First United Methodist Church of San Diego, California, United States In Real Life "Counting my Blessings" for Friday, 19 December 2014

First United Methodist Church of San Diego, California, United States In Real Life "Counting my Blessings" for Friday, 19 December 2014

With the Holiday season upon us I find myself on any given day being filled equally with both joy and stress. I am excited for Christmas as it is the one time of year I get to spend quality time with all three of my adult children together, being in the same state at the same time. But, I am also feeling stressed as I glance at my to-do list, wondering how I will manage to get everything done that needs to completed before I take my holiday break. All too often I let the busyness of everyday life take over and when this happens I feel so distant from God. During this season of Advent, I am trying to be very purposeful in keeping my mind and heart in a quiet and peaceful place so I can be open and receptive to feeling God’s loving presence in my life. I’ve made a commitment to setting aside time each day to read and reflect on in our Daily Devotion. A couple of days ago, in Tuesday, December 16's devotion we were asked to read: Luke1:39-56 and then to reflect on this question: “How have you experienced the blessing of God”? As I reflected on the question that morning, I simply wrote down a few things that make me feel blessed: I feel blessed that I have enough food to eat today. I am sad that not everyone has enough to eat today, but I am grateful that there are many organizations in San Diego that prepare and serve hot meals each and every day to those who are hungry in our community. I feel blessed that I have a roof over my head and a place to sleep. I am sad that there are many people in our community who do not have a roof over their head or a safe place to sleep, but I am grateful to the Interfaith Shelter Network for opening a cold weather shelter that provides those in need of shelter a safe place to sleep, and shower, and eat. I feel blessed that I woke up this morning with health and joy knowing that just maybe I would have the opportunity to serve God by offering encouragement or a kind word or a simple smile to uplift someone’s spirit in God’s loving name. I feel so very blessed to be a part of such a loving, caring, and giving church family. I hope your Holiday season is filled with Christmas hope, and peace, and love, and many, many blessings. Merry Christmas!

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