God Bless You.

Everyday, since April 1st, I have been posting a 'Today I thank God for...'. Even when on holiday and away from www, I kept track and updated my Blog on my return.

I found the process very helpful, sometimes recollecting the trivial aspects of my life that I wanted to thank God for, sometimes the more poignant. This week the end has been in sight, as we approach the end of April, yet it's actually been a really challenging week, not so much in the things that have happened to me, but rather in reaction to situations around me.

1. School: Speaking to a family who's mourning the tragic loss of their 21 year old son/brother.

2. Family: A heartbreaking inevitability.

3. Army: A family friend, in her 40s who's had a stroke.

Last Sunday, I shared with a friend, my fear of our 'fragile' life, not knowing that this week, more examples of this would come to light.

There have been lots of 'everyday' things that I could have thanked God for, but none of them seemed close to worthy with all these thoughts going through my head.

In one of my daily devotions this week, I was challenged with the term 'God Bless You'. It's so often used as a 'signing off' or 'goodbye', but actually, it's worth so much more than that. The writer described it as 'a prayer breathed'. That was a brilliant reminder for me and I found it really helpful in my prayers, as I prayed that God would really Bless the people involved in these three situations.

I pray that God will continue to bless me as I try to unpick what it means for me, to live in this fragile world.

Lord, help me to speak simple words of

blessing and prayer today. Bless my family, my

friends and my church. Amen.