Kevin’s Top 20 Blessings

Today, let us be thankful for things we may not always remember to be thankful for. I am trying out something I normally don’t honestly think of doing as often as I should. Being a husband, counsellor, writer, singer, song writer, graduate Christian counselling student and I would be remiss if I also didn’t mention being kitty daddy to William a.k.a. Sir Lounge a Lot and Catherine a.k.a. Princess Catherine of Chaos, sure keeps this fellow without a loss of things to do. I am going to do my best today and every day with God’s help to lift up a prayer of praise and thanks for everything I have.

What if we all tried something different that maybe you haven’t thought of. Instead of saying I thank You ,Lord, for this or that instead say, “Lord, I thank You for all the sweet treats You give me.” By saying sweet treats I don’t mean that double chocolate doughnut you get with your coffee:) What I mean is going beyond being thankful for all the blessings you have. Think of everything you have as a treat. Say a one sentence prayer for everything God provides as being the best treats He could ever give you. Try it. I will start off.

1) Lord, I am thankful for the treat that is You, who loves me with all of my faults and loves me enough to tell me when I have sinned..

2) Father, I am thankful for the treat that is my wife, who I am adoring more and more as the second greatest blessing to my salvation.

3) Lord, thanks for the brother and friend I have in Pastor Stephen Wuerch at St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church, who is such a gifted encourager and has this infectious enthusiasm and embracing love of Christ that draws others to him.

4)Thanks for the prayerful treat that is the elders and congregations of St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church and Tomstown Church, who have been supporting Karen and I with their prayers and visits.

5) Lord, thank you for the wonderful blessing that is Marmar Dagu-ob, who invited me to become a co-author on Mind’s Seat, has been so much the encourager and has been so faithful in praying for Karen and I as we deal with all the challenges my rare auto immune condition of systemic mastocytosis presents.

6) Father, thank you for my fellow co-authors on Mind’s Seat, who have been so faithful in their prayers for Karen and I through our struggles and the triumphs for You.

7) Loving Heavenly Father, I am thankful for the sweet treat of Father Paul, who is my mentor and Academic Advisor in my M.A.-Ph.D. program in Christian Clinical Counselling at St. James the Elder Theological Seminary, who is helping me to heal from all the people who have abused me in my life, especially my schizophrenic father, who in his sickness sought for me to believe I would always be a failure.

8) Lord, thanks for the encouraging treat that is La Vonne Earl, Director and Founder of Your Kingdom Inheritance Coaching, who through being a prayer warrior and her wise counsel caused an amazing transformation of the inner wounded child from the abuse of my schizophrenic father to a growing victorious healer.

9) Almighty God, thank you so much for the delicious treat You gave me when You called me to become a member of The Word Guild, a Christian writer’s group in Canada, who I feel so abundantly blessed to have in my life because they are such wonderful encouragers, who pray for me, who are teaching me more about becoming the man of God and writer You want me to be.

10) Lord, thank you for our kitties, William and Catherine You gave to us as they crawled up my leg 12 years ago in my wheelchair and picked me to be their kitty daddy, who lay with me on my comforter when I am sick telling me to slow down, rest and recover. Thank you for how they make Karen and I laugh with all their antics when we need so much to laugh through the challenges we face each day.

11) Lord, thank you for the beautiful treat that is my sister, Valerie, who has been with me with her love through the long journey of having my pernicious anemia (B12 deficiency) diagnosed, who cared for me when I had nowhere to live and told me how much she loved me when I would collapse multiple times from low blood oxygen. Thanks, Valerie, for making me laugh with all your hilarious jokes,.anecdotes and for times you have lifted my spirits with your singing and guitar playing. I pray we will laugh and sing together again.

12) Abba Father, thank you for the awesome treat that is my friends, who have been with Karen and I through many dark times as I had eight intubations and the journey to diagnosis of systemic mastocytosis, who tell me how much they love me through their words and their actions.

13 Lord, I would be remiss if I didn’t thank thank You for the delicious sweet treat of the awesome apple pomegranate crisp Karen made for me yesterday because she took time away from her busy life of doing so many things for my care to give me a dessert that is sweet,has the crunch factor I miss because I can’t have snacks like potato chips. Her love in doing this does not make me feel deprived of the many foods I am allergic to.

14) Father, thank you for bringing the sweet treat of Dr. Charles Mcvety, President of Canada Christian College & Graduate School into my life, who You moved to tell me that You had given me far more training than I thought of and gave me advanced standing in my Bachelor of Theology degree. Father, thanks for this man of God, a pastor of the heart, a brother in Christ who You used to show me my calling to be a counsellor of the heart.

15)Thank you, Father, for the sweet treat You gave of generous bursaries for our Master of Dvinity studies at Trinity College in the University of Toronto. I look forward to starting in January with the journey You started there nine years ago.

16)Thanks so much , Lord, for the treat of the connections You give me on the professional network of Linkedin many of whom have become my friends because I believe networking is about far more than what others can do for me; it is a relationship that I learn and grow from as they share their lives with me.

17)Thanks, Lord, for this beautiful town of Englehart, for their kindness and their love with that friendly hello and their listening ears.

18) Thanks so much, Lord, for the treat of our pharmacist, Wayne Marshall of Marshall’s Pharmasave, who advocated for me to get compassionate coverage of ketotifen fumerate, the expensive mast (immune & systemic) cell stabilizer that keeps me alive. Two times a day as I take it You remind me that my life is a gift from You.

19) Father, thanks for Orville Rumleski, a brother in Christ, friend, Christian singer and pastor, who gave us the gift of an organ so every day Karen and I are reminded You give the treats we least expect to receive.

20) Lastly, Father but not least, thanks for the uplifting treat that are the readers of my blog, who allow me to be real in what I share with them about the joys and struggles in Karen’s and my life and teach me as they share some of their life with me.

I kept thinking of more blessings than these. Anyone or anything I have left out is still God’s sweet treats.

That apple or whatever food God provides is a sweet treat as well because every time you bite into the food He gives it is a gift of His creation.

Please take time to think of and help that family member, friend, neighbour or colleague who has fallen on hard times and could use a git of groceries. Just say, “This is a gift for being you.”

I must also say a special thanks of the sweet treat that is the doctors, both allopathic and naturopathic, who You are using to bring me to become much healthier. Thank you, Dr. Jonathan Prousky, B.Sc., N.D., M.Sc. University of London, Chief Naturopathic Medical Officer at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine in Toronto, for being with me through over 13 years of my journey to wellness, for your commitment to support me in this overwhelming medical journey and humour when I so much need to laugh. Thanks, Dr. Pamela Mark, for all the years you never gave up on me as a patient as we all wondered together about the many symptoms I was experiencing that would ultimately be diagnosed as pernicious anemia and systemic mastocytosis. Thanks, Dr. Eugene van Onselen, my family physician, for being such a great encourager and coordinating my care like the conductor of a medical orchestra. Thanks, Dr. Jason Lee, my mastocytosis specialist at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, for taking this journey with me to bring me to maximum wellness.

In the hustle and bustle of preparing for Christmas let us take some time to thank God for all His sweet treats. As you go about your day take some time to love that stranger God puts in your path. That searching soul so much needing to be loved needs the gift of God’s and your love because that wandering soul is feeling so alone, so unloved, so unwanted.

Father, thanks for loving me a sinner and showing me when I complain about all I don’t have I truly do have much more than I realize.

Thanks, Lord, for the gift of Your one and only son, who died for me and all of us that we would be given the sweetest treat of Your salvation is the best Christmas present of all because it is wrapped in the tender and loving blanket of that baby in a manger in Bethlehem, who grew up to be the saviour of us all.

Lord, when I add it all up I have a lot to me thankful for. You do gift such awesome blessings!

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