Blessings

I was laying in bed last night thinking about how today is my birthday. I have always loved my birthday because it is the one day of the year it is ok to enjoy the center of attention and not feel selfish. It was fun rolling over in bed this morning and telling Heath, "I'm on strike today!" and knowing I could get away with staying in bed while he got Caleb ready for school. It has been fun getting phone calls and emails and Facebook messages telling me Happy birthday. But I also thought last night that sometimes we can build up all these expectations about our birthday and walk away disappointed that they weren't met. I prayed last night that I would enjoy my day relaxing, but also focusing on Him and His blessings. I started thinking about how He has blessed me in the last 32 years. His hand was on me long before I even knew Him. Today I want to share 32 ways God has blessed me in honor of my 32nd birthday. Some of these may just sound like events in my life. But to me they are milestones that I look back on and know that it was God's hand.

1. I was born to God-fearing parents who raised me to know Him.
2. Even though they tortured me, I was not born an only-child but had a brother and sister that I share many fond memories with.
3. I have had the opportunity to live in several places and experience life from a small town to a big city.
4. We had the opportunity as children to travel to places around the U.S. as well as abroad.
5. I had parents who loved me through some very poor choices and did not turn their back on me.
6. At the age of 16, God called me unto Himself and I chose to have an intimate relationship with Him.
7. God led me to a christian dance company where I was able to worship Him in a way I will always hold dear to my heart.
8. I was able to live as an exchange student in Mexico for a summer and grow up really fast as I adjusted to a world away from home.
9. Not only was I able to go to college but I was able to go out of state to school and learn how to completely depend on God out in the real world.
10. God blessed me with my husband Heath in college. He has loved me unconditionally for the past 13 years and has always made me feel like I am the most beautiful girl in the world.
11. When I was searching for direction in my life, God clearly spoke to me to be a teacher. I can still remember exactly where I was and what He said.
12. God was my strength and my foundation through college.
13. My mother and I struggled through our relationship in my teen years but we were able to reconcile while I was in college and we have been close ever since. That was the power of God that changed our hearts.
14. Just when I needed it, God led me to a teaching position.
15. Looking back on it, I still don't know how I survived those first few years teaching, but I did and obviously without any battle wounds. But I did make some lifelong friends!
16. On March 22, 2002, Caleb Aubrey Lockhart was born. Your first born changes you in so many ways but you get a glimpse of the love Christ has for us. I still remember the first time I looked in his eyes and my heart changed forever.
17. Adding a child and losing an income was a big change in our lives and I thank God for the wisdom to choose our family over material possessions. As hard a decision as it was, I am thankful that He prompted my husband to sell our larger home and move into one that we could afford while I became a stay-at-home mom.
18. I look back over the different church families I have been apart of over my lifetime. They are all so different yet all have had an impact on my life. Sometimes God prompted us to leave and those were some tough times, but God always led us to the right place. He has been so faithful to us.
19. It is common to hear at 7 years you hit a tough time in your marriage and Heath and I definitely did. But it was enough to stop us in our tracks and turn us in the right direction. That mountain was a blessing because our marriage is so much stronger now.
20. On February 25, 2005, Elizabeth Anne Lockhart joined our family. I remember before she was born, wondering if I could love her as much as Caleb, and then I took one look at her and my heart doubled in size. I couldn't even remember what life was like without her.
21. God led a family to bless us financially when we didn't think we would ever get out of the financial burden we were under. That was a completely humbling experience that left us on our knees praising our Heavenly Father and Provider.
22. I have an incredible family and extended family that loves and serves the Lord. Not many people can say they share their faith with their family.
23. God has put amazing friends in my life that have rejoiced and cried with me through the years. Some are not in my life anymore, some have left and returned, but all of them hold a special place in my heart. God has used many of them to teach me tough lessons but they have molded me into who I am today.
24. I have been blessed with good health as has my family.
25. There have been many times over my life where I have struggled or hit a rut and I have moved away from God but He has always remained by my side and welcomed me back with open arms.
26. Two years ago when we knew financially that I needed to go back to work, God opened doors I didn't even know were there and provided me a part-time job teaching.
27. That was one difficult year going back to work, but we all pulled together as a family and made it work. God taught me a lot about myself through that experience. I think I am still learning things from it.
28. I have always enjoyed writing and have felt God leading me to pursue my passion more with writing a book as well as keeping this blog. I look forward to where He will lead me.
29. This had to make the list as it is so recent and fresh in my mind, but God was definitely with us through Hurricane Ike in the fall. Houston was hit extremely hard and it was a very scary experience riding it out through the night. We had many friends with major damage and without power for days. We had only minor roof damage and power was on the following morning.
30. God has been truly faithful to us in this very tough financial time. With the economy the way it is, business has been limited but God has given us a peace that surpasses all understanding and He has provided every month.
31. Just last month I was blessed with watching Caleb accept Jesus as his Lord and Savior and follow in baptism. What a blessing it is to watch your child make a decision that you have been praying for since before he was born.
32. The past 40 days I have spent feasting on the Lord in a wonderful bible study and found I have grown more in the last 40 days than I have in the last 5 years.

I spent most of today thinking about all of these and reflecting over all God has done for me. Now that the day is almost over, I realize I accomplished what I wanted to. I focused on God and His blessings in my life. I wanted to make sure I wasn't just listing material things or even good things, because even the trials in our life are blessings. As James says, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of every kind, because you know the testing of your faith develops perseverance." James 1:1-3. Thank you Lord for the joys and the trials. Thank you Lord for 32 years.

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Psalm 139:13-16