John 1:16

16From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.

This verse has been going through my mind a lot lately. It was the theme verse of my Christmas letter in fact. Though this past year has had its challenges (as every year has its challenges), there have been so many blessings. And all blessings come from God. He is the Giver of all good things. Sometimes we are guilty of not recognizing the blessings or not expressing gratitude for His blessings. But He keeps on giving the blessings anyway. Because God gives not based on what we do or how "good" we are (thank God, since we are sinful to the core!). He gives purely out of grace. My friend Lisa, from when I first met her would say, "Blessings are chasing you down." That's always stuck with me. Of course the greatest blessing is that Jesus Christ suffered and died on the cross so that we could be forgiven and have eternal life. Then there are the blessings of family, friends, vocation, house, food, clothing, music, and on and on and on. So many blessings! What a loving, awesome God we have!