Counting my blessings

It's so easy to go through life and not really notice life. I know I'm guilty of it on many occasions. I get so wrapped up in all the trivial things going on around me that I don't take time to appreciate all the wonderful things and people in my life that God has blessed me with...Amazing family...great friends...wonderful boyfriend (he always brings a smile to my face)...beautiful surroundings. I mean, I live in a place that has abundant streams, rivers, lakes, and is close to the Sound...the mountains surrond me on all sides...it is GREEN....can it get any better?? Plus, I live in a country where I can openly worship Christ & sure, I may be judged by others or laughed at, but that's about the extent of it. How incredible is that?? So why do I so often ignore God's presence around me? Is it because so often it's gray and drizzly here?

I am finding that it's a lot easier to recognize my blessings and praise God when it's sunny outside. God's beauty just seems so much more magnified to me. For example, traffic just builds up on 520 on a gorgeous day because everyone (at least this is my theory) is pausing to stare transfixed at Lake Washington, sparkling in the sunlight, with Mount Rainier rising gloriously behind it. I know I would gaze at it all day if I could. It's just so incredible how God contrasts such power & might with amazingly delicate beauty. I love it! Basically I just love reveling in God's creation...which gets a little dangerous when I am driving because I get distracted from the road...but most of the time it is done safely! But on a cloudy or rainy day, I rarely have a problem moving quickly across 520 (eastbound...westbound is ALWAYS bad). I mean, do people really want to stop and watch the wind blow stormily across the lake, creating large waves that splash angrily over the side of the bridge? Okay, I do. I think that is incredible too...I mean, what strength & power God has! It just shows us another side of Him. I love how nature reveals so much about God to us!! But it's harder for me to just thank God after a week of rainy weather. I get gloomy and don't stop thanking Him, but definitely do it less frequently.

Anyway...point is, I am extremely blessed and I take that for granted WAY too much!