Don't forget God's blessings

He remembered where he was, how he felt, and the bleak outlook of the future. He remembered being able to taste death, being days, hours, even moments from it. He also remembered the feelings of relief and rescue when he caught the bird......

Captain Eddie Rickenbacker was a soldier during the second world war. One night he was on a mission to deliver a message to General Douglas MacArthur in New Guinea. Somewhere over the South Pacific his aircraft lost radio signal, leaving him unable to radio for help once his fuel ran low. Having no other option, Captain Rickenbacker ordered his men to bail as he ditched the plane moments before his engines shut off.
For nearly a month, Rickenbacker and his men floated in the Pacific Ocean, fighting thirst, hunger, and the sun to survive. Sharks circled the crew and rammed the men's rafts at night. Despite the many factors they fought, one seemed to doom them all-starvation. After eight days into the ordeal, rations ran out. The men realized a miracle was needed to survive on the rafts, and that's just what they got.
Rickenbacker tells the story this way:

"Something landed on my head. I knew that it was a sea gull. I don't know how I knew, I just knew. Everyone else knew too. No one said a word, but peering out from under my hat brim without moving my head, I could see the expression on their faces. They were staring at that gull. The gull meant food...if I could catch it."

And Eddie did catch the bird which helped sustain the survivors until help came. But why was a seagull so far from land? It was uncharacteristic for a gull to be so far out at sea, yet the miracle they needed came just in time.

Eddie Rickenbacker never forgot that miracle. In fact, every Friday night, he would walk to the dock near his home in Florida with a bucket of fish and he would feed the seagulls to always remember the second chance he had been given.

Don't allow God's blessings to become distant memories.  Remind yourself of the "bird(s)" that came just in time in your life.  I am reminded of the times when I barely had enough money to buy food for my children and someone lovingly placed money in my hand, or I received an anonymous envelope with just enough money to buy groceries.  I am also reminded of times that I did not know how I would be able to put Christmas presents under the tree for my children and a caring person provided a wealth of toys and other items to more than make their little eyes twinkle on Christmas day.

Sometimes when we get past the days of very little, we forget how God worked in our lives and provided when we thought all was lost.  Perhaps you are currently in those times of very little.  Don't despair!  God knows where you live and He will provide the "birds" that you need.  But don't take God's blessings for granted and don't be too discouraged to see the blessings of God.

Let's determine today to remember the blessings of God and to share them with our children so that they can learn of God's blessings.  When God provides a "bird" in your life, point it out to your children and let them know who provided that blessing.

Look up and remember your blessings!