Start Counting!

By Renee Burt

There are times in your life when it feels really difficult to be sincerely thankful. I felt that way as a little girl. My dad had abandoned our family, which had made me really sad…I was embarrassed to be the only girl in my class with parents who were divorced (hard to believe in this day and age, huh?)…I was disappointed that we barely had enough money to pay the bills, let alone pay for the things I wanted (like Mousetrap, the coolest game ever in the 60’s)…and to top it off, I was mortified to have a major set of buck teeth! So like any other little girl, I put on the pout and whined to my mom. Now, that was a huge mistake! Because although my mom (who was and still is the most amazing woman I know) was sad about the direction her life had taken, she refused to focus on what she didn’t have…but instead on what she did have. And she purposed to teach me and my siblings that same thing. So she taught us a song entitled, “Count Your Many Blessings,” and whenever I was pouting or whining, she would instruct me to start singing the words. My sister and I had to sing it so often, we could sing it in perfect harmony…but more importantly, it got down into our hearts over the course of time that there was always MUCH to be thankful for. Are you feeling less than thankful lately? You don’t have to know the words to the song in order to start “counting your many blessings”…and if you do? As the words of the song go, “and it will surprise you what the Lord has done!”

I Samuel 12:7 NLT ~ Now stand here quietly before the Lord as I remind you of all the great things the Lord has done for you and your ancestors.

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