Blessed.

The past six months have been rough.  Not going to lie.  Rough.  The last 12 months, in actuality- but the past 6 in a different way.

I have written about it in some sense-here, and here- and there are hints of it here.  Writing about how God is there in the midst of pain, in the midst of struggle.  I have talked a lot about the pain, struggles, darkness.

I have overlooked, in my writing at least, about the blessings.

I am incredibly blessed- pain and all.  And much of it is because of the struggles.
God has led me to a place where I can volunteer and plug in to a church that is pouring back into me, to learn things that I wouldn't have had the chance to learn if I hadn't gone through what I did.

I have learned things that simply can't be learned through books, or classes, or through other people's stories.  I have learned by going through the fires.

I have learned that I can truly believe the promises that God is there through it all.  I have also learned that I don't have to wait until the situation arises to look for God's promise about it- but that I can prepare myself through His word.

I have been blessed with a wife who stands by me in thick and thin, a family who supports and believes in me, friends who love me like family, and a God who is refining me in the pain, who is shaping me to be more than I was, to see where I need Him more.

And that is truly blessed.