How many hidden blessings do you see??

****REPOST****

......because we are finding ourselves, possibly, hopefully not reliving this experience.* 


How many wonderful blessings can you count in the picture below?

When our A/C went out after it was struck by lightning last week by a fast moving, but strong thunderstorm we all felt the tension thickening throughout each and every loooong hour in our small family. Living in Houston, it's a well known must that you have an air conditioner as the temperatures often reach up over the 100's, and add that with the humidity and the heat index can sometimes score as high or maybe higher than 110 degrees. And as most Houstonians know the end of July and August are the hottest months for the entire year, so to say that our little munchkins (and us bigger munchkins too) were on the grumpy side would probably be an understatement! The kids fought, my husband and I tiptoed around one another so we wouldn't say the 'wrong things' to prevent defenses from going up. All forms of affection and comfort such as touching, cuddling, 60% of hugs, and small pecks for kisses were all put to a full halt because just the thought of someone's body coming in contact with another was unbearable! Even though we've suffered living without A/C a few summers back for awhile, we were quickly reminded again this past week about how blessed we truly are even when this precious commodity isn't functioning properly, if at all.

So to make 'light' of the mood I snapped a photograph of what our living room looks like during the bed time hours this past week and then the next day I showed it to the kids to help me point out all of the blessings from this picture. How many did you count from the image above? Well here below is what my 3 and 5 year old took notice of, which I was very proud of them for because they exceeding my expectations.

Now in case you aren't able to read the things I typed out that they pointed out I've listed them for you here:

• The little bubble over 'Ms. Jewels' head reads "Sweet Dreams" so they slept well enough.
• Circulating floor fan.
• Air Mattress for kids.
• Fresh Water.
• Ice pack (shown above little Jesse's head), which means fridge and freezer are still operating.
• Hanging Tarp, to keep the cold air in the living room and the hot air out from the kitchen.
• Couch for mommy to sleep on.
• Roof over every one's head.
• Portable A/C Unit to get some cool air in the house.
• Dinosaur toy that kids were playing with earlier.
• Purse which might mean there's some cash in it....maybe....

Now these are just the things my kids took notice to, but as an adult I know so many other blessings we should give thanks to God for even w/o looking at the photo.

1. We aren't living in the hottest parts of the world; nor the coldest, most freezing parts either.
2. We have our health, just look at 'Mr. Happy's' chunky thighs. :D
3. We have clothes on our backs.
4. We had the money in our savings to buy that portable A/C unit, which was a pretty penny actually.
5. The thunderstorm and lightning did not shut off everything in our home; we still have full use of the kitchen, bathrooms, lights, fans, and luxuries like the Internet, television, stereo, and water for the kids to play with in the backyard for a bit.
6. Wonderful family and friends who have generously allowed us to bum over at their houses for a few hours here and there just to get some much needed relief from the heat,
7. A dear friend, who we were just blessed about this today, offered to allow us to borrow her window A/C unit until we get our house central A/C fixed. This will help us out tremendously to have two temporary A/C units indoors!
8. This photo does not show how messy the house was a lot early in the day. Praise God!
9. And if all these wonderful blessings weren't enough I showed the kids another photo I took from the opposite side of the living room showing that we are most blessed to have each other; our family.

Tonight when we got the air mattress out again to sleep on and set up the living quarters to be our temporary cooled off bedroom we all prayed together thanking God for reminding us of our hidden blessings. In all honesty taking a photo like this has truly helped myself and my kids realize just by looking at it how very much we do have and are blessed with. Quite sincerely we aren't suffering at all; the fact of the matter is we are just a little uncomfortable, it's as simple as that. And we all know that a little uncomfortableness is good for the soul from time to time just to keep us all in 'check' of how much we've really got it 'made', so why worry? (a little poem I stumbled across online)

Worry never climbed a hill, Worry never paid a bill, Worry never dried a tear, Worry never calmed a fear. Worry never fixed a heel, Worry never cooked a meal, Worry never composed a song to sing, Actually, worry never did a worthwhile thing. To God be the glory, forever!

*Original Post Date 08/225/09

1 Thessalonians 5:18, Matthew 6:34