Blessed to be your friend

Feeling pretty blessed right now, not gonna lie!! Mike and I leave for the airport today for Italy and Greece. Somebody pinch me!!! I never dreamed I'd get to go to all the amazing places, let alone take my handsome history professor AND get to go for free. God is so amazing.

Somebody on social media chided me once for always saying how blessed I am. She thought it made me sound really boastful. I felt bad, because when I say I'm blessed, I mean EXACTLY the opposite of boasting! I don't deserve all these nice things–no one owes me a beautiful life, or good health, or perfect children. Everything I have ever had or ever will have is a gift from God. When I say I'm blessed, I'm acknowledging that none of it would be possible without Him.

It's not a put-down of myself, as I've also been told–or a prideful boast to others. It's complete amazement of the ways God takes care of us through every single trial life hurls–and even adds in awesomeness on top just for fun. I'm marveling at the unexpected opportunities, not rubbing them in.

In fact, I don't always have a beautiful life (Instagrammed trips to Greece and Italy notwithstanding.) I have health issues, and I definitely don't have perfect children (although they are awfully cute). Mike and I don't have the perfect marriage–newsflash! We don't live in a magazine-worthy oasis of quiet. We don't have high-profile jobs and fancy cars. Money is always going to be an issue and fame never will be. And only God knows what the future holds.

But nothing that will ever happen will ever mean I am not blessed. I'm alive and able to serve God and others. I will never be forsaken, no matter what occurs, all the way to the end of days or the end of me. Love and children and a safe home and flowers and guinea pigs and rubber stamping are ALL frosting on the cake, just as much as earning a trip to someplace fancy to get pampered for a week.

I forgot where I'm going with this.

Oh well. I'll sum it up anyway! When I say I am "blessed" to be your friend, I mean it. However you want to think about it, know I appreciate what you bring into the world. Having the good fortune to craft with you and get to know each other is a privilege. I wish I could send you each one of these Wild Rose cards, but good grief, postage is wretchedly expensive these days, isn't it? So just consider yourself cyber-hugged.

And now I'm off to enjoy my latest blessing! Whoo hoo! Italy and Greece, here I come!!!

Thank you for the part you played in facilitating this particular blessing with every like, comment, share, order, subscribe and referral last year–but most of all, your gorgeous creativity, that daily inspires my own.