Blessing count

By BECKY NELSON
Bramblings
We have a lot to be thankful for at the farm. As I gaze out the window trying to count my bountiful blessings before our upcoming Thanksgiving day and see the winter clouds passing through on another gray day, I quickly start thinking of the frustrations and curses, but make myself come back to the blessings.

We are blessed to own our own business and all the frustrations and disappointments, joys and successes that come with the responsibility. We live in a wonderful corner of the world where the weather is fairly moderate, we receive enough rainfall, sunshine, and clear skies to raise a few crops and animals, and we have a dedicated force of employees that helps us get the work done. And when the work is done, we live in an area loaded with beauty and opportunity, whether we just enjoy it on a show about New Hampshire, a drive in the countryside or a hike, snowmobile, bike or snowmobile ride along the myriad trails and byways around this beautiful state.

We are blessed by the people around us. We have family, friends, acquaintances, neighbors, community members and customers who genuinely care about us and our success as farmers and individuals. We have a government, that despite its many flaws and flawed characters working in it, guarantees our freedom to think, communicate, work, live, love, enjoy, worship and care for one another in freedom from persecution. 

My top three blessings are God, family and health. I am blessed to live in a community with multiple houses of worship. I have my choice of places to serve with other community members practicing the same faith and I feel the freedom to enter any one of these houses of worship without fear of judgment, denigration or unsafe spaces as I choose the path I want to follow on my faith journey. I can find God in the beauty and peacefulness around me and even in the times of stress and disappointment and struggle and grief when the pressures of the world seem too heavy because of the wonderful and caring people who line the streets and inhabit the homes of the towns and communities around me. I feel the hand of God in our hospitals, doctor offices, mental health clinics, firehouses, police stations, service departments and facilities and all of the caring personnel who greet and care for me, mine and yours in those facilities. I can feel the strength of spirit in the people fundraising, caring, working and striving to make the world a better place in so many ways they are too numerous to list.

I am extremely blessed by family who cares for one another, supports one another in times of crisis and struggle and is always willing to lend a laugh, a helping hand, a hug or a solution to life’s many challenges and pressures. I am thankful for all families out there, and I encourage talking, listening, healing and caring in all who are struggling to make broken families work. A working family is a strength that will carry folks through the hard and frightful times and also give them times of limitless joy. For my family’s ability to look beyond the little hurts, enjoy the moments of togetherness and love and come together to tackle the big problems, I am forever grateful.

Health is a relative term, and I am blessed to have good physical, mental, social and spiritual health. Only because of the strength and caring of the army around me supporting and caring for me, am I healthy. It is a blessing without measure.

I urge all of you who may be struggling with any area of your life to reach out and seek the help, support, love and caring of this amazing community to help get you on your feet and building the relationships that will carry you through the tough times and give you moments of comfort and joy just as I am blessed. Life is too short to waste in pain and suffering, insecurity and grief when there are so many people in our communities willing to help, listen and support. I am thankful for all of my readers, and I urge all of you to reach out those helping, listening and supportive hands to your friends and neighbors and community members in need. Blessings are wasted if they are not shared. God Bless your Thanksgiving.