I am blessed!

Every time I think about my life for any extent of time, I always come to the same conclusion: I am extremely blessed. Right now, I feel so overwhelmed with the amount of blessings that my God has given me and continues to give me daily, even though I do not deserve it. My wife is a gift from God. Yesterday, I thought about all the people who had prayed for my future wife growing up. My parents, grandparents, friends, and other family came to mind. I want to say from the bottom of my heart, thank you for those prayers. I am experiencing a great marriage because of those prayers. Tereza is the perfect wife for me. She loves me more than I deserve. She enjoys life just as much as I do. She has so many talents and skills that make up for my inadequacies. Her desire is for me to be the best Christian that I can be, and she continually pushes me to this goal.

I am also blessed with an awesome family. My parents did a brilliant job raising me (I mean, just look at me!). With all jokes aside, I wish that I will be half the father that my dad was to me. My mom taught me how to be compassionate and caring. Your (mom and dad) love for Christ is the greatest thing that you passed on to me, and I thank you for that. I couldn't have asked for a better brother and sister. Sure, we've had the usual sibling fights (back poundings), but I know that they will always be there for me anytime that I need them.

I am also blessed with my job. My boss allows me to work around my school schedule and even sometimes from home. I can't think of a better job that I could have during this time of my life. I enjoy my coworkers, I get free lunch three days a week, and I love what I do.

I will need a part 2 of this post because I have so many other things going through my head right now. Let me end this portion of the post by saying that I do not mean to sound like I am bragging about my life and I am sorry if it came off this way to anyone. I just feel like we all should take a step back and thank God for the blessings that he has given each and every one of us.

Today, I read 2 Samuel 16-19. I wanted to read more than this, but I felt myself losing focus. I'd rather be really interested in four chapters than mildly interested in six or seven chapters. Anyway, in chapter 17, Absalom took the advice of Hushai, one of David's old friends who was secretly still loyal to David, over the advice of Ahithophel, who was highly respected among the people of those days. I know in this story that Absalom is the bad guy and David is the good guy, but I still think that we can learn from Absalom's side of the story. Hushai's advice sounded good and sincere, but it ultimately lead to Absalom's death. This story made me think about what kind of advice I get and from whom. Just because advice sounds good, we should ultimately consult our loved ones and God, through the Word before we make any major desicions.

My prayer is that we fill our minds with God's Word and prayer for wisdom so we can distinguish between the Ahithophels and the Hushais of our lives.