Everything was going smooth Thanksgiving Day. The tables were set. The turkey was cooking. Family and friends were on their way. The house began to bustle with people and scents of fall flavors. I started the gravy while everything was wrapping up for our feast. As I am working on the gravy, I notice that it is just not coming together like it usually does. The color is almost black and it is chunky yet oily. I keep working only making it worse. I do believe this gravy was the most disgusting thing I have seen in all my years as a rookie culinary artist. I had never had gravy issues but on this day, that magical sauce was atrocious and definitely not edible. Of course my ego led me to believe that I didn't need any store bought back-up gravy. So, there we sat on that beautiful Thanksgiving day with a feast that begged for gravy and there was none. Even though the gravy was an astronomical failure, the day was still wonderful. Although not perfect, the day was blessed.
My friends and family have had a fun time teasing me about my gravy debacle. They know me well enough to know that I like things perfect. I like everything in place, pretty, with no blunders. I also know how to laugh at myself from time-to-time. I learned that day that life doesn't have to be perfect to be blessed. I used to look at other's lives and think they had a pretty perfect life. I saw all their blessings and determined that they must be living in perfection. What I didn't see was their struggles that didn't show; you know, those things that remain behind closed doors that we don't air out in public. My family had some pretty difficult times, especially when I was in high school. I remember looking at my pastor and his family and wishing mine could be more like theirs. Little did I know what was really going on. My pastor's family went through hell and back yet all I saw was a happy, healthy, financially stable family perfectly living the life.
I think Christians, and society as a whole, sees blessings through earthly specs instead of heavenly glasses. We see the cars, the nice home, the 2.5 kids, and a dog and think, "Wow! That person is so blessed! Their life is perfect!" What we don't realize is that heavenly blessings don't always come in material things, or even health for that matter. Being a Christian, being blessed, doesn't mean we have it all together and life is always sunshine and lollipops. I believe blessing is an eternal term. We are blessed when we live with an eternal perspective; when we grasp that blessings don't always equal perfection. I can be sick yet blessed. I can be in financial despair (which I have experienced), yet still be blessed. I can have issues in my marriage, frustrations with my boys, or conflicts in my friendships and still be blessed.
It took me a long time to realize that blessing doesn't mean perfection. There is an underlying appreciation for life that brings upon blessing. Once I realized, truly understood, and held onto His saving grace did I really realize what being blessed was all about. A little over a month or two ago, 21 Egyptian Christians were taken to a beach and beheaded for their faith; for being "people of the Cross." The men never wavered in their faith. They were deceived into thinking they were being picked up to get work when, in reality, they were kidnapped by terrorists. They were taken from their wives, children, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, and friends. They were not given a choice in their suffering yet they never wavered in their faith. As they walked onto the sand in orange jump suits about to face their fate, they sang hymns. I guarantee that if we were given an opportunity to ask, those martyrs would say they were blessed; not because life was fair or fantastic, no. They would say they were blessed because they knew their Savior; they understood the complexities of eternity and that all we have in this life will fade in an instant.
It's not about the stuff, or the health, or whether or not every single heart's desire or prayer request is granted. Blessing beyond perfect is being content in the imperfections and realizing that the blessing doesn't come in in the form of a perfectly written life story. Blessing comes from an eternal perspective and a life lived in a constant state of contentment.
"I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances." Philippians 4:11
Love & Blessings,
Meg
My friends and family have had a fun time teasing me about my gravy debacle. They know me well enough to know that I like things perfect. I like everything in place, pretty, with no blunders. I also know how to laugh at myself from time-to-time. I learned that day that life doesn't have to be perfect to be blessed. I used to look at other's lives and think they had a pretty perfect life. I saw all their blessings and determined that they must be living in perfection. What I didn't see was their struggles that didn't show; you know, those things that remain behind closed doors that we don't air out in public. My family had some pretty difficult times, especially when I was in high school. I remember looking at my pastor and his family and wishing mine could be more like theirs. Little did I know what was really going on. My pastor's family went through hell and back yet all I saw was a happy, healthy, financially stable family perfectly living the life.
I think Christians, and society as a whole, sees blessings through earthly specs instead of heavenly glasses. We see the cars, the nice home, the 2.5 kids, and a dog and think, "Wow! That person is so blessed! Their life is perfect!" What we don't realize is that heavenly blessings don't always come in material things, or even health for that matter. Being a Christian, being blessed, doesn't mean we have it all together and life is always sunshine and lollipops. I believe blessing is an eternal term. We are blessed when we live with an eternal perspective; when we grasp that blessings don't always equal perfection. I can be sick yet blessed. I can be in financial despair (which I have experienced), yet still be blessed. I can have issues in my marriage, frustrations with my boys, or conflicts in my friendships and still be blessed.
It took me a long time to realize that blessing doesn't mean perfection. There is an underlying appreciation for life that brings upon blessing. Once I realized, truly understood, and held onto His saving grace did I really realize what being blessed was all about. A little over a month or two ago, 21 Egyptian Christians were taken to a beach and beheaded for their faith; for being "people of the Cross." The men never wavered in their faith. They were deceived into thinking they were being picked up to get work when, in reality, they were kidnapped by terrorists. They were taken from their wives, children, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, and friends. They were not given a choice in their suffering yet they never wavered in their faith. As they walked onto the sand in orange jump suits about to face their fate, they sang hymns. I guarantee that if we were given an opportunity to ask, those martyrs would say they were blessed; not because life was fair or fantastic, no. They would say they were blessed because they knew their Savior; they understood the complexities of eternity and that all we have in this life will fade in an instant.
It's not about the stuff, or the health, or whether or not every single heart's desire or prayer request is granted. Blessing beyond perfect is being content in the imperfections and realizing that the blessing doesn't come in in the form of a perfectly written life story. Blessing comes from an eternal perspective and a life lived in a constant state of contentment.
"I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances." Philippians 4:11
Love & Blessings,
Meg
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