Praise Your Way Through!

 When was the last time you expressed thanks to someone? Perhaps, it was a friend, co-worker, family member, or the cashier at the store. Perhaps, you took time to tell them thank you for something they had done or simply for being who they are. You could have noticed their compassion, care, concern, or consistency 💙. Now, I have another question for you. When was the last time you gave thanks to God? Today? Yesterday? Last week? I hope it was very recent 🙏. Yes, we just celebrated Thanksgiving, but every day, we have something to thank God for. All year round, we can cherish and be thankful for the people in our life. Growing up, I did a lot of complaining. As an adult, I have complained too, but I had to unlearn that. I'm learning to appreciate God and who He has placed in my life. I'm learning to appreciate all that I have 🙏. I have learned that someone else has its worse than I do. I'm learning that praise has to be my response in the midst of my toughest battles and seasons. It's been in my darkest moments of my adult life (loss of Momma and Daddy especially) that praising my God carried me through 👏.  In the midst of my valleys, I had to muster up a praise and tell God, "Thank you!" Was it always easy? No. Were tears streaming down my face? Yes. Did I have always have the words to say aloud? No. Did I still lift my hands? Yes. I learned to be thankful that I had a loving Mom and Dad who took care of me and wanted the best for me. I learned to be thankful for the conversations, hugs, pictures, discipline, laughs, and time spent with them. I'm thankful for all they taught me 💜. In addition to losing my Mom and Dad, I've lost others near and dear in my family also. I've had moments I wanted to give up and felt I wasn't good enough. It was in those moments I had to grab hold on to a praise. I had to find something to be thankful for. I've always liked to write and kept journals(which started off as diaries) from a young age. Not long ago when I was cleaning out my closet, I found some old journals. Let me first say, I thank God for growth! I saw things I wrote that my mindset has changed about completely in a good way. Then, I saw that even in my seasons when I wasn't as thankful, I saw my written sentences where I had mentioned something I was thankful for. I even found pages written around the days Momma and Daddy passed. I still had a thank you written. I know it wasn't easy as tears poured out my eyes, yet I still found something to be thankful for. Praise is powerful 👏! It can be seen in the Old and New Testament Scriptures of the Bible. In the Old Testament in II Chronicles 20, we see that the singers and praises went before the armed forces (v. 21). I like how it says they kept singing: "Give thanks to the Lord, for his faithful love endures forever." They didn't say it once and stopped. They kept doing it, which means it was a continual thing. Our praise has to be continual, too! Then verse 22 of the same chapter says when the praises began, God set an ambush (surprise attack) against the enemies who wanted to fight Judah and they were defeated 👏. The enemies turned on each other! Wow! Once again, praise is powerful! When you get a chance, read the whole chapter of II Chronicles 20. I read it not long ago in my devotional time, and I couldn't highlight fast enough. So many good nuggets in there! In the New Testament in Acts 16, we see where two men, Paul and Silas, were in prison praying and singing praises to God (v.25). Yes, you read that correctly! They were praising God even in the prison 👏! They chose to praise God in the midst of a low place. While they were doing that, the other prisoners were listening. A violent earthquake shook the foundation of the prison and everyone who was chained became loose! Their praise not only set them free, but it set everyone around them free. That's a whole other Word! Again, praise is powerful!! Today, I want to encourage and challenge you to keep giving thanks to God. Keep telling people, "Thank you." Keep finding reasons to be thankful. Let praise be your ambush when things try to come against and oppose you. Let it to be your response in your valleys and low places. May praise be our attitude in every situation 👏. Even in tough situations, be intentional about looking for something to be thankful for. Every day, let's find something and someone to be thankful for. I'm truly grateful for everything and all of you. So, whatever you face today, praise your way through! Before you know it, you'll be on the other side of it. Then, keep praising some more! I love you all and thank you for all your support! Until next time, take care 💜💙!!