Category: Life’s Blessings

  • Blessing 24: David

    I’ve been counting my blessings for over two years now; it has helped me get through some difficult circumstances. Every time I’ve felt pain beyond belief, I’ve tried to find the things in my life that make me smile—the things I’m thankful for—so I can move away from depression and towards joy. Some days it’s…

  • Blessing 23: Pain, the Great Teacher

    God grant me the serenity  to accept the things I cannot change;  courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. It’s not surprising that the serenity prayer is used in conjunction with addiction healing. Addictions usually come from people trying to escape pain; however, addictions only keep people in painful…

  • Blessing 22: The Teaching Profession

    If we are honest, we would have to acknowledge the fact that we are all teachers to some extent, whether we want to be or not. We have children and adults all around us who are watching us and learning from our actions and words. We don’t have to be celebrities or athletes to garner…

  • Blessing #21: The Power of Forgiveness

    Where would I be right now if it weren’t for forgiveness? I would be alone, alone with my angry thoughts and my bitter life. I’d still be a grown woman, but my emotional and mental health would be stagnant—still a child complaining about the unfairness of life. I’m not saying I’ve never been angry; anyone…

  • Blessing #20: Blossoming as a Writer

    Fight for your right to write. That’s the slogan my students chose for our journalism class last year. It was so appropriate for a student-run newspaper that has to battle against censorship. We had a passionate staff that year, wanting to change the world with their school paper. Little did I know back in August…

  • Blessing #19: My Faith

    I’m not going to lie; my faith is not what it was ten years ago. And I’m glad. My understanding of and relationship with God has taken many different forms over the course of my life.

  • Blessing #15-18: My Family

    Blessings Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays: I love cooking the entire meal; families all over the country are getting together to laugh and rehash memories; it is also a day that reminds us to count our blessings, a necessary part of our emotional and mental health. However, this Thanksgiving I made my meal…

  • Blessing #14: My Students, Ripples in the Water

    Blessings “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”  ~ Mother Teresa My journey to keep my dream alive has created a wonderful habit: I count my blessings when dark thoughts creep in. Now, whenever I feel the walls closing in on me, I immediately…

  • Blessing #13: Dennis and Lori

    Blessings Part of my writing journey has been to count my blessings, to focus on the things I’m thankful for rather than the things that are going wrong in my life. Not only does this heal my soul, but it has also helped me become a person who can see joy in everything. It has helped…

  • Blessing #12: Family Pets

    I’m still raw from the loss of Sadie, our beloved Boxer of 9 years. In the midst of my heartache this past weekend, I wondered why we would ever torture ourselves with the inevitable pain of losing, essentially, a furry child. The journey that I’ve been on the past six months, the one that made me…