Gratitude Day 22: Every Blessing

Ramsey Prong, Greenbrier
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
© 2014 Kristina Plaas, All Rights Reserved
I got home from a late church meeting tonight feeling very tired and sort of brain-dead. I remembered I had not yet written my daily gratitude posts but, in the moment, couldn't think of anything to acknowledge feeling grateful for. It's not that I'm not grateful for lots of stuff, I am, but sometimes I'm just too tired to think. I reflected back on the evening and could only seem to think about how stressed I was over the music and everything I needed to get done. In the middle of the meeting I had to give myself permission to relax and breathe. I took such a deep breath I'm sure I disturbed my friends in the surrounding pews. Seriously.

 Part way through the talks there was a piano solo by Lynette James of the YSA Branch. I had asked Lynette to play this specific number, her own arrangement of Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing, because I had heard her play it before and loved it. Once she started playing, I finally let go of enough tension to feel the spirit. The lyrics kept running through my mind as the music flowed. The words from the second verse especially touched me:
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God.
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.

In that moment I knew Jesus was about to rescue me, a wandering sheep, again. I'm not sure how this happens, but I know it happens. Things work out. The crisis passes and I survive. My faith is renewed. I see the goodness of others. I am blessed by the source of every blessing -- again. Thank you, Lynette, for reminding me.

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