nonetheless.

We hadn't even made it halfway down the driveway before I saw what I was looking for, a blue heart. I thought about how I have to look up in order to see a blue heart etched in the sky. If I spend my time looking down, I'll never see one.

A friend and I have been trying to concentrate on being grateful this year. She's doing an excellent job. Nearly every time I hear from her, she is thanking God for something. She is finding much more to be thankful for now that she is looking for blessings.

It's easy to focus on what we wish was different. I imagine we all sometimes struggle with this bad habit, and so a gentle reminder from time to time to keep looking for blue hearts is good for us. Our brains may be wired to constantly be on the lookout for things we consider to be 'bad'. If that's the case; I think we need to call an electrician to rewire our brains.

We all know there's only one Electrician up to the task. Only the One who created our brains in the first place understands all the complications contained therein. He is able, through His word and Spirit, to help us think rightly. Our brains are extremely complicated, but some of the remedies needed for better mind health are quite simple.

When we look up, praise God, and thank Him sincerely for the many blessings we receive each day, we will find the burdens we carry are lightened and the difficulties of the challenges we face are lessened. This is not new news, but it is certainly good news that is worthy of repeating often to ourselves and to others.

I commend my friend for setting such a good example for me and others in her life. When I hear her praising and thanking God it lifts my spirit and reminds me to do the same. Words we speak are rarely neutral. Words hold much more power than we sometimes realize. Our words can lift the hearer and create beauty, or they can do the opposite.

Let's focus on giving praise and thanksgiving to God which will encourage others to do the same. Once again, counting blessings is a good thing, a very good thing to do.

Count Your Blessings

Johnson Oatman, Jr., pub.1897

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 has done.

Refrain:

Count your blessings, name them one by one,

Count your blessings, see what God has done!

Count your blessings, name them one by one,

Count your many blessings, see what God has done.

Are you ever burdened with a load of care?

Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?

Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,

And you will keep singing as the days go by.

When you look at others with their lands and gold,

Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold.

Count your many blessings - money cannot buy

Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high.

So, amid the conflict whether great or small,

Do not be discouraged, God is over all.

Count your many blessings, angels will attend,

Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.

Murphy enjoys his blessings.

And Max is thankful for a new toy.