"Praise the Lord! I will praise the LORD with my whole heart,
In the assembly of the upright and in the congregation.
The works of the LORD are great,
Studied by all who have pleasure in them.
His work is honorable and glorious,
And His righteousness endures forever.
He has made His wonderful works to be remembered;
The LORD is gracious and full of compassion.
He has given food to those who fear Him;
He will ever be mindful of His covenant.
He has declared to His people the power of His works,
in giving them the heritage of the nations."
Psalm 111:1-6 (NKJV)
"Enter His gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise;
give thanks to Him and praise His name."
Psalm 100:4 (NIV)
On Sunday, our church took pause to reflect on the last year and to celebrate the 9th anniversary of our church (It's hard to think that I have been involved for about a year now). We took time to reflect on where we have been... almost like when God would command the people to build an alter so that the Israelites would remember the things that He has done and that it would be remembered through the genenerations. We remembered what things God has done among our congregation in the last year(s).
There was a testimony time and it was a sweet time to look into the hearts of the people as they shared joyous times and also hard times... but through it all we saw the story of God's faithfulness, justice, love, and glimpses of how He brought glory to Himself through joys and trials. Matt and I were asked to be prepared to share. What we thought would be "fairly simple" was quite emotional. To give you a peek in for those who were not able to be with us there... Matt shared how we were thankful for the way that God brought us together, the way in which He had uniquely prepared us to accept the things of our past, how the church family made me feel so at home, and a few other things. I then talked more about the church family and the women in our church, two little girls who have endeared themselves to my heart (and how we celebrate that one was there to celebrate with us because we thought we would lose her a couple of weeks ago), and then we thank our pastor for how he shows us the love of the church in such a powerful way.
There was more, but it would take more than my lifetime to list it all here. It was such a sweet time in honoring the Lord for what He does and continues to do in the midst of His Body at Emmanuel.
We are to be a thankful people... how often does that slip from our minds when we are in the midst of a "want-tantrum."
I think that I will ponder over this last Sunday evening for awhile. What a wonderful reminder that it's not about us...
What are you thankful for?
