Yesterday's Blessing

Some years ago, I was very stressed in my job. I spoke with my pastor, telling her when I got in bed at night my mind was a swirl of frustrations about the day and dread for what was to come. She suggested praying about my blessings from the day instead; each time a negative thought crept in, I would focus on a good thing God had given me that day. It made quite a difference in my stress level.

These days I like to scrapbook, and follow several scrapbook blogs and forums. One appealing challenge was to scrapbook your blessings, but getting the page designed and put on paper seemed unmanageable, so I decided to journal each day. Since I generally start my morning with coffee and my devotions, it seemed easy to use a notebook and list the blessings – of the previous day. So most days, my journal entry starts, Yesterday’s blessing…

October 12, 2009

Yesterday’s blessing was making pesto from basil grown in my garden and stirring it into hot pasta to be served with scallops. Other years, my basil has been scraggly and meager. Hardly enough to add a few leaves to a recipe, never mind pulverizing 2 cups in the blender with garlic, olive oil and walnuts. This year it's done well; it's bushy and full - wish I knew why! I trimmed most of the leaves from one plant before transplanting it to the cold frame we built this fall. I wonder if it will winter over or if the snow will kill it?

After we ate dinner, Paul said we’d have garlic breath for sure, but it sure was good!