Ever have this morning?
You are trying to have a quiet time before the days starts. The kids are seemingly settled playing a game together and then the puppy comes in and starts biting and licking them which, of course causes the girls to scream and freak out. So you are up and down and up and down while reading the same sentence over and over again hoping something is soaking in. Then you think, ok this is not working. Moving on! So you start school for the day with the kindergartener only to be interrupted by the toddler over and over again and pleading with the six year old to try and stay focused. Then the yard guy shows up and the dogs go crazy so you feel like you are yelling out spelling words, just to be heard over the noise of the blower on the porch and the barks of the dogs giving the yard guy all they've got. Trying to push through so you can make it to the grocery store and back before lunch time. Whew. I'm exhausted just thinking about it again. So then we blow (and I do mean blow when the wind is 40mph) into Sam's and make it home with starving kiddos. Lunch time was a lot of: Sit down, don't yell at your sister, eat your food, no sillies at the table, only to be left behind with the mess. I felt like crying. I had tried my best to push through this day. I felt like I was swimming upstream.
I stood up to clean and thought I need Jesus! I turned on some praise music. It always heals me. I turned on Lauren Daigle, and if you don't have her CD you should get it now, it's my anthem. Her song "Once and For All" came on and it begins:
"God I give you what I can today. These scattered ashes that I hid away. I lay it all at your feet....
Help me to lay it down, Oh Lord I lay it down.
Oh let this be where I die. My Lord with thee, crucified.
Be lifted high. As my kingdoms fall, once and for all."
"As my kingdoms fall!" I hadn't really given my day to Him. I was trying and trying so hard to rule my own kingdom. The minute I laid it down and gave up and gave it to Him, I instantly started feeling better. The more I praised God the better I felt.
Isaiah 61:3
"To console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness."
A spirit of heaviness. Worship is my love language with the Lord. It's my direct line. I need it! I always feel better after putting on a garment of praise. Praising God gets your mind and heart thinking of Him and changes your mood. When you praise you can no longer think of yourself because it's not about you in that moment. Praise redirects your focus to where it should be, on your Creator.
Not only was I seeing this change in myself today from praising but I have experimented with Dani in the past. She's six now and understands, on her level, about Jesus and His love for us. One day she was very whiny and argumentative about everything and she had only been awake for about two hours. So I stopped and said, "Dani, we are starting the day over. Sit down right here and we are going to listen to some worship music." She was, of course, very irritated with that idea so she sat down in a huff. I continued to put my make-up on and get ready for the day while observing her through my mirror. She stared at the floor for the first verse and chorus and then she started singing quietly. Then she sang louder and got up and danced! She was smiling and praising! I watched my little girl transform as she put on the "garment of praise". She no longer felt heavy. She felt energized and refreshed. It was written all over her face! It was fascinating to see the same results happen in someone else beside myself.
When you don't feel like praising Him, that is the most important time for you to praise! A heart of praise and thankfulness changes you. It helps you start over, recharge, and focus on Christ, our reason for being. I urge you to try my experiment with yourself and your kids. Praise will change your life!
-Lacey
You are trying to have a quiet time before the days starts. The kids are seemingly settled playing a game together and then the puppy comes in and starts biting and licking them which, of course causes the girls to scream and freak out. So you are up and down and up and down while reading the same sentence over and over again hoping something is soaking in. Then you think, ok this is not working. Moving on! So you start school for the day with the kindergartener only to be interrupted by the toddler over and over again and pleading with the six year old to try and stay focused. Then the yard guy shows up and the dogs go crazy so you feel like you are yelling out spelling words, just to be heard over the noise of the blower on the porch and the barks of the dogs giving the yard guy all they've got. Trying to push through so you can make it to the grocery store and back before lunch time. Whew. I'm exhausted just thinking about it again. So then we blow (and I do mean blow when the wind is 40mph) into Sam's and make it home with starving kiddos. Lunch time was a lot of: Sit down, don't yell at your sister, eat your food, no sillies at the table, only to be left behind with the mess. I felt like crying. I had tried my best to push through this day. I felt like I was swimming upstream.
I stood up to clean and thought I need Jesus! I turned on some praise music. It always heals me. I turned on Lauren Daigle, and if you don't have her CD you should get it now, it's my anthem. Her song "Once and For All" came on and it begins:
"God I give you what I can today. These scattered ashes that I hid away. I lay it all at your feet....
Help me to lay it down, Oh Lord I lay it down.
Oh let this be where I die. My Lord with thee, crucified.
Be lifted high. As my kingdoms fall, once and for all."
"As my kingdoms fall!" I hadn't really given my day to Him. I was trying and trying so hard to rule my own kingdom. The minute I laid it down and gave up and gave it to Him, I instantly started feeling better. The more I praised God the better I felt.
Isaiah 61:3
"To console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness."
A spirit of heaviness. Worship is my love language with the Lord. It's my direct line. I need it! I always feel better after putting on a garment of praise. Praising God gets your mind and heart thinking of Him and changes your mood. When you praise you can no longer think of yourself because it's not about you in that moment. Praise redirects your focus to where it should be, on your Creator.
Not only was I seeing this change in myself today from praising but I have experimented with Dani in the past. She's six now and understands, on her level, about Jesus and His love for us. One day she was very whiny and argumentative about everything and she had only been awake for about two hours. So I stopped and said, "Dani, we are starting the day over. Sit down right here and we are going to listen to some worship music." She was, of course, very irritated with that idea so she sat down in a huff. I continued to put my make-up on and get ready for the day while observing her through my mirror. She stared at the floor for the first verse and chorus and then she started singing quietly. Then she sang louder and got up and danced! She was smiling and praising! I watched my little girl transform as she put on the "garment of praise". She no longer felt heavy. She felt energized and refreshed. It was written all over her face! It was fascinating to see the same results happen in someone else beside myself.
When you don't feel like praising Him, that is the most important time for you to praise! A heart of praise and thankfulness changes you. It helps you start over, recharge, and focus on Christ, our reason for being. I urge you to try my experiment with yourself and your kids. Praise will change your life!
-Lacey