Belly Laughing Happy and Messy Blessings

I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Ps 27:13

I sat trying to read my magazine in the doctor’s office distracted by their continual laughter. Clearly smitten, the father seemed oblivious to my observation as he talked with her. His daughter’s words were indistinguishable to me, but he clearly understood everything she uttered. A normal occurrence, you might assume, a father delighting over his toddler. Yet this was no small child. She looked to be in her late teens. Unable to walk or talk normally, her round face glowed with a continual smile as she played with her toy, and he wiped the drool that ran down her face. She clearly required constant care and patience… yet, I don’t think I have ever seen a more genuinely happy pair. Years ago his heart must have broken as he heard the news that his little girl would never be normal, and his life would never be as well. I wondered how long it took him to accept it all. Had he blamed God? Did he blame himself? Did he fall apart or get mad? Where was his wife? Had she left in despair?

Yet there he sat--his eyes revealed no hint of bitterness but instead sparkled with delight while their laughter filled the room. Sometime, I don’t know when, he must have decided to accept the life he had been given. And, by the looks of things, he had done more than accept it….he had embraced it as blessing. He wasn’t putting on a show. He was belly-laughing-happy and as proud of the sweet angel who held his hand as if she had just been crowned Miss America.

I want to be like that daddy don’t you? I want to live life… all of it. I don’t want to focus on what I don’t have but what I do. I don’t want to live in what could have been but enjoy what is. I want to delight in the blessings God has given me even if they don’t look like someone else’s blessings. I want to stop worrying about tomorrow and enjoy this day. I’m not trying to be a Polly Anna. I know life is hard, but it is also good. All of us have something, and most of us have many things, to be thankful for. Sometimes we have to look a little harder to see them, but they are there. The problem is we are so busy trying to fix life we miss the blessing right in front of us….messy that it might be.

Prayer, Father, thank you for surrounding me with blessings. Help me to see them. Help me to enjoy them. Thank you for trusting me with some hard things and helping me to know you better because of them. Thank you for never leaving me. Thank you for being for me. Thank you for sending your Son to die for me so that I can be with you in Heaven but also so I can enjoy You in this life. Thank you Lord for allowing me to see how much you love me today. Amen.