[1] Blessed am I that God communicates with me in pictures. He knows how thick-headed I am and is faithful to make sure that I understand Him by embedding what He wants me to receive in images I can understand. Come to think of it, that's how Jesus taught when He was here on earth, and that's how God so often spoke to Israel through the prophets. I'm grateful that He's so intent on communicating with us.
[2] Blessed am I to be able to see, and to live in an era when doctors can eliminate cataracts. Today's Old Testament reading was from Tobit, where he describes his blindness due to cataracts. My grandmother had cataracts and it was only when she was VERY old (she lived to be over 100) that a procedure was developed to replace the clouded lens of the eye. So for many years she was blind due to something that, for me, will require a simple outpatient procedure.
[3] Blessed am I that we can afford to eat out several times a week. I remember how poor we were in the first years of our marriage; eating out was never part of our reality. On our 10th anniversary we set aside enough money to go to a renowned local restaurant owned by friends of ours and have dessert. We couldn't afford a whole meal, but just being able to go there for dessert was such a treat. Although eating out is a regular thing for us these days, I don't take it for granted - it's still a treat every time we do, whether at a taqueria or an upscale tourist restaurant (we mostly go to the taquerias - we love the local food!).
[4] Blessed am I to have developed friendships with people who live far from me, but whom I can encourage and share my thoughts with via the web (hey friends, do any of your toddlers have a cute way of saying "world wide web" or "internet"?)
[5] Blessed am I to have the muscular strength to knit and crochet. About 15 years ago I got carpal tunnel syndrome in BOTH wrists - and we had just moved to a place that required me to drive a mountain road to get home every day! Suffice it to say it's a miracle that I managed to do that without having an accident, since I had to wear braces on both hands and didn't have any flexibility of the kind needed to turn a steering wheel. This problem also meant that I couldn't use my hands for other things requiring wrist strength or flexibility - like knitting and crocheting. However, one of the members of our (Presbyterian) church was a chiropractor (the best I've ever been to) and after a couple of months of regular sessions with him my problem was completely gone and has - thanks be to God - never returned. I can hardly imagine my life without fiber craft, so I am deeply grateful that I didn't have to give it up.
[6] Blessed am I to have the resources to serve. Last night our Bible study met at our house. Padre had encouraged all the groups in the church to study the booklets on the sacraments that were put out by our diocese, which could be downloaded from its website and printed out. However, nobody that I know here has a printer except us, so I was able to print copies of all the booklets to hand out to the members of our group. A small service, but one that was appreciated.
[7] Blessed am I to have gotten a ripe mango from our own mango tree and shared it with my DH the Pirate - our first home-grown mango!
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