Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Many years ago during a rough time in my life, I learned to focus on blessings and made the habit of praying this prayer each morning: “God help me to be open to the giving and receiving of your blessings today and help me to do all things pleasing in your sight.” So last Christmas morning the devotional I read really struck a chord with me. The story was about a couple whose business had failed leaving them with little money to spend at Christmas. Not wanting their spirits dampened, they decided to throw a party. When the guests arrived, they saw a simple lighted tree with rolled up pieces of paper tied with ribbons for decorations. Each paper described a blessing the couple had received during the year.
This Christmas I decided to have a Blessing Tree too. A small tree in my bedroom is decorated with a strand of lights and rolled paper tied with gold ribbons. Each slip contains a blessing I have received this year. It was interesting to note that my blessings are centered on the many wonderful relationships that I enjoy and the great experiences that I’ve had throughout the year. I hope to make the Blessing Tree a tradition in my home.
The words of one of my favorite hymns, “Make Me a Blessing,” encourage us to seek ways to bless others.
Make me a blessing,
Make me a blessing,
Out of my life may Jesus shine;
Make me a blessing,
O Savior, I pray,
Make me a blessing to someone today.
To be blessed means to be favored by God. The first blessing in the Bible came when God sent Abraham from his homeland with the promise, “I will bless you… and you will be a blessing.” Genesis 12:2. He makes the same promise to us each day. He will bless us and we will be a blessing to others.
This Christmas I decided to have a Blessing Tree too. A small tree in my bedroom is decorated with a strand of lights and rolled paper tied with gold ribbons. Each slip contains a blessing I have received this year. It was interesting to note that my blessings are centered on the many wonderful relationships that I enjoy and the great experiences that I’ve had throughout the year. I hope to make the Blessing Tree a tradition in my home.
The words of one of my favorite hymns, “Make Me a Blessing,” encourage us to seek ways to bless others.
Make me a blessing,
Make me a blessing,
Out of my life may Jesus shine;
Make me a blessing,
O Savior, I pray,
Make me a blessing to someone today.
To be blessed means to be favored by God. The first blessing in the Bible came when God sent Abraham from his homeland with the promise, “I will bless you… and you will be a blessing.” Genesis 12:2. He makes the same promise to us each day. He will bless us and we will be a blessing to others.
Let’s look for ways to be a blessing and in return be blessed.
3 comments:
What a beautiful idea! I think we will have a blessing tree as well. We have so much to be thankful for and have been blessed so much this year. Love & miss you!
I think this is a wonderful idea! I'm going to do this with my kids this year.
I love this idea. We spend 'way too much time asking and not enough time thanking.
Another idea I recently heard: one family, as part of their gift exchange, wrote letters to each other (they drew names) telling a sibling or parent the many ways they were blessed by them.
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