A Blossom of Blessing

It's been a rough year.  And that would be an understatement. But I am learning that God is a Redeemer.  That the heartache we go through can bring such blessing.   When Heaven Is Silent: Trusting God When Life Hurts talks about this very concept that "Good and bad run on parallel tracks and they usually arrive about the same time."  God is the One that takes those things which we see as curses and turns them into blessings. What I thought would be a curse was brought about to bless me. Like Joseph thrown into a well... a prison only to be blessed and honored at the end.  Those events in life that we think will destroy us can turn out to save us.

I will never understand the ways of God.  His methods amaze me.  That He can take that which is painful and wounding and wrap it up in His love for us to open as a gift.  That the grief could become the gift makes no sense.  But that is how He maneuvers in a world gone bad. I am more convinced than ever that no matter what befalls, His graces fall faster and deeper than the grief, taking root in our lives and blossoming blessings.

My "Word of the Year" for 2013 is "Redeemed".  Like petals that unfold to display beauty, God is unfolding beauty that I never thought would be possible.  Not that the scars aren't there.  Not that my heart doesn't bleed.  Yet, I know that He is orchestrating such grace.

Are you going through a tough time?  Has this year been one grief after the other?  Hang tight.  He is still there.  Sowing seeds that will blossom into something beautiful.  Here are a few resources and ideas as you wait...

A Gratitude Journal...can you list the blessings that you do have instead of focusing what has been taken from you?

To help you with the idea of a gratitude journal...One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are 

 Or maybe a gratitude board?  Or maybe this?

What If Your Blessings Come Through Raindrops?