The accident threatened to traumatize me. I knew I had to act quickly. He was holding his hand over his eye and was crying in pain. He wouldn’t let me look at it. There was blood. On his face. And I was alone with him on our farm in the country. My parents were both working and he had been left in my care.

There were no cell phones and I couldn’t reach anyone. I didn’t know how to drive a stick shift, but Grandpa’s truck was the only thing available and I managed to drive it in first gear for a mile up the dirt road where my parents worked.

That was the day my brother’s eye had become the target of a B.B. that ricocheted from a tree when he was hunting birds. When I finally got to look at it, I thought I would throw up. I told my mother it looked like raw hamburger. I couldn’t imagine it could be saved or that he would ever see with it again.

It’s one of the first miracles I remember and it was much later that I realized the wonder of that moment in my early years. Recognizing the miraculous is important. It helps us to know deeply that we live in a realm that includes the supernatural. For me, it means God is personal and knows me. And He gives intentional, personal love.

It’s my desire to live with gratitude and inspiration every day so that it becomes my way of life, not just at Thanksgiving time. I started our ‘Blessings Jar’ several years ago. This year it’s brimming over.

Blessings we include in the jar are moments of unexpected wonder and the more we recognize them, the more that seem to come our way. One was in January when I prayed for a hiking stick and in our desert neighborhood with no trees around, there it was. Perfect in shape and size. Another was an unexpected financial gift. In the middle of a Saturday morning in July. Just a random text. There have been surprise moments and family memories.

The prayers I’ve seen answered this year are a wonder and amaze me. And I’m grateful. I believe for answers and when they come, they bring the joy of knowing I live for a God who knows me and loves me. And in those moments of angst when I lose sight of His grace, it’s a good time to go to the “Blessings Jar’ and remember.

Blessings are not a reward for being good. The kingdom of heaven gives to the undeserving. I could never measure up on my own works. What counts with God is my heart.

Blessings can come in many ways. Recognizing the gift and the Giver have great value in the kingdom that is not of this world. When we stare at something for a long time and then close our eyes, that image often reflects in our mind. I believe what we focus on shapes who we are. Recognizing a blessing may take changing what we focus on.

And yes, my brother has use of both of his eyes nearly 40 years later and can see great.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13