Even if.....

Always been one to "count my blessings" even in the hard times. It's a good exercise and helps you see the silver lining.

But when a hard time lasts for awhile and has a ways to go yet? Counting blessings can become a drag.

It's even harder when you are discouraged.

Trying to look for blessings when you're in a black fog? It's tough! Like swimming up-stream and I don't even know how to swim!! . Makes my list not so much about my blessings but all the things that are going wrong. Sometimes that list seems longer than my blessing list.

That doesn't do much for lifting my spirits.

Had a devotional given to me called "Jesus Calling". It's real good, uplifting, helpful. Yesterday it had a line that hit me. I going to paraphrase it.  When life throws troubles at you, just whisper "I trust you, Jesus" and rest in the fact that He does know and will help you through it.

Thought that would be a great  line to start the New Year with. So I posted the words "I trust you, Jesus" in a few places around the house. Worked like a charm yesterday. Well, yesterday was a good day and to be honest I don't think I noticed the notes.

But today, it's been snowing for the third day in a row. You know how much work it is to move piles and piles of snow? I learned something new that I didn't know before. Snow blowers come in different sizes. Duh. Of course they do. And ours isn't Penetang size apparently. :(  Now it's clunking and banging and who knows how much longer it'll last. And winter is just starting.

Have you heard that our new house has a sieve for a basement? Yeah, so we really want to keep the snow away from the house so that come spring we don't have an indoor pool. The snow is already past my knees. How do we keep that much snow away from the house with a snow blower that is dying?

So today, while I listened to the clunking and banging of the snow blower.....my eyes fell on the post-it-note in the kitchen "I trust you, Jesus"   Right, trust in the troubles. Gotta do that.

Well, it was a long two hours listening to that "too-small-for-Penetang" snow blower labour it's way through today's snow offering. So it was a good job there was also a post-it-note in the dining room. And in the hallway. And in the washroom.

Trust in the hard times. This just-beginning-winter, watching the snow come down, realizing that it'll trickle (or gush) into the basement come spring and knowing that there is absolutely nothing that we can do until summer...well, it seems to qualify as a "hard time".

And post-it-notes or not it's a painful pill to swallow.

Then it was supper time. And my blessings started piling up in front of me. Hearty, homemade turkey soup. Crackers that I had made from scratch and everyone was enjoying. Cheese and coleslaw. Tea and warm light. Healthy and safe loved ones. The furnace kicking in without anyone having to split wood or throw a log on the fire....pumpkin pie waiting to be enjoyed.....

Made me think of a verse in the Bible....

"Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines,
thought the olive crop fails, and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen, and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Saviour"

And I figured I could still count my blessings. What's a bit of snow, frozen or melted? We still have food on our table and loved ones to share it with.

Of course I had to look that verse up cause I wasn't exactly sure where it was.....turns out good, ol' Habakkuk said that....and the verse following it was what I really needed.....

"The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to go on the heights."

Heights sound good. Certainly better than this rut I've been in for too long.

Going to start listening to my post-it-notes.... "I trust you, Jesus - My Sovereign Lord and my strength"

Now I gotta do the dishes.
But don't worry there is a note over my sink too :)