Count your blessings - it's easy enough to do when things are going
well - although we probably don't do it often enough. We recognize God's grace and thank him for all the good he has
bestowed on us.
But what about the struggles, hardships and losses? Are there
blessings to be found during these difficult times? We may have to look a little deeper, but sometimes there are blessings
that we will only find through the dark times.
Our family lost two loved ones in the same year. It was a difficult
time, but we were blessed as our relationships grew deeper and stronger than ever before as we supported one another through
this period. It took a bout of illness to reopen my eyes to the blessings of the extraordinary kindness of friends who
reached out to help. I worked for a while in a job setting that was terrible. But that experience blessed me with
new and deeper insights about myself, and eventually led me to Parish Nursing.
The next time that I go through a dark period, I will look a little
deeper to try to find the hidden blessings in that experience. Something beneficial lies behind all that happens.
As we prepare for Lent, let us remember that the blessing of the Good Friday cross lies in the joy of the Easter Sunday resurrection.
