Every day I am blessed. Today I took a little more notice of those blessings. . .

“God is just as good when you are wearing a rain coat.” A quote from my wet, hard-working, optimistic husband. Perhaps that quote is what made me start looking for the blessings.

I realized again this morning that I do my devotions just like my mom does, and without even thinking about it when I first started. . . reading My Utmost for His Highest and the Bible at the kitchen table in the morning. Thanks, Mom. . .

We’re trying not to drink so much coffee, but Eric had a cup at Pilot. So I had a cup at home. And I was happy.

There’s a certain greenish songbook that gets pulled off my shelf quite frequently and either played or sung out of. . . Zion’s Praises accompanied me in my cleaning and laundry-hanging this morning, and there was one song I couldn’t quite finish singing. “The Ninety and Nine” nearly always has me in tears by the last verse. But all through the mountains, thunder-riven, and up from the rocky steep, there arose a glad cry to the gate of heaven, “Rejoice! I have found My sheep!” That’s a blessing I am learning more and more to appreciate. That’s a life-giving blessing.

Eric is good at cutting pieces out of grapefruit; I am not. I ate a grapefruit while he was gone, and it made me happy somewhere down inside when I looked at the mess I made and knew he would have done it so much better.

Grey skies and rain always seem to satisfy something melancholy in me, and today I had both. But in the midst of the wind and rain, I heard my pretty blue butterfly wind chimes tinkling, and there was nothing melancholy at all about it.

I didn’t know I liked plants till Eric started buying them for me. Now they sit on my windowsill, beside my sink, and out on my porch. I don’t know their names, and I don’t know how to take care of them except to water them when they start turning yellow (I’ve only killed one and a half), and they don’t do much of anything, but they are a blessing, one that can be easily overlooked. . . the blessing of beauty.

When my sister first started working in Newberg, we had no plans to move here. We weren’t even married yet. But now I live in the same town that she works in, and she comes over nearly every week on her break. Sometimes it’s shopping, sometimes just hanging out and eating food. . . today it was a trip to Fred Meyer, where an old lady stopped us to tell us she admired the way we dress and our commitment to a simple life. Sometimes a blessing is being a blessing.

I'm trying to memorize Ephesians. I thought about it today that the reason I know that it's easier to memorize things by writing them over and over again is because Bro. Peter taught us that in high school. Thanks, Bro. Peter. . . But not only is knowing a good way to memorize a blessing, what I'm memorizing is a blessing as well and actually fits quite well here.

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." (Ephesians 1:3)

The blessings we can see aren't the only ones there are. They aren't even the most important ones. But tangible or intangible, they are all given from the Father.

“Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before His presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord He is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations.” (Psalm 100)

After reviewing the blessings of the day, it’s easy to obey that Psalm. It’s easy to say thank You when I feel like all is right in my world.

But what if I were among those being persecuted at this very moment? What if I didn’t have enough to eat? What if I had seen my family die or be carried away captive? What if I were the one kneeling blindfolded, waiting for my life to end? Could I still “enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise”?

It’s a reminder to not just praise Him on the good days. Good days will end, but the goodness of God will not.

A rain coat or an orange jumpsuit on a beach in Libya. . . God is still good.