Blessed and Not Depressed

Through the years, feeding five children something they all liked seemed like an impossible task.  If I would have let them, I truly believe they would have eaten a diet of only chicken nuggets, french fries, and pizza.  I tried to introduce them to different things and would get a lot of “feedback” from them that wasn’t always positive.  My go to saying was, “You get what you get, and you won’t throw a fit!”  Didn’t always work out that way but they eventually learned to be grateful for having food on the table.

As adults we aren’t always grateful for what God has done for us.  He can deliver us from situations, relationships, hurt and more but we don’t always see it as a blessing but rather as a loss.

A few years back, I started reading the Bible from cover to cover and at the same time I was boxing up all of our belongings to move to our current home.  I was excited to begin this new adventure but also very melancholy about selling our home.  I was the third generation to live on this land and even though we loved it there, life was difficult with a barely functioning water well and needing to haul water several times a week along with a difficult-to-maneuver driveway in the winter.  I remember being iced in for a few weeks and needing to get groceries so we hiked up the hill to the car and ventured to town to get the groceries and then when we got back, we used a little kid swimming pool to slide the food down the hill to the house.  I was frustrated but the kids loved it.

I had been praying for two years for a specific thing to happen for us to be able to move.  When we began moving to the new house, I started feeling sorry for myself.  Instead of seeing the things that I had been praying about for two years coming to fruition, all I was focusing on was the negativity of what I was losing. 

As I had mentioned before, I was reading through the Bible and I was at the part where Moses had led the Hebrews out of Egypt and slavery.  The Lord was answering their prayers. Then as I was reading about them in the wilderness, I got fed up with them whining all the time.  This was one section of the Bible that I struggled with reading because it seemed like they were so ungrateful to God and constantly found fault when they should have been rejoicing.  They constantly wanted this, and they wanted that……they complained continuously and even had the nerve to ask Moses why he brought them out of Egypt; at least they knew what to expect there.  Really?  He had just stood in front of Pharaoh and threatened that God was going bring horrible plagues on all of Egypt if he didn’t let them go free, but you know, it wasn’t enough.

                        Then it hit me like a ton of bricks…

I wasn’t any better than the whiney Hebrews I was complaining about wandering around the wilderness pining away for the good old days in Egypt when they were literally slaves.  They had prayed for generations for God to deliver them from captivity and when he did, it still wasn’t good enough.

I took a long, slow breath and exhaled.  I had been praying for this for two years and just received exactly what I asked for but instead of opening my arms out to accept the blessing I kept dragging the past with me.  You can’t receive the full blessing if your arms are full of the old stuff you insist on bringing with you.  I felt like God was saying, “Finally!  She gets it!”  As I dropped all that extra baggage and I put on my big girl pants and decided that I was going to feel blessed and not depressed.  We can’t progress in God’s plan if we keep staying in the same position. I have learned that growing and maturing as a Christian has made me uncomfortable at times… ok, maybe a lot of times, but each time it was worth it.

Have you ever looked at your kids and seen a gift or a lot of potential but they need that little nudge to help them get started?  I feel that way with me and God, but sometimes with me he needs to use a 2×4 to nudge me because I have my feet dug into the ground and don’t want to move because I’m comfortable.

If you have never been made to feel uncomfortable by God, I urge you to pray and ask him what his plan is for your life and tell him that you are here to do his will.  I will warn you that typically what he has planned and what you have planned are two different things and even though it may look scary, feel scary, or smell scary, and you may be petrified, just remember if he brings you to it, he will see you through it.   

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We would love for you to share a time God has answered your prayers.  Look me up on Facebook under our group:  Mopping up the blessings or email me at:  moppinguptheblessings@gmail.com

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Tammy Bassett is a speaker and the author of the Mopping Up Your Blessings blog. She was born and raised a country girl who’s roots run deep in the mountains of Appalachia. She has worked a wide variety of jobs ranging from radio to insurance agent. She is now a stay-at-home mom, who along with her husband, are raising five daughters (ages 10 to 25), seven cats and one dog. She uses her accounting and business administration degree to help run her busy household.
She loves spending time with her family and homeschooling her two youngest children. She spends a lot of her day trying to conquer the obstacles in her home. With four of her children still living at home the laundry pile (nicknamed Mt. Wash-more) is her nemesis. Some days she wins and some days she doesn’t, but she always gets up the next day and tries again.
She also loves camping with her family as long as there is a camper with air conditioning, a comfy bed, and indoor plumbing. Her downfall is her obsession with iced coffee. Thankfully the closest Starbucks is an hour from her home, or she would be broke. She also loves reading and learning new skills such as homesteading, being more self-sustainable, gardening and foraging.
She relates the most to her favorite animal, the alpaca. They are both kind of weird and look like they are two months past due on a haircut. Much like alpacas she makes a gentle humming noise when happy and if irritated she often stamps the ground with her feet. Her husband has refused to buy her an alpaca much to her disappointment.
But more than anything, she loves the Lord and is growing more in her faith each day and hopes to inspire others to do the same. She wants everyone to understand that God’s grace is truly amazing and has changed her from the inside out and he can do the same for you.