November 14, 2007

• We are often told to count our many blessings.  This is very true.  But how many of us sit down and reflect on the magnitude of those blessings?  I am not talking about how many blessings that we have but rather how great are the blessings themselves. 

  

  I was recently recounting how my husband and I met and the circumstances of our courtship and marriage.  What a blessing that was and still is.  How great the good Lord is and has been to me to have given this man who loves me so much.  He has truly taken his vows seriously.  In every moment and event of our married life he has not faltered one bit.  The good times have been easy but there have been many bad times and many trials that have come our way and not once has he ever indicated that anything but his total commitment to my and our children through it all.  Not a small wonder is this day and age.

  

  As a mother is is valuable to sit and ponder the blessing of children.  Certainly in general and as a whole they are a blessing and a miracle but we should consider each one of them individually once in awhile.  My beautiful daughter for example.  Her being in our family is a miracle in itself.  She was born prematurely and could easily have been taken from us.  Her advancement in love of God and the practice of virtue is a wonder to behold.  No she is no saint and is far from perfect.  But the evidence of her struggle and her desire to stay close to Our Lord and Our Lady is truly a blessing.

  

  My oldest son.  The answer to my secret prayer from the moment that I knew I was carrying him.  I wanted his father to have a son first.  Not that it would have mattered to his father or myself but what a blessing to have that prayer answered.  What a giving and loving individual he is.  His first and last thought is always for others and always has been since he was small.

  

  My number three son.  When God put him in our lives is when he added sunshine.  May He never take the sunshine from my life by taking him away.  Generosity and kindness are the best words to describe this son and I think that his siblings would agree.

  

  I chose this picture of number four son because talent is the blessing that best describes him.  God so filled him with talent of all kinds.  He can sing like a bird, it makes my heart break to hear it.  He plays the piano beautifully and I’m not the only one who has said so.  He can make an engine hum and he can make anything grow. 

  

  Number two son is a blessing in more ways than I want to count.  He can take words and make them do things that poets only dream about.  He takes my thoughts and expresses them without knowing what they are.  He can sing so that you would want to sit and listen to exclusion of all else.  He also plays the piano.  His sense of humor is sharp and dry like a glass of fine wine, and he has a laugh that can infect a whole room.

  

  When God made my youngest He took everything that was tender and sweet and put it into him and then added a measure of silliness just to balance it all off. 

  Every parent should sit and think of the qualities of their children once in awhile and reflect on these blessings in their lives.  Maybe if that happened more often children would be considered something worthy to have in the life of a married couple rather than just something to help at tax time.  Perhaps couples would cherish their children more than their pets (as it should be) and fewer would be abused.

  Thanks be to God for these blessings of mine.  May I never take them for granted and always consider them the gifts that you intended them to be.

  • 5:19 pm
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