The Blessings Box

Jan 29, 2014 by Jeanette Hanscome

Almost three years ago, a dear friend inspired me to start a Blessings Folder. At the time, life was literally falling apart around me. I could not afford to lose touch with my ability to recognize God’s unexpected touches and gifts. In fact, seeing God’s goodness in the chaos felt like a matter of survival, so I found the nicest folder in my office and started filling it up. Within a couple of months that folder was stuffed with mementoes and cards—notes that came at the perfect time, fun items from my sons that brightened my day, whatever happened to feel like a blessing at the time.

By Christmas I’d run out of room in my folder. However, I also received a pretty box filled with little gifts, so I decided to use it as a Blessings Box. The fact that God had flooded a time of grief and loss with so many reminders of His love and provision that I needed to graduate to a box felt like a blessing it itself. Today that box is stuffed, filled with stacks of cards, notes that once contained cash or gift cards from anonymous friends, and other cherished items that strengthened me during a painful journey. Now that I’m on the other side of crisis and looking to a more hopeful future, that box is my treasure chest. I began to wonder if I should start a new Blessings Box, or maybe it was time for something different.

Last week, another dear friend inspired me to create a new kind of box—one to take into the future. Right now it is filled with nothing but potential.  I have a feeling that stuffing it to overflowing will be pretty exciting. It will be even more thrilling when I open it a year from now and see what God did. Maybe I’ll even blog about it.

Talk about a blessing!

What do you keep as a reminder of God’s goodness to you?