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!