Bless the Lord, Oh my Soul!

I've been doing Kelly Minter's Ruth study this summer. It is a really fantastic study of this small book in the Old Testament! Even though the book is only 4 chapters long, it is jammed pack with great biblical truth and application for everyday life. It is definitely on my recommendation list!

But that's not really why I'm writing today. It has been a looooooooooooong time since my last blog, and today I just feel compelled to share with you (by you, I mean all of the 2 people that actually read my blog and that is even being pretty generous)....okay, I feel so very compelled to share Psalm 103 with the blog world today. It has absolutely captivated me! Here is what I wrote in my journal about these 22 verses:

Psalm 103 - Absolutely enamoring when I think about the depths of God's unfailing love, forgiveness...His capacity, willingness, and ability to show me grace and mercy. He knows who I really am, He knows what I'm made of (mostly not good things). Yet he chooses to forgive me of all unrighteousness. Even when I deliberately go out of my way to sin.

So here it is...Psalm 103. Praying it will captivate your heart and open your heart to truly understand how wide, how deep and how far reaching the love of Christ is for you, beloved.

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,
who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

The LORD works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.
He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel.
The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He will not always accuse, nor will he keep his anger forever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins (Hallelujah!!), nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.
For he knows our frame (or he knows how we are formed), he remembers that we are dust.

As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field;
for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.
But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children,
To those who keep his covenant, and remember to do his commandments.
The LORD established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.

Bless the LORD, O you angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word!
Bless the LORD, all his hosts, his ministers, who do his will!
Bless the LORD, all his works, in all places of his dominion.
Bless the LORD, O my soul!

I hate it when my dog is smarter than me...

This morning Anthony left for work before me, which doesn't happen really ever at all. After the dogs were finished with their meal, I opened the back door to let them roam outside and take care of their business before I had to gate them into the laundry room for the day. A few minutes later I gathered my things and grabbed two treats out of the pantry. Wrex was right at my heels which is exactly where he spends most of his time when I am at home. I went to the back door and began to call Zoe into the house. She really likes to ignore me when I call her inside, and so, over the years I have developed little tricks to get her inside. One of them is to knock on the door. I called her name for about a minute and then began knocking on the door. A few minutes later I was growing pretty frustrated that she still hadn't come inside yet. So finally I turned around to look at Wrex and saw Zoe standing in the doorway into the laundry room. She had been there all along and now she was just staring at me and seemed to be trying to figure out why I was calling her because she was already inside. I wish I had a picture of the look on her face to share with you.

CoachKetcham.com

This week I was asked to guest blog at CoachKetcham.com

Check it out!

What a way to start the day

I'll be honest. I haven't even titled this post yet. I'm not sure where it's going to head and I figure it will be easier and more fitting to title it when I am finished.

Do you ever have one of those mornings that from the moment you wake up your mind is swirling with so many different things? As I opened my eyes to greet the daylight, my mind began going down almost a mental list of people, events, decisions to be made and situations to figure out. Too much to think about, especially when me thinking about it will rarely help it find a solution or shed new light on the situation. So, I just start over with them all again, saying them again in my head (or else I would wake up Anthony and he would be reminded that he married a spazz). What a blessing to be able to start my day that way. I know that sounds strange. The way I look at it is that God is so good that He is ready for me first thing every morning. I don't have to wait for him to wake up more, or to have a cup of coffee first. He's ready, willing and more than able to listen. The best part is that He actually has the wisdom and strength to work all of those many things out for His glory.

What a way to start the day. OK, so I'll use that for the title.