Count Your Many Blessings Name Them One by One

I am truly blessed in so many ways. I have an amazingly supportive family, friends and church family. I truly could not be making it through this journey in my life without them. Each day I seem to learn more and more what a blessing people in my life are.


Just in the past two weeks here are the blessings I've received. The day before Father's Day my precious neighbor from across the street Jennifer came over about 7pm to cut my grass. Her husband came later to weed eat. He didn't know she was going to do this. She was cutting my yard until after 8pm in the dark and she did a fabulous job. Then they left me a beautiful fern that I have beside my door to remind me of their kindness every day.

Then on Father's Day I was able to take my sweet Daddy out to lunch and actually pay the bill! Now I had to talk to the waitress who had to sneak me the bill so he wouldn't pay for it but I paid. How crazy is it for a dad to pay for his own Father's Day lunch but so many do because they won't let anyone else pay for it. That afternoon I took my daily nap (which helps me have energy for the whole day) and while I was asleep I was pinestrawed! I had no idea some sweet friends were working in my yard on that hot afternoon. Until I left that evening to go meet friends for dinner I had no clue they were so quiet. I was backing out of my yard and stopped the car and cried. My yard looked so beautiful. I had lamented about the fact I couldn't really keep up with yard work because of my illness. On Father's Day my friend Jenny and her mother and father, Glenda and Richard, came over in the heat and beautified my yard. Doesn't it look wonderful? Freshly cut grass and new pine straw. I was overwhelmed. Jenny then bought my dinner that evening as if she hadn't done enough already that day.

Doesn't my car look great!

But the blessings didn't end there! I get a card and scripture 3x5 card every single week from sweet Beth Green. I was also able to walk each evening and went longer and farther than I have since before my surgery and chemo started. Walking is good for me to help build up my strength and stamina but I'm also training to do the Montgomery Half Marathon, a goal of mine. This past Friday I arrived to work early and thought as I got out of my car that I really needed to wash and clean out my car. Sometimes I pick and choose what I do because I know if I use up a lot of energy I have to rest more. I didn't say anything to anyone about that. About thirty minutes later my friend Bud comes in to his office. He comes back to mine to ask me if he could take my car and wash and detail it himself (he used to work at his father's gas station and car wash) while I saw clients. My mouth just dropped. He had no idea that's what I was thinking as I came into the office. He took my car and completely cleaned it up even shining up the tires while I saw clients yesterday (Friday). That hot day and he took his time to bless me. He said he'd heard about my yard and was just trying to think of something he could do for me and this was something he could do. He even filled up my gas tank. What a blessing! My car looks great and smells great.


As if that were not enough I got to see my cousins the Nelson's who now live in Texas. My cousin Jeremy had earlier in the week sent me a wonderful message via Facebook and offered to do whatever they could to help me out. And I know whatever I asked of him if he could he would do it in a second. While visiting with them and my other cousins the Byroms and my Aunt Doris and Uncle Jim as well as my parents, my sweet six year old cousin Kaiden and her twin brother Jameson presented me with an early birthday present along with the help of cousin Carter. My cousin/sister Kim said Kaiden saw this doll advertised and Kaiden immediately asked wasn't my birthday coming up (its July 29th). Kim told her it was and Kaiden said they had to go get me this doll. When asked to wait until the next day Kaiden was clear she needed to get that for me that day so off to Toys R Us they went. It's the only place that sells them right now. She and Jameson could not wait to give it to me.

It's a Moxie girlz doll which is one of four they have out who are battling cancer and they donate $1 per doll to cancer research. How precious is this? Kaiden also got one for herself because she knows about this fight because of her Sha Sha (that's what Jameson and Kaiden call me). Can't wait to take her and show her off at treatment next week! She will also sit beside my bed to remind me of the love of this precious little girl who prays for me every night along with her brother Jameson and parents.


On Sunday I had the blessing of going to church and receiving countless hugs and inquiries about how I was doing. Those hugs, words of encouragement and prayers of my church family lift me up and help me make it through all this. The sermon was about using your time wisely. How well I understand that concept now more than ever.


My heart overflows with appreciation and amazement at the kindness and thoughtfulness of people. My cup runneth over. I share this with you only to express my limitless appreciation for the love that surrounds me every single day. It comes from people just thinking outside themselves. I have a list in my prayer journal of gifts and blessings I've received since I began this difficult journey. The list is so long it makes me cry at times in a good way. I love being a blessing to other people but I have learned so much about what that really means by people being such a blessing to me. This is only a part of what has been done for me since April 2011. It truly is overwhelming at times. Nothing that is done for me no matter how small or routine it may seem is lost on me. So many things people just do without realizing what an amazing impact they are having on me.


How often are you a blessing to others? I hope as often as you can possibly be. It is more of a blessing to you than you will realize. I love doing this so much I am actually working on a book about it. It doesn't take much to reach out and bless someone. I hope realizing the way this all warms my heart and helps me make it through the day especially the tough days will inspire you. Let it inspire you to think about how to be a blessing each day to someone in your life or someone you encounter who needs a pick me up. To those who have blessed me in my life an extra big thank you. As I said, my cup runneth over.