Counting Blessings

God is ABLE to do ABUNDANTLY, EXCEEDINGLY more than ALL you can ASK or IMAGINE. Ephesians 3:20

I'm counting my blessings right now. And I'm overwhelmed with how many there are to count. God has blessed Jordan and I so, so much and I'm trying my hardest to not take anything for granted. There are so many bad things that I could to choose to focus on, but I want to be optimistic instead of a downer. We have so many things that are changing and unstable and decisions to make that are being based on how other things turn out. I'm trying to not stress over things and take every new day as it comes at me.

Be anxious for NOTHING, but in EVERYTHING, by prayer and petition, with THANKSGIVING, present your requests to God. Phil 4:6

I've recently been reevaluating my walk with God and I'm seeing so many flaws on my end (and not surprisingly-none on HIS end. haha). I'm working at being more patient, less quick to judge, more compassionate and a better listener, among many, many more things. My prayer life is not where it needs to be, so I'm working on getting it back to where it once was and where it should be.

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. I Thessalonians 5:16-18

I'm also working on reading the bible more. I thought about finding a devotional book to help me along with it, but that task alone seems daunting to me, so I figured the best way to get into God's word is to dive right in. I now get daily emails from one year bible online that gives me the link to an old testament passage, a new testament passage, and a little bit of Psalms and Proverbs each day. I like that set up because you get a little bit of easy-to-read with the harder-to-read.

I'm not telling you this to brag, but to help me to be accountable. I'm also hoping to encourage others to join in and re-evaluate your own walk with God.

Also, please be in prayer for my sister, Kyla. She's one of the reasons I'm trying to do better and make wiser decisions. She has recently made some major changes in her life and is striving to do good and follow God. It's been a rough transition for her and is not made easier by the fact that she has bi-polar mood disorder. This means she struggles with depression and manias and making out-of-character decisions. Kyla has made such a courageous change in her life. It's never easy to cut out things that you enjoy or that give you immediate gratification, even when you know they are wrong. I'm praying for her to be at peace with her decisions and accept that she may always have to struggle with her mood disorder. I'm praying for her to be able to let go of the guilt that she feels and know that God has 100% forgiven her. I'm praying for guidance as I talk to her and help her move along with her life.

Happy Monday!