A to Z list of regular blessings (part 3)

I have finished this Sunday's sermon ... and I will not look at it again till Saturday night! :-)

G

GIFTS (Spiritual). This is a blessing that comes with the gift of eternal life and is experienced daily. I cannot help but be in awe every time I see the gifts at work - both in my life and in the lives of others (but especially in my life as I am often pretty aware that something out of the ordinary is happening).

For example, I led a Bible study the other night and as we wrestled with a tough question, I gave an illustration (through a testimony- story) and it was a holy moment for me to see some "eyes light up" with comprehension and appreciation (and an audio exclamation as well!). God's gift to me at work again! This was not an illustration that I had prepared (I had others I had prepared as I suspected the question would come up!) I do not think I am exaggerating or over spiritualizing. I have listened to my own sermons and I find some of my speaking "idiosyncrasies irritating! :-) I also know many have a problem with my accent etc so the ability to cross these communication barriers (and more) to impart spiritual truth has to via the Spirit giving His gifts.

I also sometimes sit back and reflect in awe how no matter how we may struggle as a local church (with so many leaders, up and coming leaders and active serving members having had to move on), other people just seem to step up (of course with lots of prayer and encouragement too!) and then as they take steps of faith to serve, they seem to have the right spiritual gifts for the necessary situations.

GMAIL/ GOOGLE. I have been using gmail almost from the time it was first launched. I still remember that it was in the beta testing stage and Sivin sent me an invitation to join (in those days an invitation was so precious :-). Very quickly, gmail replaced even my local accounts (also I never liked hotmail). What I find interesting is I recently discovered that I could not remember how to set up outlook express! I find gmail as a web based e-mail so convenient. I also like google. It must be almost 10 years (if not it does seem at least 10 years) since I used any other search engine. And since I have already done "B", might as well throw in blogger since they are part of the same company. I like it very much :-)

GARDENING. I still have a black thumb and I do not spend much time gardening. My "gardening" is mostly working on my vegetable plants. BUT it is becoming something of a blessing to see my plants and trees grow (at least some). Puttering about in the garden a couple of hours a week has been good for me. Plucked my first (only one was ripe!) strawberry and ate it. It was GOOD! I think it is helping me appreciate the general blessings of nature.

H

HOUSE / HOME. What a blessing it is to own a house. I will ignore the fact that technically the bank owns our house till the mortgage is paid off :-) I still have not gotten over the wonderful feeling of gratitude in my heart that God has blessed us so much in just 18 months of being in NZ that we dared to consider buying a house.

HEALTH. Of late it has become more apparent that my physical body is getting older :-) But despite a growing list of ailments like headaches (sometimes migraine), joint stiffness and sometimes pain, high cholesterol, irritable bowel syndrome, acid in the stomach, eye problems, dust and pollen allergies bad back ... I am actually VERY HEALTHY!

Even when I am "sick" I am generally able to go about as usual (albeit at a reduced energy level). Compared to so many who suffer so many more serious illnesses or disabilities, I am indeed very blessed!

HARMONICA. I kinda suck at it but it is a nice occasional distraction. And it does have that nice "blues" sound that helps express certain moods. Music has a special way of expressing the mood of my soul and the harmonica is not too hard to play (BTW I can't read notes) especially for basic hymns. Of course I only play it for myself and not in public :-) It's even easier to carry around compared to my ukulele (which I will blog about under "U"). Only drawback its that it can be "loud" LOL

Okay got to go. Other things to do ...