I lead a blessed life.

This much I know is true.

Well, most of the time anyway.

Admittedly, I’ve been known to forget from time to time.

If I’m being honest I will tell you that there are days when my four young blessing from above seem particularly heavy.

Or when the space between these four walls I’m blessed to live within seems cluttered and cramped.

Sometimes the food that we’ve been so bountifully provided isn’t easy to get to the table.

And even the clothes that protect us from the elements tend to pile up, feeling far more burdensome than blessed.

It’s true.

Blessings don’t always feel just so.

They can be puzzling.  Vague.  Stifling even.

I’ve been there.

I bet you have too.

I wonder, then, if you’ve been here:

Have you looked on at two of your own blessings, as they sit under a shared blanket, watching Saturday morning cartoons?

Have you overheard whispers between two sisters, sharing secrets not meant for mom’s ears?

Have you crept into their rooms–under the cover of night–just to watch them sleep?

Have you prayed for quiet, only to find comfort in the joy of their laughter?

Have you watched them grow–too fast–and wished you could freeze them in time?

Have you held your breath when one of them gets too close to an edge, or a fire, or a busy street?

Have you glowed with warmth at the sight of them feasting on a wholesome, hearty meal prepared at your hands?

I have.

I’ve lived them all.

Little treasures–those moments are–in an otherwise ordinary day.  Not happenstance, or coincidence.  At least I don’t believe so; I take them as something deeper.  Something meant for me: reminders.

He walked this weary land, after all.  He knows how the days can run together.  He knows that I tend to forget.

So He sends reminders:

Snowflakes falling in the desert.

Babies born in the nick of time.

Stars shooting through the sky.

Little whispers, they are, sent to carry me through.  To remind me of that which I’ve been given.  Of that with which I’ve been so richly blessed.

So grateful, I am.

For the reminders.  And for this blessed life I lead.

*This is my take on Gratitude, which so happens to be the topic of this month’s Write-Away contest over at Scribbit.*