Unexpected Blessings

90 Inspirations to Nourish Your Soul and Open Your Heart

Roma Downey

• Publisher: Howard Books
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9781982199227
• eBook ISBN: 9781982199234
• Topic: Teologia e religione
• Subtopic: Preghiera

Actress and New York Times bestselling author Roma Downey returns with an uplifting and life-affirming devotional celebrating the power of God's love that will comfort your heart and nourish your soul. Inspired by her New York Times bestseller Box of Butterflies, Roma Downey presents a beautiful 90-day devotional that guides you to savor God's blessings.Featuring some of the most moving content from her previous book, along with new ?heartwarming material, Unexpected Blessings combines scripture with insight and prayer, helping you enjoy a moment of calm and encouragement as you reflect on God's love for you. This is the perfect gift for anyone looking to be reminded that when we open our hearts, we discover blessings surrounding us in every circumstance of our lives.

Love Gives You Wings

When I think of my father, I can see that throughout my life, he was always trying to give me wings so that I could go anywhere I wanted… He was always supportive and encouraging of my artistic desires, and when the time came to interview for college, he went with me and sat in the waiting area.

BOX OF BUTTERFLIES

Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint.

ISAIAH 40:31

My father truly was a remarkable man. After my mother passed, he learned to braid my hair. He took me shopping for dresses. He never wanted me to feel the void that was obviously there from us missing Mom. Bless him, he strove so hard to make things okay.³⁷

As I grew older and prepared to leave Ireland for theater school in England, I began to feel anxious. Remember, this is before the Internet and cell phones! Being away from my father, with no way of immediately reaching him, made me extremely nervous.

One night, just a few days before I was scheduled to leave, he took me outside. It was a clear night with a full moon. And he said, “Roma, wherever you are in the world, that moon will be shining on you. So whenever you feel alone, always look into the night sky, and you’ll be reminded of how much I love you. I’ll leave a message for you in the moon.”

As the first full moon ascended after I had settled in England, I went outside and looked up at it. I felt my dad’s love and it was a great comfort.³⁸

The message of my father’s love, repeated over and over, gave me wings to soar.

What joy to discover that my Heavenly Father sends the same message to me. He sends the same message to you. If we hope in the Lord, Isaiah 40:31 promises, He will renew our strength. He will give us the wings of eagles, the strength to keep running on this often-difficult road of life. In good times and bad, He empowers us to keep walking.

I was blessed to have an earthly father who made this message clear. My heart grieves for those who did not hear, from their earthly fathers, that they are loved, that they have wings to soar.

Wherever we came from, all of us can hear today, from our Heavenly Father—whose opinion is infinitely and eternally more important—that we can and will soar when we trust in Him. His love never fails. Let’s pray, placing all our hope in Him right now.

Heavenly Father, You made me to soar.

Life sometimes wants to keep me grounded,

but today I choose to rise up with my hope in You.

Your strength never fails… thank You!

Please help me lean on Your strength, not my own.

And help me communicate Your truth to others, too.

I love You, Jesus. Amen.

Love Is Deliberate

I wanted those sheets there while I had my cup of tea, one final reminder of the kindness of my father, of how, during his last moments on earth, he was thinking of me and how he could best welcome me home.

BOX OF BUTTERFLIES

My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so,

would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?

And if I go and prepare a place for you,

I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am.

JOHN 14:2–3

Random acts of kindness are brilliant; flooding the world with spontaneous displays of grace is a wonderful way to reveal God to a hurting world. Deliberate acts of love are another way to show people Who God is and what He does.

The evening before his death, my father and I spoke on the telephone. I was studying theater in London and had planned a trip home to see Dad and celebrate the ordination of my half brother John. On our brief call, my father—a man of few words at the best of times—said how glad he was that I was coming home and that, because of the ever-present dampness in our Derry air, he had hung my favorite yellow flannel sheets to air them out. In Ireland, we were rarely able to dry anything outside due to the rainy weather, so people in our town had indoor clotheslines, usually in the kitchen where there might be a stove to provide warmth and dryness. Preparing for my homecoming, Dad had placed my favorite sheets on our indoor line.

I went to bed that night imagining the soft, cozy feel of those flannel sheets, prepared for me by my loving father, but I was awakened in the middle of the night by a phone call from my brother, Lawrence. He told me that our dad’s heart had given out suddenly; I would be coming home to bury my da, not celebrate with him.

I flew home to Ireland on the same flight but with a different purpose and a heavy heart. I entered our home and slipped into our kitchen to steel myself with the courage that only a cup of tea can give, when a vision took my breath away. There, hanging on the clothesline to air, were my favorite yellow flannel sheets. I held them to my face, breathed in their kindness, and cried. My earthly father thoughtfully prepared for my return. He never had the chance to see me come home, but his deliberate act of kindness reached me nonetheless.³⁹

In John 14, Jesus promises that our Heavenly Father is preparing for us. In perfect loving-kindness, He is making ready for our return. And when we arrive, He will be there to welcome us home forever. Perhaps the kettle will be singing, the tea steeping, and our favorite sheets hanging to air.

Heavenly Father, I’m so grateful for Your loving-kindness.

Thank You for preparing a place for us. Thank You that where You are we will be also.

Thank You for the promises of forever safety, forever love, forever peace.

Please help me to deliberately show love and kindness to others.

May Your love help others always feel at home with me.

In Jesus’ name, amen.

Love Makes Us Whole

When my mother died, I missed her so much that there was truly a hole in me; the woman I became just grew up around that “hole.” But it was as if Reilly’s birth put a “w” in front of that word and made me “whole” again.

BOX OF BUTTERFLIES

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

1 JOHN 3:1

I heard: “It’s a girl,” and tears streamed down my face. As I stared down at my sweet baby, something happened within me. I held a miracle in my arms! And still there was more: something I so desperately missed was now restored. I cried in that moment for the mother I had lost and the mother I had now become. I named her Reilly, to honor my mother, Maureen O’Reilly.⁴⁰

There is no question that love is a healer. It began with Reilly’s birth; and in the years since, love has filled and touched all the old hurts within me. Through Reilly, God brought me healing.

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Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Strength
• Kindness
• Courage
• Love
• Stillness
• Gratitude
• Home
• You’ll Never Walk Alone
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author
• Endnotes
• Copyright