strength to praise

 I glance around one Sunday morning as we sing…

Here we are in your presence, Lifting holy hands to You,
Here we are praising Jesus, For the things He’s brought us through

I see the hands stretched high; they are beautiful to me for I know what they let go of to reach up.

The mother whose daughter has 8 full body seizures a day and constant pain.

That sister who has seen the death of her hearts desire, but continues to hope.

A father who has lost a child.

The couple who is shunned from earthly family, but chose to gladly forsake all earthly ties for the sake of knowing Him. 

These saints praise their Father even though what their eyes long to see, is not what is seen ...

but in its place a greater gift develops… Faith to trust, Hope to labor on, strength to praise.

There is a sweet fragrance in this place... I too am stirred to praise.

Pots of Gold

Ordinary things become beautiful when the sun touches them.

Take for example hay.

No, normally it's not very pretty; quite itchy actually. I was sitting on a round ball with my donkeys grazing around me when the sun peeked over the trees and came spilling into the barn.

The hay turned gold in the sun’s light and soon after a prism of color bent to kiss a single blade poking up above the rest.     

  “So this is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow...a pile of hay”, I laughed to myself.

But it's true, the one ingredient that changes the ordinary into the extraordinary is the SON.

The light of His face brings beauty to all things. 

To dishes, and diapers.

 To dirty floors, and piles of laundry.

 Take the things you lest enjoy, set them in the SON, and be AMAZED!