Don't Just Count The Blessings, Enjoy Them!

I've been in a funk the past couple of weeks.  Ever been there?  Just not feeling like yourself, feels like there's a cloud hanging over everything?  I even had an anxiety attack, thought I was going to pass out at the greenhouse. In a flash I thought, " This is perfect, at least the flowers aer ready for my casket."  It was that bad in that moment.  Ever been there?
All I could do from there was rest and really try to not think.  This morning I reviewed my journal entry from last week and remembered something I learned about that morning.  It comes from this obscure little section in Luke 11 about a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace but loses everything to one stronger. Which would make sense the other one is stronger, duh. But there's also this phrase, "...he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides the spoils."  The strong guy trusted in his armor (and not the armor of God kind). 

Fine, but then Jesus goes right into teaching about a man who had an unclean spirit.  The unclean spirit left the man.  The man tidied up, put everything in order. But then the unclean spirit comes back with seven others!  What's up with that?!  Didn't the guy think to lock the door, or did he have a welcome-vacancy sign hanging out?

This morning I learned more about that.  It's like cleaning the house. Everything gets put in its place, all neat and tidy. The dust is gone, clothes & dishes put away, space is created, all is well.  But then that also leave space to fill, so we fill it with more knick-knacks to dust, more papers to file, more junk we don't need.  Or even better, just buying a bigger house to fit all our stuff in.  There's more floor space, so why not fill it with furniture!  The big question here is, "What am I filling my space with?"  Well, the Sunday School answer is it should be Jesus.  But what in the world does that look like?

I've been given such an amazing opportunity of space the past couple years to really evaluate who I am.  I know whose I am, I know what I'm purposed to do, now...who am I beyond the foundation of being a child of God?  What am I filling my space with? 

I chatted with a friend this weekend about my funk.  What I took away from our conversation was to not just count my blessings, but enjoy them.  Me being the list making kind of person, I started a list of all the things I enjoy.  I filled a couple of pages in a short time. I learned something from that too, but that's another post for another day.  But if I make Jesus my focal point in my space, and fill the rest with things I enjoy - isn't that living life to an abundant level? To overflowing! Then I'm helping others live life abundantly too!

So I encourage you dear reader, fill your space with good and perfect gifts from above and your heart will overflow with joy!  Don't just count your blessings - enjoy them!