{Posted by my wife, who is truly a blessing!}

Blessing. Webster’s Dictionary defines this word as “something promoting or contributing to happiness, well-being, or prosperity”. I was having a discussion with several people this morning at work about blessings and what the cost is with regard to these blessings. We were really discussing relationships with others and what the cost of these relationships often is. The male in the group, we’ll call him Mr. G, said that he knows a lot of women who think that relationships should be roses and candy all the time and that with the first sign of conflict, their world comes to an end. As much as I wanted to disagree with that statement, how true it is! Rather than realizing the immense and wonderful blessings we have in front of us, we have to find all the faults and then discount the whole situation as a loss. I, personally, believe that this is the reason for many divorces. Instead of acknowledging the blessings in life and being grateful for them, we choose to complain about the faults with the things we’re given.

Mary Ann Center, our church’s financial secretary and one of my mentors, said today, “With every true blessing, there is a sacrifice.” How true this statement is! With every relationship we enter, with every single thing God gives us, we must sacrifice something. Even in our Christian walk, we are called to make an ultimate sacrifice: giving up our lives to follow Christ. We must surrender our own selfish desires in order to receive His grace and to truly follow His call on our lives. In every relationship we enter, whether a dating relationship, a marriage, a friendship, we are called to make sacrifices, to put that other person (or people) before ourselves. If we want to see our relationships grow to the fullest measure, we must be willing to give, give, give.

Blessings are such an important and gratifying part of life, but we must realize that with every blessing comes a cost, and we must be willing to pay that price. Next time that argument breaks out with a loved one, or an angry word is spoken, don’t lose sight of the blessing….know that you TRULY have been blessed with an irreplaceable gift!

Kendall