"Count your blessings."

We've all heard that expression, and it's crucial to thank God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit for everything, each little good thing, and even trials, all day, the rest of our days.

No question.

But one could also use the advice in reference to something a bit more arcane.

That is, we may also want to "count our blessings" in the way of counting the graces we have not yet received because we have not claimed them; we have not reached for them; we have not received yet because we neglected to see that they were out there! In prayer, one must search.

The Holy Spirit can lead you.

Like a tree with fruit, the Lord has many gifts, large and small, on the Tree of Life, and often we're so wrapped up in the small things of life that we never nurture or "pick" them.

They just hang there, unto eternity.

Or, it isn't time for them yet -- yet still: we should thank God for them.

What if God has a blessing of humility for you? Or abundance, where you didn't think it was possible (and thus didn't see it)? Or the gift of tranquility, of discernment, of self-confidence, of better intuition, of music, of writing, of architecture, of purity, of a job, or in personal relationships?

Or something to do with health?

A fellow who had a near-death experience claimed an angel showed him many miraculous healings that had gone unclaimed -- stored as in a celestial warehouse. Healed organs, limbs, unclaimed.

We're so caught up in fear and the intricacies of regular medical complexity that we may not "pluck" a healing miracle from that "tree"! We may not see it, obscured as it may be behind branches we have not parted.

Don't just go for the low-hanging fruit, and walk away. The fruit of sin is soiled; the fruit of sloth is spoiled.

Scan higher. Set your sights above. Climb. Move leaves.

In diligence is discovery.

Look to the upper limbs. That's where the choice blessings grow.

Reach for what God has designed for you -- through faith, diligence, and discipline; through knowing they are there; through deepest prayer.

[resources: The God of Miracles]