Life on the Road: Counting

After traveling more than 10,000 miles since July 6, we are now in the final week of this adventure.  As I sit here in yet another hotel room, this one in south Florida, I am counting the days until we return home.

Two classes today.  Travel day tomorrow.  Two classes in Tampa on Thursday.  After all that, an 8 hour drive on Friday, and then we're home.  Or perhaps it will be 9 hours.  Or maybe even 10.  It all depends on traffic and road construction and how many times we stop to take a break.

But no matter how long it takes, on Friday we will be home.  And I am ready for that!

I'm counting the days [and the hours and the minutes!] until we're home on Friday, but I am also doing counting of another sort.  As I look back over the weeks of this journey, I am counting blessings as well.

Certainly I am giving thanks for our safety as we have traveled all these many miles.  A lot of miles, and a lot of hotels, and a lot of meals in hotels and restaurants.  We have traveled safely, with no accidents or even near-accidents, no illness other than a few sniffles here and there, and with no real problems of any kind.  That is truly a great blessing and I am thankful!

Over the course of this trip we have had occasion to spend a little time with friends and family in various parts of the country.  Most recently, this past Sunday, we were blessed to spend time with two of our very best friends, worshipping together and then sharing a delightful meal.  We've done a lot of that together over the years, and as we chatted over lunch, it was such a joy to call to mind many of the experiences we've shared in the nearly forty years we have known each other.  How thankful I am that the Lord brought us together all those years ago!  How thankful I am for the way the Lord has used Wayne and Linda in our lives and in the lives of so many others!  How thankful I am for all the years we shared in ministry!  How thankful I am for all the years of our friendship!  And how thankful I am that once again over a Sunday lunch, we could talk and laugh and share our hearts!  So today, as I'm counting my blessings, those few hours this past Sunday shared with such special friends are among the things I am counting.

Today I am counting.

Counting the days and hours until we are home again.

Counting all the ways God has blessed us along this journey.

Counting my blessings. 

 

"Count your blessings, name them one by one;

Count your blessings, see what God has done!

Count your blessings, name then one by one;

And it will surprise you what the Lord has done!"



(-lyrics:  Johnson Oatman, Jr.)

 

 

 

"Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name.  Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits." (Psalm 103:1 NASB, emphasis mine)