"I will bless the Lord...

"I will bless the Lord at all times and His praise shall continually be in my mouth." Psalms 34:1

In my prayer time this morning, this scripture came to me. Some would say I've had a pretty hard life. I was diagnosed with Lupus in 1999 at the age of 16, became really ill and was hospitalized for almost 2 months. At the time, it affected my brain. I was disoriented, lost all my hair, lost weight, had seizures, and other things. But through it all, I continued to give God praise. In 2004, my brother passed unexpectedly. But I continue to give God praise. He is sovereign. I grew up without a dad in the home. I thank God for my mom. She is a great mom. She raised me and my brother in church. She was the disciplinarian and the motherly figure. She raised us the best way she knew how. I think about my mom constantly and pray for her everyday. I love her dearly. I thank God for her strength and perseverance. She could have thrown in the towel years ago. She has been battling a disease called Crohn's for over 20 years, and it is not an easy thing. She has been in and out of hospitals numerous times and has had multiple surgeries. She has suffered the lost of a son, a sister, a brother, and a mother. Through it all, she continues to give God praise and I continue to give God praise. I pray God will satisfy her with long life. I pray that she will live and not die and declare the works of the Lord. Even though I didn't have a father figure in the home, I desire to have the family structure that God intended for us to have. If God allows me to have kids, I want them to grow up in a loving home, a home with a mother and a father. I pray God will show me how to raise them up in the admonition of the Lord. Yeah, I'm sure there are some people out there whose life is worse than mines, but after all that I have been through and still go through, I will bless the Lord at all times and His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

In His Service,
Gaynel