Count Your Blessings

I don’t make New Years’ resolutions. I count my blessings, instead.

I’ve heard a lot of people expressing the hope that 2017 will be a better year than 2016, and some even say it can’t possibly be worse. But 2016 was actually a good year for me. As with any year, it wasn’t perfect. It was the first year without my mother, my older brother had some serious health issues, we had a presidential race where I didn’t like any of the final candidates and ended up voting against somebody instead of for somebody, and I’m still looking for a publisher for my middle grade novels. But on the positive side, Roland and I have been in good health, we have two great children and a wonderful son-in-law, we had the resources to take a trip to Germany and another to Savannah, Georgia, and I’ve been writing steadily. And, oh yes, the Cubs won the World Series.

More importantly, I know that God is in control. He lets us make mistakes, and sometimes they are pretty terrible, but He will have the last say. God is in control of the world, and He is also in control of my life. That’s the greatest blessing of all.

History tells us that presidential politics—and even World Series wins—tend to have a fleeting effect on most people’s everyday lives. So as you look back on 2016, ask yourself this question. Did you really have a bad year, or did you just forget to count your blessings?