Just Trying To Be A Blessings-Excerpt

By Lori Kempton –

Over the years, I have often been known to say, “I’m just trying to be a blessing.” Those who know me well can usually finish my sentence as I am just getting out the first three words. Often, I am in trouble when I am using it and it seems to break the tension when I bat my eyes and sheepishly say, “I’m just trying to be a blessing!” But I truly do mean it—most of the time! I have good intentions, but sometimes they just do not work out as I planned! Nonetheless, it is usually good for a laugh and for refocusing on my original intentions.

Sometimes, I think I hit the mark on being a blessing, but often, I find myself lacking and really not the person I strive to be. One day, I drove my husband, Jim, to the doctor’s office because he had hurt his knee playing hockey and it just was not getting any better. For him to agree to get it checked out, I knew he must be in great pain. As we were sitting in the office waiting for him to be called back, it seemed like every time he sat down, the receptionist opened her little window, called his name, and asked him to come to the counter for something else.

I was trying to be helpful because it was painful for him to get up and down so I was running to the window, giving her our insurance card, picking up forms he needed to fill out and then running them over to him to sign. About the third time back and forth, I was looking at the clipboard and forgot that since Jim had hurt his knee, his leg was stretched out in front of him. Not paying attention, I ran right into the side of his injured leg. You can only imagine the scene as he was now writhing in pain trying not to wail out for the whole office to hear!

Jim was not laughing then, but later we have enjoyed a good laugh as I really did have good intentions but I think that day I failed to be a blessing! I can try and try to be perfect, being that person that only blesses wherever she goes; but the fact is, I will always fall short. I am never going to be perfect and no matter how hard I try, I am going to let someone down in this life. As I have aged, I have found that I am the biggest blessing when I least expect it. It is when I am living my life as God would have me live, doing what He has asked me to do and being who He created me to be that I am the most blessing to those around me.

Being comfortable with who I am and who God has created me to be allows me to diminish and allows God in me to shine. When I put self on the shelf so to speak, God has a clear path to bless others through my willingness to allow Him to be first. When we worry about how we look to others, whether or not we are going to trip over a hurt leg so to speak or afraid of the rejection that comes with putting God first, we are ineffective. I believe in taking chances! I ask God to help me to be a blessing and even if I fall over someone’s injured leg in the process; I just want to let God in me shine as someone who is just trying to be a blessing to that person. The truth is, I am going to trip over a few things and maybe even fall flat on my face at times when I am trying to be a blessing. But, if I do not keep trying and allowing God to work through me, I fail.

I hope that when I am dead and gone, there will be someone that will say, “Lori was quite the blessing.” I will then feel that my life’s mission was accomplished and I will then be free to go to my next great adventure in the sky! Until then, there may be sightings of me here and there just trying to be a blessing! If you have any injured limbs, you might want to tuck them under your chair for safe keeping if you see me coming! Know that I want only the best for you, but stuff happens…especially to me…often. So beware, this is how God made me and although I can be a blessing, I may be hazardous to your health at times as well!

Lori Kempton graduated from Indiana Wesleyan University with a Bachelor of Science degree in management. Her entrepreneurial spirit has led her to own her own small business for several years in the past, help start a crisis pregnancy center, plant a church, and write a book–Just Trying to Be a Blessing! She and her husband, Jim, reside in Cincinnati, OH and have four grown children, four grandchildren and one on the way. www.JustTryingToBeABlessing.com