The Blessings
Yesterday, in response to a sign I saw, I took some time to list the 10 Plagues of Now where I happen to abide. So, in an effort to give the bright side a glance, here's the Blessings of Now where I happen to abide:
The Blessing of Finances. Where I live, people tend to be amply compensated for the work they do. And many people do a lot of wonderful things with their money. They contribute to charities, Parent-Teacher organizations, schools, athletic departments, churches and things like that. In my church alone people have joyfully given to suppor the work of the ministry (our mission budget alone is considerable, not to mention the other ministry budget where people are growing spiritually) so I can imagine that many worthy charities and causes are the beneficiaries of good hearts of a lot of nice people.
The Blessing of Opportunity. The American Dream is alive and well in my little 'burb. There is not one thing preventing any person from being who they want to be or developing their talents and passions to the maximum ability. We don't have the constraints of urban or rural environments that can (and often do) take hope out of the equation when it comes to making the most of your opportunities.
The Blessing of Education. Public education is excellent in this neck of the woods. Kindergarten. Elementary school. Middle school. High school. Community colleges. Universities. They're all there for the taking. Don't like the public system? Got plenty of quality private school options to take advantage of, man. Can't afford that? We generally have ALL the resources one would need for quality homeschooling environments, and several of those combine resources to make that an attractive broad-based option as well.
The Blessing of LIFE & LIVING. According to the Bible, it's a worthy endeavor to enjoy the fruits of one's labor. And, you know what? People here work long hours and often travel a great deal. And we can enjoy the fruits of our labor here...everything from buying a grill to cook out, or tickets to a sporting event, or a nice vacation every now and then, or golf, or restoring that old car to mint condition, to redecorating a room in the house. Whatever it is, people here can enjoy the fruit of their labor, and that's a good thing to see.
The Blessing of the Metroplex. We live in a place that isn't too far removed from the arts. We have the museums of Dallas and Fort Worth (DMA or the Kimball, anyone?), the clubs of Deep Ellum for the alternative crowd, the concert halls, 25 GREAT churches within a reasonable drive, the symphonies, the writer's groups & book clubs, the sporting events, the excellent restaurants in all price ranges, the historical sights (from JFK to Robert Johnson), rodeos, the whole kit and kaboodle. Living near a major metropolitan area is pretty nifty for those of us that like all those options.
The Blessing of Not The Metroplex. We also live in a place that's within an hour's drive of some of the nicest camping and such...and within a day's drive of the mountains. If you want to get away from it all, you certainly can...even if you're looking for a Bed & Breakfast in Granbury, a campsite at Lake Texoma, a tour of the Hill Country, fishing on Lake Palestine, boating at Possum Kingdom...you can do that, too.
The Blessing of Affordable & Spacious Housing. I know people in other parts of the country that pay 2 or 3 times what we pay per square foot here. Sure, you can spend whatever you want to building a home in our community if you want to (and some have), but for the average Joe in the FlowerPlex you can afford a home on a somewhat modest income. Believe me, I'm certainly not in the highest pay scale in our community and I can afford a home. Sure, it's in what realtors call a "starter neighborhood" but if I finish in this starter neighborhood I'll have plenty of space, plenty of yard and room for an office once the kids move out. Can't afford the Flower Plex? You can move out about 10 to 20 minutes from here and get the price down considerably.
The Blessings of a Small World. Living near a major aiport gives people the opportunity to get out and about if you're into that sort of thing. My children have already visited places that I didn't get to visit until I had them...I mean, I grew up in Alabama and I never went further south than Tampa, further east than Atlanta, further west than Dallas, and further north than Gatlinburg until I became an adult. Living here allows the world to become accessible...and people take advantage of that. It just isn't too parochial here--kids view the entire nation as a potential for university studies, not just a two or three state area.
The Blessing of Safety. The police here are trained and ready if needed, but outside of writing teenagers traffic tickets and maybe stepping into a domestic dispute here and there, we're relatively crime-free. A local radio host even refers to callers from my town by starting with, "Let's welcome John to the show, calling from crime-free Flower Mound." We worry more about the things that might happen rather than the things that do happen, and that's a very nice feeling.
The Blessing of Growth. Because we're not much of a secret anymore, people want to move here for the previous reasons listed. Businesses come here even if there's that same business 8 miles from here. The earth movers and concrete pourers and bricklayers and electricians and road wideners and carpenters all are finding work here. Same for enterprising business folks. And that's good for all of us in 100 different ways.
Sure, the 'Burbs have their drawbacks--and it's really pretty easy & trendy to attack them--but there's a lot of good people here, too. People who work hard to support their families. People who try to raise their children the best they know how to. And there are a lot of nice "perks," too. And sometimes we forget that...
...and I do indeed live a charmed life here.
I do indeed.
Yesterday, in response to a sign I saw, I took some time to list the 10 Plagues of Now where I happen to abide. So, in an effort to give the bright side a glance, here's the Blessings of Now where I happen to abide:
The Blessing of Finances. Where I live, people tend to be amply compensated for the work they do. And many people do a lot of wonderful things with their money. They contribute to charities, Parent-Teacher organizations, schools, athletic departments, churches and things like that. In my church alone people have joyfully given to suppor the work of the ministry (our mission budget alone is considerable, not to mention the other ministry budget where people are growing spiritually) so I can imagine that many worthy charities and causes are the beneficiaries of good hearts of a lot of nice people.
The Blessing of Opportunity. The American Dream is alive and well in my little 'burb. There is not one thing preventing any person from being who they want to be or developing their talents and passions to the maximum ability. We don't have the constraints of urban or rural environments that can (and often do) take hope out of the equation when it comes to making the most of your opportunities.
The Blessing of Education. Public education is excellent in this neck of the woods. Kindergarten. Elementary school. Middle school. High school. Community colleges. Universities. They're all there for the taking. Don't like the public system? Got plenty of quality private school options to take advantage of, man. Can't afford that? We generally have ALL the resources one would need for quality homeschooling environments, and several of those combine resources to make that an attractive broad-based option as well.
The Blessing of LIFE & LIVING. According to the Bible, it's a worthy endeavor to enjoy the fruits of one's labor. And, you know what? People here work long hours and often travel a great deal. And we can enjoy the fruits of our labor here...everything from buying a grill to cook out, or tickets to a sporting event, or a nice vacation every now and then, or golf, or restoring that old car to mint condition, to redecorating a room in the house. Whatever it is, people here can enjoy the fruit of their labor, and that's a good thing to see.
The Blessing of the Metroplex. We live in a place that isn't too far removed from the arts. We have the museums of Dallas and Fort Worth (DMA or the Kimball, anyone?), the clubs of Deep Ellum for the alternative crowd, the concert halls, 25 GREAT churches within a reasonable drive, the symphonies, the writer's groups & book clubs, the sporting events, the excellent restaurants in all price ranges, the historical sights (from JFK to Robert Johnson), rodeos, the whole kit and kaboodle. Living near a major metropolitan area is pretty nifty for those of us that like all those options.
The Blessing of Not The Metroplex. We also live in a place that's within an hour's drive of some of the nicest camping and such...and within a day's drive of the mountains. If you want to get away from it all, you certainly can...even if you're looking for a Bed & Breakfast in Granbury, a campsite at Lake Texoma, a tour of the Hill Country, fishing on Lake Palestine, boating at Possum Kingdom...you can do that, too.
The Blessing of Affordable & Spacious Housing. I know people in other parts of the country that pay 2 or 3 times what we pay per square foot here. Sure, you can spend whatever you want to building a home in our community if you want to (and some have), but for the average Joe in the FlowerPlex you can afford a home on a somewhat modest income. Believe me, I'm certainly not in the highest pay scale in our community and I can afford a home. Sure, it's in what realtors call a "starter neighborhood" but if I finish in this starter neighborhood I'll have plenty of space, plenty of yard and room for an office once the kids move out. Can't afford the Flower Plex? You can move out about 10 to 20 minutes from here and get the price down considerably.
The Blessings of a Small World. Living near a major aiport gives people the opportunity to get out and about if you're into that sort of thing. My children have already visited places that I didn't get to visit until I had them...I mean, I grew up in Alabama and I never went further south than Tampa, further east than Atlanta, further west than Dallas, and further north than Gatlinburg until I became an adult. Living here allows the world to become accessible...and people take advantage of that. It just isn't too parochial here--kids view the entire nation as a potential for university studies, not just a two or three state area.
The Blessing of Safety. The police here are trained and ready if needed, but outside of writing teenagers traffic tickets and maybe stepping into a domestic dispute here and there, we're relatively crime-free. A local radio host even refers to callers from my town by starting with, "Let's welcome John to the show, calling from crime-free Flower Mound." We worry more about the things that might happen rather than the things that do happen, and that's a very nice feeling.
The Blessing of Growth. Because we're not much of a secret anymore, people want to move here for the previous reasons listed. Businesses come here even if there's that same business 8 miles from here. The earth movers and concrete pourers and bricklayers and electricians and road wideners and carpenters all are finding work here. Same for enterprising business folks. And that's good for all of us in 100 different ways.
Sure, the 'Burbs have their drawbacks--and it's really pretty easy & trendy to attack them--but there's a lot of good people here, too. People who work hard to support their families. People who try to raise their children the best they know how to. And there are a lot of nice "perks," too. And sometimes we forget that...
...and I do indeed live a charmed life here.
I do indeed.
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