Praise God!!!

Good news! I went to the hospital today to have my blood drawn. You see, for weeks now, my blood counts haven't been coming up like they should. The doctor started getting worried (and so did I), because it meant I might have a blood disease (umm . . . I reminded them I have MS, that's a disease, e-hem! I should clarify, it was actually the nurse practitioner who said this and not the actual doc because my doc already said it was my MS that was slowing everything down), and who knows what else. Anyway, I went in today, and my counts are where they should be! Yeah!!! I was so grateful to God, I told my hubby that when we got in the car we should thank Him. I mean, how often do I go to the throne of God and simply "thank Him?" Really? I know I go to His throne constantly to ASK for things. But I rarely go to just THANK Him for what He's blessed me with. sigh Anyway, so that's what we did.

This also got me to thinking about when I say the words, "Praise God." You know, I usually only say those words when I'm happy about something. Like . . . my blood counts being up! :-) But do you remember Job? He praised God when he lost his ENTIRE FAMILY! If one of your children died, would you be able to drop to your knees and worship the Lord, praising Him? Hmm. I hate to say, I'm not sure I'd be able to do that. I wonder if I'd be able to do it when I'm lying sick in bed wondering if I'm going to see the next morning. I've had A LOT of those days lately. Maybe it's time I attempted it.

Last summer my computer crashed. I thought I'd lost everything: all my books, my pictures, my videos . . . EVERYTHING! Well, I took it to the store and the computer fixer-upper guy said he recovered ALL my files! I was so thrilled that as I drove home, I was praising God. Then I thought, "God, would I praise you if things weren't going well? I should be able to do that." Well, when I got home, I checked for all my files, and all my book files were missing. He retrieved everything else, but not the books I spent hours, months and years of blood, sweat and tears writing! So . . . on the way back to the store (it was about to close, aaaack!), I recalled my earlier conversation. Could I praise God even during this time when it was possible I lost all my hard work? Well, I said the words aloud. I must say, they didn't come out as easily as when I was on my way home thinking I had everything. But I said it again, and then again, until I FELT it. That helped.

When I got to the store, my computer was packed up in a box, ready to be shipped off to the manufacturer, but the computer fixer-upper guy dug it out, and guess what! He retrieved ALL my story files. I got EVERYTHING back! Whew! Thank you, God. And . . . praise You!

He is God. As you know, I like to say: He was, He is, and He always will be.

Let's praise the Lord, even in our adversity!

PRAISE GOD! PRAISE YOU, FATHER. YOU ARE MY ALL IN ALL.

I'll let you all know if I can manage this when I'm on my sick bed wondering if I'm going to make it through the night, when I'm afraid my children are going to be left without a mother, when . . . you get the picture. I'm asking God to remind me to praise Him when that time comes. sigh I think I'll pray that that time DOESN'T come. It's so miserable! But . . . IF it does . . . I will praise Him. Again, the Lord may have to remind me, e-hem, so I'll ask Him to do that! He's good at that, I noticed. He seems to prioritize spiritual matters. And I'm pretty forgetful, sigh. It's just sad when I have to ask Him to remind me to praise Him, or pray to Him. Yes, I ask Him for prayer reminders too. I don't know why, but despite prayer being the most powerful tool, I tend to use it as a last resort! So, I ask God to REMIND me to pray. And well . . . He does! So, I know He'll remind me to praise Him too. Poor Guy. He shouldn't have to send out reminders all the time! It's like a husband asking his wife to remind him to tell her he loves her! I'm pathetic. sigh

There's just something about praising God, especially during those difficult times. Right after the ground drops from under your feet, praising God puts the foundation back in place and you have something . . . Someone . . . to stand on. That's what praising God does. It's amazing really.

I love You, Lord. xxx