Anne,
It's so nice to know our "Commander In Chief" is a Christian.
That's a warm, fuzzy feeling!

EagleHeart, your posts always move me. I too try to find the blessings but sometimes they elude me, especially mean or hateful people.

The blessings are the little flowers that grow along our path. Sometimes we walk straight ahead and don't even see them, but sometimes those flowers are what shed light on the right direction.

Me too Meredith. I do know that one of the more valuable lessons I've learned in life is that whenever there's someone in my life who really irritates me - a thorn in the side kind of person - it's ALWAYS because something about that person reminds me of something in myself that I don't like or haven't been able to deal with yet. As soon as I find myself "irrationally" disliking someone, I know now to determine what it is about that person I don't like, then look into myself and sure enough, I'll find that character trait or issue right there inside of myself - then I know what I need to work on. It's amazingly accurate.

As for mean and hateful people, I can usually at least bring myself to pray for them and for the people their hatred touches. I don't have to allow their toxicity to infect me, and I try not to be in constant proximity to hatred. Everyone has a story, and I know that God knows what's in the heart and story behind any person's cruelty...I can only pray for healing for that person, and healing for myself tooo, so that I never become that bitter or hateful myself.

Ms. Divine,
I love noticing the flowers and trees and birds, etc. It's amazing how beautiful the world is.

Eagle,
I think the thing that hurts the most, is seeing those you love being destroyed by hurtful folks. I try to be sincere when praying for evildoers. I do a lot of praying, I know that.