Count your blessings. I think it is a very fitting song for me, and for those who don't realize this song should fit them. As I hobbled down the hallway of the hospital, I was truly reminded of how blessed I am in the situation I am in now. Well, in life as well. While I am on medical hold, my work starts at 8 am. 8 am! It feels a little like paradise I must say. 8 am is beautiful. The sun is already up. The days of getting up after 12pm seem so far away. Who knew that the same guy who used to sleep until one or two in the afternoon is up every day before the sun is up? Not this guy. At a safety training yesterday an officer was asking some simple questions to the assembled personnel a little after 8. No one was really responding so the officer asks, "What's the deal with you guys?" A person in the room says "It's early." Early?! For anyone who has ever worked on a ship, 8 am comes around and you've already eaten breakfast, had your morning quarters, and cleaned your spaces. After being on med hold for a few days now, I've been able to see what little anyone here has to complain about and what sea duty has done to me. I'm not so exhausted all of the time. I mean come on, I'm writing in my blog! When the work day is over I feel like it is just starting. If only I didn't have a neon cast I could get more done! I also wouldn't be here if that were the case. My point with all of this is that there is always something that you can be thankful for. I should be down and out because I am useless at the moment but it has given me a chance to really rest and clear my mind of all the stress that has built up from the workload on the ship. So if you happen to be reading this, I ask one thing of you: Stop what you are doing for maybe one minute and count your blessings. Count your many blessings and name them one by one. If you grew up Free Will Baptist the tune has to be in your head right now. Be thankful! Take a deep breath and you will see! Never forget why you are where you are. Sometimes we lose sight of that by the monotony of our lives but I can assure you there is a reason you are there! God Bless!
Thursday, February 28, 2013
The Count of Monte Blesso
Count your blessings. I think it is a very fitting song for me, and for those who don't realize this song should fit them. As I hobbled down the hallway of the hospital, I was truly reminded of how blessed I am in the situation I am in now. Well, in life as well. While I am on medical hold, my work starts at 8 am. 8 am! It feels a little like paradise I must say. 8 am is beautiful. The sun is already up. The days of getting up after 12pm seem so far away. Who knew that the same guy who used to sleep until one or two in the afternoon is up every day before the sun is up? Not this guy. At a safety training yesterday an officer was asking some simple questions to the assembled personnel a little after 8. No one was really responding so the officer asks, "What's the deal with you guys?" A person in the room says "It's early." Early?! For anyone who has ever worked on a ship, 8 am comes around and you've already eaten breakfast, had your morning quarters, and cleaned your spaces. After being on med hold for a few days now, I've been able to see what little anyone here has to complain about and what sea duty has done to me. I'm not so exhausted all of the time. I mean come on, I'm writing in my blog! When the work day is over I feel like it is just starting. If only I didn't have a neon cast I could get more done! I also wouldn't be here if that were the case. My point with all of this is that there is always something that you can be thankful for. I should be down and out because I am useless at the moment but it has given me a chance to really rest and clear my mind of all the stress that has built up from the workload on the ship. So if you happen to be reading this, I ask one thing of you: Stop what you are doing for maybe one minute and count your blessings. Count your many blessings and name them one by one. If you grew up Free Will Baptist the tune has to be in your head right now. Be thankful! Take a deep breath and you will see! Never forget why you are where you are. Sometimes we lose sight of that by the monotony of our lives but I can assure you there is a reason you are there! God Bless!
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Swimming upstream in a sandstorm.
Even in the middle of the worst circumstance, God promises hope and joy.
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds." James 1:2
Yep. You didn't read that wrong. Find joy in the hard times. Why? Because how can you grow as a person if you have never had a challenge. I remember growing up playing Madden football on XBOX. I would put it on the easiest level and then change the sliders so my quarterback wouldn't miss a throw or my receiver wouldn't drop a pass. Don't forget, my running back couldn't be tackled. It was fun dominating the other team and scoring like 100 points but after a while it just got old. I wasn't challenged by the computer so it wasn't fun. There is nothing more fun than kicking the game winning field goal at the last minute because it was such a hard game.
That's how we should live our lives. What's better than going through a tough time and in the end saying, "Wow, I really needed God there." What's better than that is figuring out why you went through that hard time. This isn't always known but you always know what you have learned from it or what area of your life has improved. Maybe that's why you had to deal with it.
I can say myself that I have been through plenty of tough situations and doubted how they would turn out only to find that the whole reason I went through that situation is I needed to grow in a certain area. Remember when you kicked that last minute field goal or scored that winning shot? You jumped up and down like a lunatic and had the biggest sense of accomplishment. Why aren't we doing that after we have learned something about ourselves and watched a situation make us grow? We should be.
The next time you face a trial keep in mind the verse in James and think about what you have the opportunity to learn.
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds." James 1:2
Yep. You didn't read that wrong. Find joy in the hard times. Why? Because how can you grow as a person if you have never had a challenge. I remember growing up playing Madden football on XBOX. I would put it on the easiest level and then change the sliders so my quarterback wouldn't miss a throw or my receiver wouldn't drop a pass. Don't forget, my running back couldn't be tackled. It was fun dominating the other team and scoring like 100 points but after a while it just got old. I wasn't challenged by the computer so it wasn't fun. There is nothing more fun than kicking the game winning field goal at the last minute because it was such a hard game.
That's how we should live our lives. What's better than going through a tough time and in the end saying, "Wow, I really needed God there." What's better than that is figuring out why you went through that hard time. This isn't always known but you always know what you have learned from it or what area of your life has improved. Maybe that's why you had to deal with it.
I can say myself that I have been through plenty of tough situations and doubted how they would turn out only to find that the whole reason I went through that situation is I needed to grow in a certain area. Remember when you kicked that last minute field goal or scored that winning shot? You jumped up and down like a lunatic and had the biggest sense of accomplishment. Why aren't we doing that after we have learned something about ourselves and watched a situation make us grow? We should be.
The next time you face a trial keep in mind the verse in James and think about what you have the opportunity to learn.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
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