Psalm 108:5

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and let your glory be over all the earth.

Do you ever just have those days where you stand in awe at God's hand on your life. I have thought several times throughout today about our God and how he loves us so much that he sent his only son to earth, knowing that the end result would be a tortorous death on a cross. And, then the fact that he did that for me. The God of heaven knows my name, the number of hairs on my head and every intricate thing about me (and he still loves me). WOW! 

Psalm 42

 1 As the deer pants for streams of water, 

       so my soul pants for you, O God.

 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. 
       When can I go and meet with God?

 3 My tears have been my food 
       day and night, 
       while men say to me all day long, 
       "Where is your God?"

 4 These things I remember 
       as I pour out my soul: 
       how I used to go with the multitude, 
       leading the procession to the house of God, 
       with shouts of joy and thanksgiving 
       among the festive throng.

 5 Why are you downcast, O my soul? 
       Why so disturbed within me? 
       Put your hope in God, 
       for I will yet praise him, 
       my Savior and 6 my God. 
       My ^[c] soul is downcast within me; 
       therefore I will remember you 
       from the land of the Jordan, 
       the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.

 7 Deep calls to deep 
       in the roar of your waterfalls; 
       all your waves and breakers 
       have swept over me.

 8 By day the LORD directs his love, 
       at night his song is with me— 
       a prayer to the God of my life.

 9 I say to God my Rock, 
       "Why have you forgotten me? 
       Why must I go about mourning, 
       oppressed by the enemy?"

 10 My bones suffer mortal agony 
       as my foes taunt me, 
       saying to me all day long, 
       "Where is your God?"

 11 Why are you downcast, O my soul? 
       Why so disturbed within me? 
       Put your hope in God, 
       for I will yet praise him, 
       my Savior and my God.

This year has not been all peachy keen. Since the passing of my Uncle Guy there have been several trials we have faced as a family. Hardships, broken relationships and heartache. Some that have affected us directly and others that have affected our loved ones and we have just had to stand back and watch the Lord work through it all. But one thing I have been so blessed by is that as a family & as a congregation there has been this theme of Praising even still. This scripture really sums up this year in alot of ways for me. Sometimes when you are going through trials...you realize the need for God even more so than in the past, just like it says..."as the deer pants for the water, so my soul longs for you Oh God!" Sometimes I think that place of need is such a good place to be in, you just want more and more of the Water that gives life! I am choosing (although it's not always easy during hardship) to stop and Thank the Lord for His faithfulness, and I am thankful that I can put my Hope in the Lord! I can't imagine going through this life without the Hope we have in Jesus.

Ruth 4:14

The women said to Naomi: "Praise be to the LORD, who this day has not left you without a kinsman-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel!

It has been a while since I did a post here. I never intended for this to be a set time frame, or a daily thing, just something I wanted to do to Praise God in hopes of proclaiming His goodness. Today I felt impressed to go to this portion in Ruth. At first I wasn't getting why I was here, reading this. But as I read it a few times it began to really speak to me. So, Boaz marries Ruth and she conceives. Then it says a women says to Naomi: 

 "Praise be to the LORD, who this day has not left you without a kinsman-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel!

In light of Naomi losing her family in such a time of tragedy. This was a glimpse of Hope for her. Little did she know through this little guy Obed would come David and eventually the lineage of Jesus Christ. 

So today, I Praise God for redemption through tragedy. The past few weeks have been hard for me. I can't stop thinking about my Uncle Guy. I feel as though I am somehow trying to figure out "Why?" I know I can't, and I know the pain I am experiencing, the relentless thoughts, are nothing in comparison to what my dear Auntie and Tiff & Kris, His family, My Parents & so many others are experiencing. But, today this was a reminder that God's plans are so much greater than ours. I am thankful for this reminder. Because, I know that all this was not in vain, it was not an accident or a medical oversight. It was the sovereign will of God and he has something great in store through it. I can't say that I didn't wish his plan was a little different, but then again, there is a reason I am not in charge here! He is God, he is faithful and I will trust the ultimate plan will be far greater than we could ever hope or imagine. 

Eph 1:3

How we praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we belong to Christ.

It has been a while since my last post, not because I don't have things to Praise God for, I just have been in a funk. But, this weekend my sister Nicolle sang the song "I Belong" by Kathryn Scott. She did an amazing job as usual, but as she was singing it I was so moved by the fact that I belong to God. It is something to be so thankful for and to be so proud of. One way I can think in our terms is when you are a newlywed and you are so proud to belong to your new husband. You just feel so enthralled with them and the fact that you belong to them. I felt that way about my relationship with the Lord after hearing this song. I am so thankful that I belong to God, my savior, redeemer and friend. And, I am amazed that nothing can separate me from His love! How amazing. Read Below...

I Belong (Verse 1) Not angels nor demons No power on earth or Heaven Not distance nor danger No trouble now or ever Nothing can take me from Your great love Forever this truth remains (Chorus) I belong Belong to You I belong Belong to You (Verse 2) Not hardship nor hunger No pain or depth of sorrow Not weakness nor failure No broken dream or promise Forever this truth remains Mildred Rainey and Kathryn Scott © 2007 Vertical Worship Songs c/o Integrity Media, Inc., 1000 Cody Road, Mobile, AL 36695 All rights reserved. Used by Permission. CCLI#5064067

Isaiah 25:1

O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago.

As I wrote in an earlier post, there were some challenges that arose with the adoption process of my nephew. After much prayer and hanging onto the promises God had given us we have seen His faithfulness once again. I love this verse because it is a good reminder that God has things planned out, long before they are even distant thoughts in our mind. I am so thankful that even when we feel like things are unraveling before us, God knows the ultimate plan, the finale to our story and he has our absolute best interest in mind. 

Psalm 106:12

Then they believed his promises and sang his praise.

The last couple of days have been interesting (to say the least). Our family has been met with some unexpected challenges. As we began to pray, the Lord began to give us promises about the situation. I am praising in advance, because I believe His promises are true and I know that they will be fulfilled. Praise be to God, our Rock and our Redeemer!

Psalm 96:2

Sing to the LORD, praise his name; 
       proclaim his salvation day after day.

This week I have been on vacation. We went to San Diego and as we passed by some familiar places I started to get sad as I was reminiscing about some places my Uncle Guy had taken us. We had some fun vacation times together. But as soon as I started getting sad a song welled up in my heart. The words are: Thou oh Lord art a shield about me your my glory, You're the lifter of my head, hallelujah your the lifter of my head. I haven't heard that song in ages, but it is amazing how God knows just what you need, just when you need it. Every time I started to get sad this song just started playing in my head, (and Scott's too because I began singing it out loud in the car several times.) I am so thankful to be in relationship with a God who lift's our head, carries our burdens and knows just what we need. 

Psalm 113:3

From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the LORD is to be praised.

I am hoping to see some beautiful sunsets this next week as we are off to San Diego. We were blessed with a place that is across the street from the beach and has a balcony. Although, that is going to be amazing, I think that no matter where you are, there is something so awesome about a sunrise and sunset. If you really stop and think about how our world relies on that sunrise and sunset doing its job just right at just the right time, once again you can Praise the Lord! Praise Him for the way he sets things in motion, for the daylight, and the nighttime (boy do I appreciate the nighttime so much more now with two little ones :o). There are so many things to praise Him for!

Psalm 68:19

Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. Selah

I am so thankful for our God who bears our burdens. When we truly lay them down at His feet, he carries them for us and gives us that peace that passes all understanding. I often think, I don't know how people go through life without Jesus. There is too much to bear alone in this world and I am so grateful that I have someone to turn to whenever I need Him!

Psalm 8:1-2

 1 O LORD, our Lord, 
       how majestic is your name in all the earth! 
       You have set your glory 
       above the heavens.

 2 From the lips of children and infants 
       you have ordained praise ^[b] 
       because of your enemies, 
       to silence the foe and the avenger.

This scripture rang true for me today. I was at my sisters house for the afternoon and Colette and Johanna were singing a praise song from a cd that Carolyn often plays for them in the car. I can also recall a time recently where Nathan had pulled out my Bible and was flipping through the pages while singing "Jesus loves me." I was awe struck by the corallation he had made between the Bible and Jesus at such an early age. Just as it says...from the lips of children and infants you have ordained Praise! How amazing is our God!

1 Chronicles 16:9

Sing to Him, Sing praise to Him, tell of all His wonderful acts.

Today I spoke with a very close friend of mine and she shared with me that her Dad had been diagnosed with thyroid cancer. The amazing thing about it though is that they found it before it spread (they will be able to remove it with surgery). And, the only reason they found it was because a Doctor friend encouraged him to do a very rare test for no reason at all! He was doing some routine health checks and because this friend of his encouraged him to do the extra tests, they found the cancer before it was too late. Praise God for speaking through this man and using him to prevent something much worse. 

Psalm 40:3

He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.

A couple things stood out to me here. One is "He" put a new song in my heart. I don't know about you, but I love those times when the Lord rises a song up in your heart and you just can't stop singing it. Those times of worship are so sweet and simple and I love it when God puts a new song in my mouth! Then, the second part of that "many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord." The scripture goes on to say "blessed are those who do not turn to aside to false gods". And, I think this is so true in our own lives, when we are going through something whether good or bad if we choose to Praise God and we don't turn to other things...(the other gods in our own lives, whatever that may be), people around us see that and it says "many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord."  

Psalm 7:17

I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High

The Lord has been revealing some things to me over the last few days about praising Him. As I was sitting at the beach today, and began to praise him in my heart for all the wonderful blessings that were surrounding me, this phrase came to mind "Days of Praise." I don't know what it means, but I am sure I will soon. For now, I am starting this blog and to start off, this is going to be a place where I journal praises to God, and share what he is doing through this. I hope you come along on the journey & God sparks something new in you as well!