This is the first of a two part blog series on the topic of ‘Blessings’. How do we view blessings? Do we see them as coming from God, or are they just luck?
This first series focuses on my testimonial of blessings and whether we see blessings as just ‘luck’.
My Testimonial of Blessings
I want to start my first ‘proper’ blog by discussing something positive. ‘Blessings’.
I personally feel truly blessed in my life. Now I’m not saying this to boast or to show off. People who know me know that I’m not that kind of person. All I want to do is to just show you the wonderful things that God has done for me and can do for you too.
Now, I have the privilege of working and running my own business from home. I feel that I have now been blessed with this way of life which I have wanted for a big part of my adult life, and all my life as a parent. I can now spend time at home with my young children; I can take them to school, pick them up, help them with their homework, bathe them and put them to bed and make warm nutritious meals for my family. These are all the blessings that I am truly thankful to God for and don’t take them for granted even though I do sometimes moan about all the work I have to do.
As I said before, having a business is something that I have wanted for a long time. I have worked hard on business ideas which have just not come to fruition. And I believe that those times were not God’s times for me to start those businesses, and possibly were not the businesses that God wanted me to get involved in.
Now, some of you reading may ask, but didn’t you work hard to get to where you are now with your business? The answer is yes. I do have to work hard on my business now that I have it, but to be honest, my current business came about without me trying hard at all, and actually came about at a time when I had given up on business completely.
The reason that I got back into the business world was after I had read a report on something Pope Francis had said at World Youth Day in Krakow in 2016:
“Jesus can give you true passion for life. Jesus can inspire us not to settle for less, but to give the very best of ourselves.Jesus challenges us, spurs us on and helps us keep trying whenever we are tempted to give up. Jesus pushes us to keep our sights high and to dream of great things”¦”¦”¦”¦..In life there is a dangerous kind of paralysis. It is not easy to put our finger on it. I like to describe it as the paralysis that comes from confusing happiness with a sofa. In other words, to think that in order to be happy all we need is a good sofa. A sofa that makes us feel comfortable, calm, safe”¦..A sofa that keeps us safe from any kind of pain and fear. A sofa that allows us to stay home without needing to work at, or worry about anything. ‘Sofa happiness’! That is probably the most harmful and insidious form of paralysis, which can cause the greatest harm to young people. And why does this happen?… Because little by little, without even realizing it, we start to nod off, grow drowsy and dull”¦”¦
We didn’t come into this world to “vegetate”, to take it easy, to make our lives a comfortable sofa to fall asleep on. No, we came”¦”¦ To leave a mark”¦”¦ But when we opt for ease and convenience, for confusing happiness with consumption, then we end up paying a high price indeed: we lose our freedom”¦”¦. Jesus is the Lord of risk, he is the Lord of “eternal” more. Jesus is not the Lord of comfort, security and ease. Following Jesus demands a good dose of courage, a readiness to trade in the sofa for a pair of walking shoes and to set out on new and unchartered paths. To blaze trails that open up new horizons capable of spreading joy, the joy that is born of God’s love and wells up in your hearts with every act of mercy”¦”¦ God expects something from you”¦.. God hopes in you. God comes to break down all our fences. He comes to open the doors of our lives, our dreams, our ways of seeing things. God comes to break open everything that keeps you closed in. He is encouraging you to dream. He wants to make you see that, with you, the world can be different”¦”¦ Unless you offer the best of yourselves, the world will never be different. This is the challenge.”
Not to go off the point too much, I have added this lengthy quote not only to show you how this moved me to do something more meaningful with my life, but also that it may motivate any of you out there who feel like you’re stuck with no direction to go and not worthy of doing much with your life. Just know that God wants you to work hard on your goals and make something great of yourselves which you are proud of.
So back to the point about blessings, by coming across this report from the Pope which was handed out in church, I feel completely blessed, as it got me out of my comfy sofa state to start my business. And as I said before, I am truly grateful.
So yes, I do believe that these blessings are from God. Of course, I do have to work hard to keep my business going, but I would always look to God to give me the motivation and diligence to continue to grow my business.
It’s Luck And the Choices that we Make NOT Blessings from God!
Yes, some people who have good things come their way say that it is good luck, and I guess when you don’t believe in God, then it is good luck. But if God is in your life, then you should believe that it is coming from God.
Some people may say that it’s about the choices that we make in our lives; the person they chose to marry; the school they chose to send their kids to; the area they chose to live in; the education they chose; how hard they chose to work; the medications they chose to take and so on”¦.
But if you believe in God, then you should understand that God puts these things, these ‘blessings’ in your life. God puts a good spouse before you, God puts a good school in your reach and so on”¦”¦
We then all have free will and are able to then decide whether to follow what God wants from us. Do we go for the good guy that God has put before us, or go for the bad guy who already has two girlfriends because he’s exciting to be with?
One example that I will give you is the choice of Primary school for my daughter. We had several ‘outstanding’ rated non faith schools in the area that we lived, and a ‘good’ rated catholic school. The focus of the outstanding schools were children excelling in different subjects and really pushing them to do well academically which is of course highly commendable.
In the Catholic school which myself and my husband chose for our daughter, their mission statement is “We love to learn in Jesus. In Jesus, we learn to love”. To me, that shows a Jesus centred school. And although we too want our children to excel academically, we always believe in putting God first, and trust that God will bless our children with the best education for them. So, I believe that our children will be blessed in whichever way God chooses because we their parents have put God first in their lives.
