Eat,pray,love....

Not a reference to the book or movie....but to last night. You see, I've never denied God's power or His constant provision in my life, but I know I don't recognize it enough. Do I praise Him ENOUGH for His faithfulness and grace in my journey? We recently received a huge answer to prayer. Something we have been praying for for several years. I mean constantly praying for. I began to feel bad for our small groups that heard us state it repeatedly, because I could feel how annoying it sounded to bring it up every week. Yet, we did.
  It took us on different journeys. The experience transformed Jer. He prayed, he doubted, he prayed, he questioned....all expected on such a route. He didn't fully trust that God would answer our prayer....until right before He did of course. My journey somehow was accompanied with peace. And if you know me at this stage on my life.....I don't couple "peace" with much happening in my surroundings. Yet, God gave me peace about it early on that He had it under control. Maybe it was so that I could encourage Jer. Maybe it was because once I committed to praying for it, it was easier to have peace and trust than carry around the anxiety. (although I wish I could learn that lesson for all the other anxiety I carry around)....either way, the peace was a welcoming component of the experience, yet made the miracle no less spectacular. It has been a long road, and while this miracle is just another in the long list of works He has done in our lives, due to the specificity of it, it's easier to recognize. So we decided, we needed to attempt to praise Him in such a way that the amount of time and effort put into thanking Him and acknowledging His power was not completely outweighed by all the time and effort we spent asking..... Make sense? So, we agreed that a party was in order. A Praise Party! What do you do at Praise party? I asked myself the same question, and of course did what any American would do....googled it. Not much luck.
       We invited friends from our two small groups. (one that we lead and one we attend) and another family that has been praying with us. I sent out an evite, asking everyone to think about God's faithfulness in their lives and bring storieś and scriptures to share. We wanted to make it clear that this wasn't a party to celebrate us, not even specifically to celebrate our miracle. The purpose was to Praise God. To praise him for continually working in our lives and providing in ways that were simple, extreme, ordinary and even bizarre. To praise Him for his nature and character. To worship Him. So I researched praise and worship scriptures, and made a little printout for everyone to think and reflect on throughout the evening. We had a huge BBQ and the kids all played and ran wild. After we ate and fellowshipped, we gathered together. I read the verse that I felt led to for this particular situation: Psalms105:1-5
Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name; make known among the nations what He has done. Sing to Him, sing praise to Him; tell of His wonderful acts. Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those who seek The Lord rejoice. Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always. Remember the wonders He has done,His miracles, And the judgements He has pronounced.
Then Jer shared a little. We had jars of praise scriptures that we passed around and took turns reading. Then we opened the floor for other stories of praise. At the end, I joked about my real worship preference being music and song, but I didn't want to make some people in our group uncomfortable so I would do it on my own time :).....but through a series of events throughout the night, at the end, everyone thought it felt right to sing a little. We gathered whatever kids weren't already out with us, and tried to think of songs we all knew. (next time we'll have the guitar and song list ready!) It was powerful. It was purposeful. And I know it pleased Him. We concluded with a word of prayer. We all left that night feeling renewed and revived in Him. A sort of revival. A Praise revival. I write about all of this, not to boast or elevate any of our actions. But to possibly inspire others. We serve an incredible God. He created us purposefully, intentionally, and loves us uniquely through our faults and choices. But when we honor Him and trust Him with our lives......what a rewarding experience to see Him at work. As a parent, I relate most of my spiritual walk with my experiences with my children. ( although my parenting is so sketchy compared to the love of our Heavenly Father!) but I know how it feels when my children obey and honor me. (it's a rare occasion, but I do know) then when they have grateful hearts!?!? That genuine heart is more powerful then any empty words or action. So I want to continue. -Continue to praise Him for who He is, what He has done, and what He has in store. I told all the kids that came through at VBS when we were learning some extreme bible stories....."Now that's CRAZY faith! Extreme faith! To trust that God can do that!?".
 Yet, I'm learning.....I do.
I'm telling ya, you should too.:)