Blessings: Great and Small

 Like many people at the end of the year, I think, ponder, reminisce, speculate, wonder about the past year and the future. I don't do New Year's resolutions because those are things that will never happen. No resolutions for going to the gym more often, drinking less coffee and more water, or avoiding sweets....you know the routine.

New Year's resolutions are those statements we joke about making every year. January 1, we make the resolutions, but no one is surprised when the resolution fails to continue. Even though a resolution is a good thing, it has little value or importance now.

So....I'm going to make New Year's Dedications. According to Oxford Online Dictionary, dedication is "the quality of being dedicated or committed to a task or purpose." I want to be dedicated, which seems more positive, than resolved, which can sound downtrodden (heavy sigh  when you say, "I'm resolved to lose 10 lbs by February).

You're wondering what my title has to do with dedications. As you're looking at the Christmas lights, staring into the fireplace, or peering into the night sky, you may think about the good and the bad that have happened over the past year or several years. To be honest, sometimes we want only the good and never the bad. Yet, if we don't experience the bad,  how can we ever appreciate the good?

As I've journeyed through my vision loss, I've learned many lessons, faced many challenges, found many friends, and received many blessings. Raise your hand if your year has been trouble free. If you raised your hand, we need to talk.

Life is full of challenges, but it is also full of blessings. We know about the challenges, so let's focus on the blessings. Blessings can be life changing, and they can be simple. Blessings can be as loud as a siren or as gentle as a breeze.

No matter how we receive the blessings, they are still blessings. Take a moment and think of all the good things that have happened this year: family, friends, health, job, church, relationships....it can go on and on.

Yesterday, I received good news from the Birdshot doctor. The medication is working and has stabilized the disease so that I do not have to go back to the doctor for 3 months. That is a blessing. 

Some would say, but you aren't healed; you can't drive; you can't cook without help; you can't walk without running into something; you can't, you can't, you can't.... I know all of my can'ts, but I am now dedicated to seeing and experiencing the can's. I can still work; I can still make a difference; I can show GOD's blessings and dedication in my life. If we only focus or see the can'ts in our lives, we will miss the opportunities for being a blessing and receiving a blessing.

1 Corinthians 9:23 : "I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings."

Have you ever thought of your trials, challenges, and difficulties as blessings? Most would say: nope, no way, nuh uh. What's good about those? I found close friends because of my visual impairment. I've shared my testimony of GOD's love and faithfulness because of my vision loss. I've experienced CHRIST's voice during times of darkness and the Evil One's pain. Those are blessings.

For this year's New Year's 2025 Dedication:

I dedicate my morning commute as a time of prayer for others.

I dedicate my challenges as a time to show GOD's endurance to others.

I dedicate my afternoons to Bible Study to grow my relationship with CHRIST.

What will your New Year be dedicated to?

Numbers 6:24-26 "The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance up you and give you peace."

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