by:Erin Bowman

In recent months my life has been a little crazy and at times difficult to see the grace and beauty of God’s love.  Sometimes even when most of life is good we fall short of seeing all the blessings that are set before us.  While all this has been going on I try to take the time to go to the beach and remember not only what all God has created but what he has blessed me with.  As I walk onto the beach and look around I am blessed with all the beauty that God has created, the peace and serenity that comes over me washes away all the doom and gloom and I am able to truly see all the blessings in my life.  God has blessed us all with beautiful surroundings; they are truly one of God’s biggest miracles.  Genesis 1:21 So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that scurries and swarms in the water, and every sort of bird—each producing offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good.

Recently I was blessed with another experience, although I wouldn’t normally consider a funeral a blessing this one most definitely was for me.  The funeral I attended was for the mother of an acquaintance of mine’s mother.  I didn’t even know this woman but by the end of the service not only did I know her but I loved her and what she had given back to her community in the name of God.  This was a woman that had a hard upbringing and yet still continued to smile and tell all that she came across that she loved them.  Gods grace and glory truly shined from this woman.  And as I stood in a very large church packed full of the many people that she had touched through the years even I cried.  For although she was sitting with God, those of us on earth still need someone to remind us of how much he loves us and how we should love each other. Gladys truly shined with God’s grace even in the last year of her life knowing she was terminally ill she still shined with the love that God gave her and gave us through her.  2 Corinthians 4:14 We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus,* will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. 15 All of this is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.

Written by: Erin Bowman 2/25/2009