Although it has been many years ago, I can still remember as if it were yesterday sitting down at the table to begin what was at the time a monthly ritual of paying our children‘s medical bills. Paying the bills never makes me happy. It‘s trying and depressing because it seems that the more checks I write, the more bills I get. My then two-year- old daughter was in my lap, playing doctor… of all things! I continued writing checks and complaining while she tended my imaginary wounds. Suddenly she stopped playing and asked, “daddy, how da get dis boo-boo on your face?”
Her question brought back long forgotten memories. As a child I had received many “corrections” at the wrong end of a switch for playing in Granny‘s flowers. I learned that lesson so well that on one particular occasion I personally attempted to provide the same correction to a stray dog I found in Granny‘s flowers. Needless to say he did not appreciate the quality of the education I was providing and he bit me. I was carried into the house screaming, “I‘m blind, I‘m blind, I‘m blind, I can‘t see!” I‘ll never forget my father‘s words…”Well open your eyes then.”
As those memories flooded my mind, I looked into my daughter‘s eyes, and smiled. One of god‘s greatest blessings had been in my lap all along. I had not noticed because I was blinded by my own complaints. All of a sudden as I opened my eyes paying those bills did not seem so bad. It is amazing how much easier life‘s burdens are when you open your eyes to God‘s blessings. In the fourth chapter of Philippians, Paul encourages us to think about the blessings from God and not our short comings. When you think about God‘s blessings in your life, God will open your eyes just as he did for the blind man. Life is too short to miss God‘s blessing simply because we fail to see what is right in front of us.
As I turned my attention back toward the mountain of medical bills and looked at my daughter playing doctor. With a huge smile I thought, “two more payments and she‘s all mine!” How many blessings can you see?