Singing

Today David and I have been blessed with the gift of time. We slept in after our big fishing expedition and it was apparent that David was just tired and cuddly today. The most ambitious thing we have done is make treat bags to hand out in clinic tomorrow. We are so appreciative of their care, competency, kindness, and overall amazingness that we made mostly healthy little bags to hand out when we go tomorrow. This nightmare has shown us that acts of kindness big and small can be such a blessing that we want to pass on the kindness that has been showered upon us.

Today we have watched movies and just enjoyed out time together. I love having all three kids here, but it is a full, busy house when everyone is here. Today David enjoyed some movies and I read, rested and had time for some serious bible study. Sadly when life is in full swing I barely have time for a quick devotional or podcast, so today was a treat. Mike is very faithful with his Max Lucado email devotionals that he sends my way.

Today I had time to linger and my bible study led me to Acts 16 where Paul and Silas landed in prison for preaching the gospel and casting out the demon from the fortune teller. They were beaten, stripped naked, and thrown in the tightest security prison around. Verse 25 gets me every time. Verse 25 says that about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.

After their day of being stripped, beaten, and thrown into jail for who knows how long, their first response was to praise the Lord. That verse convicts me because I am not sure praising and worshipping is always my first instinct all the time. I pray to be more like Paul and Silas and worship God no matter my circumstances. Whether life takes us to the mountaintop or to the deep, dark valley I desperately want to be the faithful servant that still sings How He Loves Us when the news is good or bad.

Then I realized that our eight year-old with a significant disability is often more like Paul and Silas than I will ever be. I remember that afternoon before he was wheeled down to his major surgery he laid in his bed and sang praise songs and old VBS tunes for the crowd in our room. I will also never forget all the hours he has worshipped God while in the hospital either for chemo or for a bad bacterial infection. No matter how bad he felt he still was able to sing praises to God.

I am so thankful for Gods word as a life guide for us, and tonight I am thankful that God put a reminder in our own home everyday on how to praise Him no matter what our external circumstances are. Whether we are feeling great at home or sick in the hospital I pray we as a family will keep singing How He loves Us because truly he does.