"... but, Lord, there's still that one wobbly plate."

"If you're worried and you can't sleep/ Just count your blessings instead of sheep/ And you'll fall asleep/ Counting your blessings." -Bing Crosby: White Christmas

It has been uncanny how many times within the last few weeks I've heard the phrase, "Count your blessings." I've heard it from others. I've said it myself. Tom and I have talked together about it after getting to celebrate our fortieth anniversary with our precious family this summer.

It's something we say, but often in the context of encountering sad or disheartening news, whether that of our own or of someone else's.

We remind ourselves by those words how fortunate we truly are and are encouraged to take stock of all that's good and going well in our lives.

Isn't it strange how we can become laser-focused on that "thing," whatever it is, that's going wrong in our day-to-day world while being (almost) completely oblivious to all that's going right?! It's that whole spinning plates in the air thing. While they're all aloft, happily spinning away, we almost don't notice them. I mean, that's what spinning plates do... they keep spinning. But have one begin to slow down and wobble just a bit, and all the others fade from view as we cast our glance at that sole defector.

Life is a lot like that, isn't it? We so often take our blessings for granted until something wakes us from our blissful stupor and we catch a glimpse of that wobble. In haste we run to the Lord with our hands out, arms open, pleading with Him to set the wobble straight. He doesn't mind. I know He doesn't. He hears it from me all the time, but I imagine He also wonders if I've ever noticed ALL the spinning plates that He keeps going and going, day after day, year after year.

I shouldn't need a wobble to make me take notice.

Imagine waking up in the morning and listing off all my blessings before doing anything else. Let's focus for a moment on my health. "Thank you God that you have given me another day to live this wonderful life. Thank you that I can see, that I can hear, speak, feel, walk. Thank you for the air that fills my lungs and for the heartbeat that's steady and strong. Thank you for my joints that move and for my mind that's able to think and reason."

This is by no means an exhaustive list. There is so much more to be thankful for.

I get out of bed, a soft bed with cool sheets and warm blankets. I move into the kitchen to grab breakfast. I open the fridge to find all manner of good things to eat, and a stove with gas and electricity to prepare whatever I desire. There is milk and eggs and bread aplenty, none of which I gathered or farmed myself, and yet, God supplied me with the resources needed to purchase these food stuffs from a local grocery store that I drive to conveniently in my car.

Oh, yeah... then there's my car. I think about how many times I have bemoaned an unexpected repair that has cramped my schedule. Yep, there's that wobbly plate again! Do I remember all the moving parts of said automobile that DON'T need repair... the engine that still runs, the working transmission, the intact starter or the other three tires that haven't gone flat? Sadly, I don't always remember to be thankful for that.

I could go on and on, but I think you get my point.

Blessings abound for each of us. They come showering down from our heavenly Father who has great pleasure in doing so. In the Scriptures, James 1:17 reminds us that "every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow."

God takes good care of us. He keeps all the plates spinning. Nothing is ever beyond Him, beyond His notice, or out of His control. We needn't panic when one of those plates begins to wobble. He's already seen it. He's got IT and everything else firmly in His capable grip.

I love that little song, "Count Your Blessings" from the movie White Christmas. I sing it to my grandchildren whenever I get the opportunity to put them to bed. It's a reminder to them, but also to me, that there are more blessings from my good and gracious Father than I can count. And even if I wanted to try to name them all....

I could never count that high.