Bountiful Blessings in 2019

Dear Father,

This year is almost over. We have witnessed beautiful gifts that we recognize as gifts of grace, and we also have experienced sorrows that have been hard and difficult. Yet through it all, You have walked by our side. You have been our ever-present Companion and the source of our strength and comfort. Your peace has surrounded us on good days and bad ones.

So we give You thanks for Your blessings - the beautiful ones that put smiles on our faces and the hard ones that brought torrents of tears. In all of them, You have been faithful. Your best blessings do not always come in neat, easy packages. Sometimes they are hard to open, yet they pour depth into our lives that we did not have before. If we let You do Your work in us, we grow more in those times than we do on the bright, beautiful days.

So thank You for all the blessings You have given this year, both the easy ones and the hard ones. We thank You for the way You use all of our blessings to mature us. Thank You that You do not give up on us, but You keep working on us so that we will become more like You. (Philippians 1:6)

Keep those blessings coming, Lord. We look forward to many more in the coming year.

Amen.

Photo: The beauty that God puts around us is always a reminder of His overflowing blessings.