A year of Praise

At the beginning of 2016 I chose a word for the year. I prayed God would lay a word on my heart to help me get closer to Him and meditate on throughout the year. The word I chose for 2016 was "Praise". This past year was a year where I really learned to rely on God by praising Him. It was probably the most challenging year I've faced in my life. It was a year where at times I felt so alone even with a loving husband and kids around me at all times. I remember there was a day where the kids were throwing tantrums all at the same time and all I wanted was silence! They pushed all of my buttons beyond measure and I just fell to my knees in the middle of my living room and cried out as loud as I could, "GOD, HELP ME!" All of the sudden they stopped with the tantrums and there was complete silence as I wept with my face buried on my knees. Looking back on that day, I think God created that moment for me to just call on Him like never before. To remind me that I am weak and He is strong. The spiritual warfare that was going on during those dark, emotional days where so real I could just feel God pulling me close and whispering in my ear, "My Praise will be on your lips."  Praise God, for He will always be there to comfort those who PRAISE Him.  I'm so thankful for the word "praise" and I truly learned what it means to have praise on my lips.  The new word God laid on my heart for 2017 is "thankful". I'm looking forward to seeing how God will use thankfulness to bring me closer to Him. 

Lord, you are my God;

I will exalt you and praise your name,

for in perfect faithfulness

you have done wonderful things,

things planned long ago.

Isaiah 25:1