I’ve been busy lately. There are a lot of big things happening at our church plus we have three kids, two of whom are starting new schools this year (one at preschool and one at kindergarten) plus one eight-month-old!   I’ve been working really hard and feeling tired. Sometimes exhaustion can rob you of your joy.But when I take even the smallest amount of time to reflect, I am so grateful. I was exhausted on Sunday because I had to preach twice, write a grant application to allow our church to have a half-time Pastor of Latino Ministries, because we have to work hard to find teachers for all the kids who are now part of our church family, and because a bunch of church people went to Ancil Hoffman Park to play after church on Sunday. If you had told me that I would have these “problems” a few years ago, I would have said you were dreaming. They’re all blessings!

Sometimes my kids are exhausting too. They have places they need to be. They want to run and play. They make messes. The baby is clingy. That’s all tiring. But it’s great too!

My wife needs help, and the house needs work. But it’s amazing that I am married to Eleanor. She’s incredible. And we now have a house that’s big enough for our kids. I’m grateful for that too.

Some things in life aren’t the result of blessings. I won’t list those, but we all have them. There are things in life that we have to deal with and we may never know why. Still, even when I’m dealing with those things, it helps to focus on the blessings God has given me in my life. I, my family, and our church have truly been blessed, and I am grateful. Tired and grateful. :-)

As we sang on Sunday morning, “Come, thou fount of every blessing!  Tune my heart to sing thy grace.  Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.”

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