25 August 2021
The clock ticked and was going so slow. There I was in a hospital waiting room. Waiting for the nurse to come down the passageway and tell me my husband was in recovery and all was well.
While I was waiting, I started to read the news on my phone. Oh, what is happening in the world! The situation in Afghanistan is devastating for all those who want to leave and can’t. For the loss of freedom that is predicted, actually already starting to happen. For the abuse and demoralisation of the women, girls, and those who have no say in their “man’s” world. My heart goes out to all of them.
My heart goes out to the people affected by the earthquake at Haiti, the floods in turkey, Germany, and the covid deaths and destruction to “normal” life throughout the world.
And there am I concerned about “how things went” in a minor surgery procedure.
Oh, I count my blessings!
Oh, to live in a country that is free! Has freedom of speech and of life. Choices are allowed to be made. Yes, some choices people make in this world may not be good and actually lead to destruction and abuse of themselves and their families but at least they had freedom of choice.
If I choose wisely, with Godly values, I am in a blessed country, in a blessed society, in a blessed family where I can thrive and grow into what God has for me.
So many are not. So many don’t live in countries that are not war-torn, and this has gone on for decades.
Oh, count your blessings and give praise to God for our blessed lives.
May we be courageous to bless others when and where we can. Just the other day I heard on the radio where you can pay for surgery for cataracts for children in some countries, so they don’t go blind or so their sight can be restored for those who have already gone blind. I thought, ‘I have 5 children who have their sight – why not help other families.’ And so, I did. It’s not much really in the whole scheme of things, but all of what we can do individually adds up to lots more.
Then my eyes read this article on Apple News about a retired U.S. Marine who was helping refugees to find work. “Doug Abdiel, who served in active duty in the U.S. Marines for six years, including tours in Haiti and Afghanistan, has a new mission here in Australia – opening doors for refugees when so many are closed. Mr Abdiel is constantly amazed by the talent and enthusiasm of his workforce… He understands why they are so keen, given their incredible backstories. “One of our workers’ entire family was murdered in one night in sub-Saharan Africa,” he said. “Another survived the Irag-Iran war and both invasions of Iraq when ISIS came he was a target because he was Christian. He was an airconditioning technician back there.”
“A lot of what we do is unearth that talent, finding work for someone who just needs a chance, rather than being rejected because an employer might see them as a terrorist.”
Oh how blessed we are!
So remember to count your blessings! Thank God everyday! And do what you can!
These scriptures remind us to know we are blest and to thank our God.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits
Psalm 103:2
And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 5:20
May these jottings from my journal inspire you to believe in and fall in love with Christ- the hope of the world, as stated in Jeremiah 17:7, ‘Blessed is the man who believes and trusts in and relies on the Lord and whose hope and confident expectation is the Lord!’
Love
Rosemary
Every week groups of ladies meet together to chat about the things I raise in my weekly blog post and to chat about life in general. We call these ‘Heart Connect’ groups. If you would like more information please click HERE.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
What are you blessed with?
Do you look out for your fellow human beings?
8 Comments
Vivienne
Yes I’m Blessed to live in 🇦🇺 & I try to help my fellow souls in small ways. There are so many Charities/Organisations out there who request monetary help all the time. We can only do so much unfortunately. Thank you for your sharing Rosemary. I think that sometimes we are aghast at how humans treat other humans. If only we all realised that God has made us in His own image & likeness, but there are so many who don’t even know God, or maybe have rejected Him. Praised be our God for all he has done for us.
Valerie Lack
Thank you for sharing Rosemary.
Yes we are blessed beyond imagining, in this country. The news from Afghanistan and the realisation of what is now the future for the female population, left at the mercy of a merciless regime, was sickening. It was sickening to the point of actually evoking anger and physical distress. GOD, gave us all free will, yet the force for evil that now rules Afghansitan, takes that free will away from at leat a half of it’s population. What can we do? Well the answer came fast and furious. GOD is in control, we need to leave it in his hands, pray for those unfortunate souls imprisoned in a kind of hell and raise our voices to those in authority in defence of those left to cope as best they can. So an impassioned letter was sent off to our local federal member and also one to sixty minutes, in a plea to get as many women, girls and children out of Afghanistan as possible and to grant permanent residency to those who arrived years ago as boat people. We cannot solve the problems of this world only the Holy Trinity can do this and we beg them to please help us, as we stumble blindly along the pathways of life.
I hope your husband came through his surgery well. Even minor surgery has it’s risks, so you were justified in your concerns.
Best regards
Valerie Lack ( Val )
Deanna Francke
Thank you Rosemary for reminding us to count our blessings & reach out to others in a desperate world that needs all the help we can give.
May God Bless you, Bruce & your team abundantly to keep doing the work that you do so well.
Anne-Marie
Thank you Rosemary. I find you often express the thoughts and feelings I am experiencing at the time. I have been heartbroken about Afghanistan, seeing the desperation, the fear and uncertainty of all those who are trying to leave the country, especially the children and women, but also all who supported our forces and now having their ’email’ visas rejected at the airport. I have been praying fervently for them and also all those effected by recent natural disasters. At times like this we can feel helpless and powerless but as you say, even little things we do, such as donating as much as we can afford to Charities, writing emails to politicians and signing petitions for change or to stop unfair legislation, it all helps in some way. We cannot always understand why these things happen but as Christians, we never give up hope because we know God”s Plan for Humanity is always and ultimately loving and merciful.
Rosemarie
Thanks for sharing Rosemary. We hope Bruce is alright. We enjoy his daily messages. It’s our life line to our church. I can’t wear a mask for an hour for medical reasons so we haven’t been to church for some weeks now. I do miss it, especially holy communion. Let’s pray that those lockdowns are over soon (we are in South Australia).
Take care of each other and God bless you all
Rosemarie
Vicky
Thank you, Rosemary. As someone wrote recently, living in Australia is like winning the lottery of life. We are so blessed to have all our freedoms, not to mention a good standard of living, especially with our health services. The situation in Afghanistan is very sad, particularly as it is purported to be done in the name of “religion”. God bless you and Bruce and wishing him a speedy recovery.
Cynthia Ross
Dear Rosemary,
Thank you for your blogs and Heart Ministries’ videos through which I have been so blessed. I pray Bruce has made a full recovery. I can’t wait to watch his daily devotions. Much love and prayers to you and your family from South Africa.
Miriam Hancock
I do count my blessings every day and I’m pleased to live in Canada. I’m afraid in both Canada and Australia some of the videos concerning Covid lockdowns and forced vaccinations are showing that that may soon be coming to an end. We need to pray for better governments in both of our countries and to stand up and protest the restrictions and ever increasing thefts of our rights. May the Lord save us.