As the new year began I looked forward to the many blessings  of God ahead. A friend of mine gave me a Blessing Jar which sits on my kitchen counter with tags to fill out each day. When I saw her jar I loved the idea and couldn’t wait to start. Each day I am supposed to put a slip of paper in with something or someone I am grateful for that day. After only two days I learned a good friend died suddenly. The days since his death have been filled with emotion and it has been hard to find blessings when you grieve.

Reading God’s word reminded me he has plans for each person’s life and it is not my place to question. It is a blessing to even experience emotion. It is part of being alive. At the funeral home there was a huge outpouring of love and many testimonies about my friend. He left a legacy of love and kindness that will not soon be forgotten. His friendship of twenty-eight years is now on a slip of paper in my blessing jar. I will put a new one in my jar every year when I remember him.

Each day the news is filled with shootings and tragedy. I know God is still there and I have a lot to be grateful for even when life isn’t perfect. So do we all!

Winter can be a gloomy time of year. Christmas is gone and sometimes the cold weather gets old. The trees look dead, but in just a few months we will begin to see the daffodils come up. A blessing jar can be a great reminder of how much we take for granted. Not just things, but people we have in our lives.

I am so grateful that my friend gave me my jar. It is a visible reminder of the love of my father in heaven. I want to leave a legacy that will be remembered, too.