Blessings Are Everywhere, They Just Have to Be Found
The night before, I prayed. I had been praying for a week, but this was different. The next day I would be taking my first ever AP exam and knew I would need help. Computer Science may have come easy to me in class, but I was so scared about the AP exam as some questions had the capability to boggle me. They are excessively wordy and occasionally fail to get their point across clearly. Two weeks before the exam, my teacher handed out a practice test. I successfully answered seventeen out of forty-three correctly. A week later when I took it home reviewed my answer, one thought recurred in my mind with almost every question, "Man! What was I thinking?!" This only added to my frustration with the AP, but nothing could be done about it. Going in to the test, I didn't have high hopes, but I decided to try my best.
When I opened my exam booklet for the multiple choice section, I read over the first question. It was surprisingly simple and I filled in the bubble with ease. The next question was just as simple and I began to wonder just how long this would last. I finished the first five, ten, twenty, and I didn't even break a sweat! One or two questions may have thrown me off a bit, but they didn't take away from the fact that the test was a hundred times easier than the questions I had seen previously!
After the allotted time was up, I moved on to the free response questions. My pencil flew across the page as I knew how to answer each question. In fact, I finished with forty minutes left in the session. With nothing else to do, I decided to look over my work. Finding no mistakes, I closed my booklet and sat quietly, thinking to myself about how easy it was. However, with about ten minutes to go, I heard a queer noise, as if my AP book had been slammed onto the table. Instantly I thought, "Okay God, I am listening. What's up?" Suddenly a thought popped into my mind, "Go back and check question three, line three." Hesitantly, I flipped through several pages before noticing that I had forgotten to put a semicolon, a character that terminates most lines of code in Java, at the end of line three. As a sense of awe and wonder came upon me, I asked God, "Anything else I missed?" and I had the idea to check question 4, section B, line ten. I flipped the page and began counting, even though I doubted I would find anything. "Line one, two, three," I counted, until I reached ten. Upon inspection, I realized I had made an enormous mistake and needed to fix it quickly. I looked over at the clock. Five minutes left. My eraser flew into action and I carefully wrote out the code as it should be. Two minutes later, I breathed a sigh of relief and felt confident I could close my book for good. "Thank you Lord!" I prayed. "Thank you, thank you Lord."
Get Our Latest News for FREE
This experience gave me a sense of awe for God's constant presence and I was reminded that it never hurts to look for the small blessings in life. Large miracles are hard to come by for anyone who can't see the tiniest of blessings. Even though I had a sufficient grade in computer science, I feared my inability to understand even the simplest of AP questions would prevent me from receiving any college credit from the exam. I prayed the night before and God came through. Right before I started the test, I said a quick prayer, asking for the ability to understand exactly what each question was asking and God came through. Each question that I understood was a small blessing. Each blessing contributed to the miracle that I felt satisfied with my performance on the exam.
But this idea plays into more than just tests. If we are unable to see everything God is doing in our lives, we are blinded from the big picture. No miracle can happen without many small blessings building up to it. Over five years ago, when God placed his healing hands on my body and pulled me through a struggle with cancer, all my friends, family, and relatives were overjoyed. But none of this would have happened if I had not had the willpower to keep fighting. That willpower came from the support of everyone around me. With so many amazing aunts, uncles, friends, parents, and a sibling all sending me cards, heartfelt meals, and love every day, I was never alone. God gave me incredible parents, family, and friends to help understand The blessings around me were numerous, each of them taking a part in the journey to my survival.
Every day, there is something to be thankful for. Everyone receives blessings, even though some are hard to find. They can be as simple as waking up in the morning, or as complex as bringing a family together. Everything we take for granted can be counted as a blessing if viewed from the right perspective. The lumpy mattress in the master bedroom could be seen from the angle that there is a mattress in the master bedroom. The brussel sprouts sitting on the kitchen table for dinner could be viewed from the perspective that there is a dinner to eat. Nothing should be taken for granted as there is always someone on Earth who lacks something we have. We are living, breathing organisms that are able to comprehend and understand the world around us. God has given us everything we need in the journey of life; we just have to look for his work in our lives. And by directing our thoughts towards God and keeping our eyes open, we can never guess what might be coming our way.
