Blessings Became an Opportunity to Bless

Blessings Became An Opportunity to Bless
Peggy Mack
November 13, 2013

My little mentor and I were chatting in Facebook this morning and talking about how sometimes a thought she has in Ga. becomes a silent inspiration for something I am writing in SC and we never know it until we discuss it later that evening.  Then we go through one of those, "get out of here!  Are ya kidding me?" kind of moments because both of us know something amazing happened to cause our brains to be on the same wave length and to experience it together later in the day.  This has happened five or six times now in the months since Maddie's passing in July.  And we are left in awe and both respond, "it's another God moment!"

I was telling Dottie of something that occurred to me Sunday in church.  When I was getting an outfit ready to wear that morning, I remembered a wine collored purse with black trim and decided I needed to go "hunt it up" to go with the clothes I had chosen.  As I dug through the purse for a hopeful, but not likely stray $20 bill my hand came across something metallic in the bottom of the purse.   I pulled out a written metallic word attached to a key chain that had probably sat inside that purse for five years.

The word was "Blessing".   I do not remember who had mailed it to me as a sign of love and encouragement and support during those years that were dark and frightening in my home in Panama City.  So many friends became my angels on earth and would send me coffee cups with messages, angels for my room, and words of positive thoughts to carry me through to a better time and place.  At the time I had no idea where my future lay or how I was going to arrive there all in one piece with my sanity in tact.  All I really had was my faith and my friends who showered me with loving concern and often surprised me with gifts in the mail.

So this little metallic reminder of the blessings I received five-eight years ago were the visual and physical source of my strength reminding me that no matter what I was facing, I was truly not alone.   Sunday I reattached the "Blessing" to my purse using the key chain.  Off to church we went.  During the service I reached down on the floor for my purse to get my offering check and I heard this tiny "ping" sound as I saw my "Blessing" break apart.  Part of the word was laying on the floor.  I was heartsick as I picked up the piece and dropped it into my purse.  Silly me, I thought.  It was just a little something.  Nothing major had been lost and I went on with the worship service.

When I lifted my purse at the end of the service I looked at the key chain, again, and saw that it had broken and left five letters attached spelling "Bless".   Nice!  I thought.  At least it didn't break leaving me with "Ble" or "Blessi".  It had left me with a recognizable word.  I was content, again.

This morning I realized there was a moment of realization for me in that happenstance of an event.  When I was struggling to make sense of life and to find a way to stay on my feet in the storm, God surrounded me with endless signs of love and encouragement.  All of them were such great "blessings" to my life.   But now, I am in a place of contentment, joy and love.  I asked God for one gift as I found my way.  I asked to be truly loved before I died.  He blessed me with the sweetest of husbands who seems to be such a perfect complement to my own personality.  He finds ways to show or say I love you everyday and I am at a place where I have no doubt that I am loved.  And, I never saw him coming.  I was showered with more blessings than I even ever dreamed.

So now, I realized this morning, it is my turn to live a life where I can bless others through my sharing of faith, my time, my giving and my love.  Blessings have turned into Bless for a reason.  And I have a reminder hanging on my purse. 
I won't go so far as to say it was a "sign".  There's no need to go there.  The truth is that the metal had probably gotten bent in packing and gave way.  God does not have to make things fall off to get our attention.  What He does do, is open our eyes to the message that comes with it.  In my heart I know I have moved from that time when I desperately needed blessings to a time when my heart is so full of love and contentment that I can bless others with God's help and His loving guidance.  Here I am, Lord.  Send me.

Dear Lord,
It is a beautiful morning and there are people ahead of me in my errands today.  Let me be a blessing in their lives.  Let me leave them with a kind word of encouragement, the sound of my laughter, a thought that will lift them up as they work or bring them hope.  Open my mind to your desires for my life and let me serve you with a happy heart.
In Jesus' Name,
Amen