Hey Everyone,

Dear Lord,

I want to thank You for everything You've done for me, especially recently. I don't know what I would have done without You. So often we only praise and thank You for the good things You do for us -- when we are happy, but that's not what this is about.

I want to thank You for the trails I've suffered through lately. They've helped me to really see what life is about -- You. It was so easy to believe in You and to get to know You, but I never really saw You with as much clarity as I do now. I never realized how awfully incapable I am on my own and how, even when I was trying to rely on You, I often put too much faith in myself. I was blind to what it really means when one lets You take control.

This last December I saw how weak I was. I realized I was not able to continue, and I saw You there beside me. I could see the love on Your face. I could hear You pleading with me, that I would only stop trying to walk and let You carry me. How much You wanted to help me, like You did Your children in Jerusalem (Matt. 23:37). Yet it hurt so bad. The hand that reached out in love and compassion, is the same hand that allowed him to die in the first place. How easy I could have turned You away! How desperately I wanted to know why You would do this, both to him and myself. I knew that Satan was whispering in my ear, telling me not to take Your hand. He wanted me to be mad at You and to believe it was justified.

Oh, how much I wanted to believe him! How easy it would have been. Yet, had I, I would have been crushed under the weight of my grief. All too well I saw the paths before me, and I chose You. I cried out to you, and you listened. You helped me. At the lowest point in my life, You saved me. I gave up all of my efforts and let you lift me up and carry me.

Thank you, my Lord. There are no words or actions I can ever do to make it up to You, or to deserve the love and mercy You show me. Guide me, oh God! Use me for whatever You will. I have made up my mind, that I shall trust You completely. In the things I do not understand, during the trials and pain that I must endure, I trust You. You know what is right and will do no wrong, no matter how it may seem to us, sinful humans.

Please, Lord, guide your people that we may walk with You. No matter how many times we stumble or turn away, keep pleading with us! For Your face, full of love, is the only true rest and joy we shall have. I long to be with You one day, in the Kingdom You have set up for us! I plead that it may be soon, that the pain may pass away. Yet, Your will is perfect. If it means we must wait for longer than we shall live, so be it. Be with us and sustain us as we wait, oh God. Keep us on Your path, and do not forget us. Not because of anything we have done, but because of your mercy and love.

Again, I thank You. I look forward to every trial, every joy, and every moment in this life and the eternal life to come that I may be in Your sight and with You.

Your Grateful and Unworthy Servant, Your Child in Christ,
Sarah

I'm so sorry that I haven't posted one of these in several weeks. At first it was simply that I didn't find time to get online to post it, and then the terrible tragedy of losing my dear friend. I just didn't have the heart to post here, to be honest. It is still effecting me strongly, but God is wonderfully carrying me through it all. I may post about His help at a later point.

Weekly praise for this week and the last couple:

• Praise be to God for His constant presence and guiding hand in this world, that nothing is done beyond His knowledge or will. Whether good or bad, He still has the ultimate say in it all!
• I praise you, Lord, for how you helped me through this dark time of loss and pain. That I was never alone, and that you carried me when I needed you. I would not have made it through without your help.
• Thank the Lord for His support and love towards all of those that dealt with loosing someone, who were grieving.
• I praise God for His glory that shows through His creation in nature. The beauties of the flowers, birds, trees, sky -- all of which give us hope and inspiration, along with a glimpse of the wonderful blessings Heaven will have.
• I praise God for His grace and forgiveness, that no matter how bad it gets He accepts us when we repent and believe in Him. That we can have hope for our loved ones who pass away.
• I praise God for the love that flows through others, that can comfort us in times of need. All love comes from God.
• I thank Him for a new year full of hope and promise, and the inspiration for many to turn it into a positive and productive one!
• I thank Him for His creatures of nature, like the little squirrel that trusts us and has chosen the tree by our fence to nest and have her babies in. :) What a blessing it is!

Although some of them were not fully personal this time, they all were in the fact that those things have influenced me in the past few weeks.

For more information about Weekly Praise, read the post here and join the blogring.

God bless!