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The Challenge of Seeing Your Blessings

                  When Kevin Kinard was seven years old, his school went on a field trip to Arkansas’ Crater of Diamonds State Park.  For the last twenty-six years, he has been going back to the park in search of diamonds.

                It is not a crazy quest.  Since 1906, seventy-five thousand diamonds have been unearthed in the park, but Kevin always came home empty-handed.  That is, until September of last year.

                On Labour Day weekend, Kinard and some friends went back to the park and he picked up anything that looked shiny or interesting.  By the end of the day, he had a bag full of rocks, but nothing that looked like a diamond.  In fact, he was not even going to get them checked.  However, one of his friends thought they might have found something, so Kinard decided to go to the ranger’s station and submit his collection as well.

                To Kinard’s surprise, not only had he found a diamond, it was the second largest diamond in the history of the park.  Kinard went home with a 9.7 carat diamond that was worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

                My favourite part of that story is the fact that he almost dumped his bag of rocks without getting them checked.  Sometimes we simply do not realize what we have.

                Similarly, in our everyday lives, it is easy to undervalue our blessings.  It is tempting to focus only on our problems or the things that upset us.  However, it is much better to look for and expect good things.  That way, even when bad things do happen, you are able to reframe the situation so that you can learn and grow from it.  Often, the way we choose to see the situations that we are in is just as important as the situations themselves.

                When you learn to value what you already have, you might be surprised by what else you find.

                “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:4-7).

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