My Seven Blessings

Sometimes I complain.

Sometimes I just feel sorry for myself.

Sometimes I am so self-absorbed, so self-centered, so preoccupied with myself and my circumstance that I loose sight of what's important.

What's important? In the grand scheme of things, in view of God's great plan, in view of eternity, what's important today, in my relatively meager, temporary life? Only after acquiring a grasp on what's important, versus what's not important—only then am I able to discern God's blessings that I have received, as well as those for which I should rightly hope.

After some years now of wrestling with God over these things; after years of complaining to God about my supposed plight, I finally now have come to a more proper perspective of my true situation: I am a blessed man. God has truly blessed me beyond measure, with priceless blessings commonly withheld from the wealthiest men on earth. I will name six of them that God has given for my present enjoyment, and a seventh that has been set aside by God for eternity.

The first, Raam Jordan Foy, our youngest child.

The second, Toreah Danielle Foy, our youngest daughter.

The third, Cole Elias Foy, our third son.

The fourth, Jared Ethan Foy, our second son.

The fifth, Chason Eliot Foy, our first son.

The sixth, Shirah Eden Foy, our first child.

The seventh, Eva Christa Foy, or perhaps Evan Christos Foy. He or she would have been our sixth child, but God saw fit to take this child up to Himself, sparing him or her the arduous journey through this troubled life. How the Lord is using this child, I do not know, but this I do know: God does not grant life for no reason, and the instantiation of this soul was not without purpose. I can only imagine the amazing things this daughter or son of ours is accomplishing in the service of our Savior. It's sometimes fun just to ponder…

And yet…! Whence came unto me these seven invaluable blessings? Through whose labor were they made manifest? Yes, through my eighth blessing, who came first—Sheila, the love of my life.

I happened, along my way, to meet a girl who laughed at my jokes. This was rare. Most girls seemed to see nothing notable in myself, so when she took note, I thought, "This girl is unique, not like all the others."

Looking back over the years, it has only become more and more obvious that God's introduction of Sheila to myself was clearly a part of an amazing plan that He had laid out in advance for us both. And I think that neither of us, to this day, really has much of a grasp on the breadth, the far reaching ramifications, of God's plan for the two of us as it shall continue to unfold in the lives of our children.

All I know is that I cannot shake this deep sense that the God of the universe has plans—really big, really grandiose plans—which for whatever reason, include us. I am now a spectator, just watching to see what happens, though I'm also still in the game. All I have to do is continue learning how to get myself out of God's way so that He can work, while yet still being engaged and active. Weird, huh? But true.

To expound, let me now boast, yet not in myself but in our children. One might believe they are a product of their parents, but I know better. We started out thinking, "We've got to get our parenting skills honed so that we can have good kids." True, perhaps, but only half true. Without God's blessing, the best parents might have bad kids nonetheless, for do they not grow up to make their own choices? Thus I now point to the magnitude of God's blessing to us—our children. They are each a blessing to others, and this fact blesses me immeasurably.

But I'm not writing this to brag about my kids. I'm writing this with a dual purpose in mind:

1. To publicly announce to my children how proud I am of them!
2. To point a big finger toward God, from whom all blessings flow.

Because trust me: I'm not anything special. I am a worm; God is great. That's the only explanation.

God is great, and I happen to think everyone should praise Him.