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“I exalt You, my God the King, and praise Your name forever and ever.  I will praise You every day; I will honor Your name forever and ever.  Yahweh is great and is highly praised; His greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall declare Your works to the next and will proclaim Your mighty acts.  I will speak of Your splendor and glorious majesty and Your wonderful works. They will proclaim the power of Your awe-inspiring acts, and I will declare Your greatness.  They will give a testimony of Your great goodness and will joyfully sing of Your righteousness. The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and great in faithful love.  The Lord is good to everyone; His compassion rests on all He has made.  All You have made will thank You, Lord; the godly will praise You.  They will speak of the glory of Your kingdom and will declare Your mighty acts and of the glorious splendor of Your Kingdom.” Psalms 145

In the summer of 2018, I was in the darkest, scariest place I have ever been in.  But God, so very rich in love for His children, reached down and snatched me from the grips of death. God was faithful to bring (and continues to bring) beauty from those ashes, giving joy instead of morning, and clothing me in garments of praise instead of despair. God truly placed a new song in my mouth, and I can’t stop from singing it! Part of the way I sing this new song is writing.  Initially when God reignited my joy, my passion for writing about what he’s doing in my life, I thought the writings would only be for my eyes.  However, my heart keeps coming back to Psalms 145.  There are three truths that were impressed on my heart that have given me the confidence to share some of my writings. First, when we share with one another about the work of the Lord in our life, we are praising Him! He is SO worthy! The bible also tells us in Romans 12:15, “rejoice with those who rejoice”. When we share with one another about the work of the Lord in our life, we are able to rejoice together.  Rejoicing together honors the Lord! It tunes our hearts back into the one that created it, and silences the worldly/temporary distractions that so desperately try to fight for our attention. We then begin to overflow with joy from the goodness of the Lord, just like the writer of the Psalms (I encourage you to read the whole of Psalms 145)! Finally, I know from personal experience, hearing how the Lord has moved in another brother or sisters life often encourages me right when and where I need it.  My prayer is that every word God gives me would  bring Praise to Him, enable us to rejoice together at the Lord’s goodness, and provide encouragement to the brother or sister that needs it!

-Haley