God Bless You!

I've recently heard a couple of sermons from different Pastors on the importance of blessing others.  My own Pastor encouraged us to say "Bless you" more often, perhaps beginning on Thanksgiving Day.  I took this suggestion to heart, and mentioned each person at our Thanksgiving table by name in our prayer before the meal.  Afterward, I could tell that it made a difference to everyone there: the power of being named and the power of being blessed.  So, I highly recommend praying for blessings with others and for others.  Blessing friends and family in this way is the easy part. It feels great and people appreciate it. The harder part is blessing people who you really want to smack!  The other sermon talked about blessing those who curse you.  Of course, once I heard this sermon, those words came back in my mind when I found myself hurt and angry by disrespectful communication at different times by different people. Blessing those who hurt you is a lot harder!  It's not something you do with them, but rather for them.  Blessing our "enemies" is equally if not more important and incredibly powerful.  I don't know if it has much impact on these disrespectful people, but it has a huge impact on me.  My stress is lower, my blood pressure returns to normal, and I can smile again.  I think Melissa knew that when we bless others, we get blessed in the process. That's why she spent all of her time focusing on giving to others, and more determined to do so as her time grew short. So, as much as it's a struggle, I will continue to bless people-- both those I love and those I'd love to strangle. Because in giving the blessing, we get back so much more!