Bless the Lord, O my soul
First before you start reading this you should know that this blog post is compiled of completely random thoughts and just some different things that have been on my mind and heart lately… However there's a connection, I promise.
Moving on.
First I want to speak of someone else's story. If you're from Florence, you probably know about it, but I'm gonna share it anyways. Last year, to this week actually, there was a situation with some dear friends of mine that forever changed their life, and influenced mine an incredible amount. For purposes of keeping this blog short I'm not gonna go into details, but basically there was a medical situation that caused one of my sweet friends to be very, very near to death. There was not much to do but to pray and pray and pray and that is what happened for two very long days. He was basically put into an induced coma and slowly brought out of it… in the hopes that his mind would be unaltered after this serious medical situation. I remember on the third day, waiting and waiting as they brought him out of that coma and not knowing. I remember that I was sitting in a classroom taking the PSAT. One of my other sweet friends was receiving texts letting us know about what was happening at the hospital, which he read and then would relay to me. On one of our breaks from the test he let me know that our friend was amazingly fine. He was okay. He was gonna be just fine. It was a miracle. He wasn't supposed to be okay and he was. I broke into a huge smile and I can confidently tell you all that I don't remember a single thing from that test, and I know I probably didn't do well because none of my focus was there. There was only one thing running through my mind. Bless the Lord, O my soul. It's a song. It's an awesome song called 10,000 reasons and you should go listen to it. But that song.. it hit me. And that day, it's what I remember when I think of my friend's medical miracle. Bless the Lord oh my soul.
Next thing. Like I said this does connect, just wait for it.
It's no secret that I've been subject to tragedies in my life. If you don't really know me that well, my sweet mom fought cancer for almost 5(ish) years before she passed away when I was ten. Losing her at such a young age has obviously impacted my life a pretty fair bit. I remember in the days before her funeral, when people come to your house and bring you food and it's just really awkward when you're ten because people don't know how to talk to you.. But specifically I remember some older lady who I didn't know then, and still don't know telling me that even though my mom had died, I was so blessed because I had a great dad who would take care of me. Just in case you're wondering, that is not something to tell a ten year old who just lost her mother, regardless of whether its true or not. I mean, it is true. I am so blessed with an awesome dad who has done his absolute best to take care of me. I like to think he's succeeded in raising me right. And I know that God knew what He was doing when He placed me in this family. With this sweet daddy who is strong and wise enough to raise a little girl by himself. Yes, we have had loads and loads of help from amazing sweet family and friends but you know what I mean. And as I have grown older I have learned just how awesome God is and how His plans are amazingly perfect. His timing is impeccable. His ways are unimaginably magnificent. And I am constantly reminded that the God I serve is in control of every situation and is gonna do what He wants to do. And I am reminded that all I can do is to Bless the Lord, O my soul. I wish I knew why God does what He does. I really do. But I don't. And so I must trust in Him. And pray. I do a lot of praying. I think more this year than ever before. I seem to be more worried, more concerned, have more things on my mind and in my heart than ever before.
And yet I am reminded that God is in control and I have nothing to do but to bless Him. To praise Him. To understand that I can't understand. And you know what? THAT IS OKAY. I'm not supposed to understand everything. A pretty hard concept for me to grasp. But I'm slowly learning. Keyword is slowly. And as these things happen to me and around me in my life, these situations where I can't do anything and I can't be in control, I am learning that all I need to do is surrender to the One who has it all planned out already. I am learning that I need to let go. People seemed to be surprised a lot of the time about how much I trust God with all that has gone on in my rather short life. It's simple. If I didn't trust Him, I wouldn't have made it this far. I really wouldn't have. There have been many, many times I have doubted God and His plans. But in the long run? The majority of the time I can already see that my doubts are silly, my fears are irrational and He was right the whole time. I still don't understand why He took my mom when I was so young and that is probably one of the things I won't understand until I can ask Him face to face one day. And so until then I trust that He knows what He is doing. Lately, I've been really jealous of some things that others have been blessed with. I mean to the point that I realize that I am being jealous, and I tell myself to stop because I am SO amazingly blessed. And I came to the realization the other day that God has put in my life exactly what is supposed to be there right now. And so once again, what can I do but Bless the Lord, oh my soul. Bless the Lord.
One other random thing… To everyone who has said something to me about reading my blog, thank you thank you thank you. You don't know how much that means to me. I write these blog posts because it's just what is on my mind and they really do come from the heart.
Thanks for reading. Especially if you made it all the way to the bottom, that was a lot of words! I should probably go start my pre-calculus homework now. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Bless the Lord.
Moving on.
First I want to speak of someone else's story. If you're from Florence, you probably know about it, but I'm gonna share it anyways. Last year, to this week actually, there was a situation with some dear friends of mine that forever changed their life, and influenced mine an incredible amount. For purposes of keeping this blog short I'm not gonna go into details, but basically there was a medical situation that caused one of my sweet friends to be very, very near to death. There was not much to do but to pray and pray and pray and that is what happened for two very long days. He was basically put into an induced coma and slowly brought out of it… in the hopes that his mind would be unaltered after this serious medical situation. I remember on the third day, waiting and waiting as they brought him out of that coma and not knowing. I remember that I was sitting in a classroom taking the PSAT. One of my other sweet friends was receiving texts letting us know about what was happening at the hospital, which he read and then would relay to me. On one of our breaks from the test he let me know that our friend was amazingly fine. He was okay. He was gonna be just fine. It was a miracle. He wasn't supposed to be okay and he was. I broke into a huge smile and I can confidently tell you all that I don't remember a single thing from that test, and I know I probably didn't do well because none of my focus was there. There was only one thing running through my mind. Bless the Lord, O my soul. It's a song. It's an awesome song called 10,000 reasons and you should go listen to it. But that song.. it hit me. And that day, it's what I remember when I think of my friend's medical miracle. Bless the Lord oh my soul.
Next thing. Like I said this does connect, just wait for it.
It's no secret that I've been subject to tragedies in my life. If you don't really know me that well, my sweet mom fought cancer for almost 5(ish) years before she passed away when I was ten. Losing her at such a young age has obviously impacted my life a pretty fair bit. I remember in the days before her funeral, when people come to your house and bring you food and it's just really awkward when you're ten because people don't know how to talk to you.. But specifically I remember some older lady who I didn't know then, and still don't know telling me that even though my mom had died, I was so blessed because I had a great dad who would take care of me. Just in case you're wondering, that is not something to tell a ten year old who just lost her mother, regardless of whether its true or not. I mean, it is true. I am so blessed with an awesome dad who has done his absolute best to take care of me. I like to think he's succeeded in raising me right. And I know that God knew what He was doing when He placed me in this family. With this sweet daddy who is strong and wise enough to raise a little girl by himself. Yes, we have had loads and loads of help from amazing sweet family and friends but you know what I mean. And as I have grown older I have learned just how awesome God is and how His plans are amazingly perfect. His timing is impeccable. His ways are unimaginably magnificent. And I am constantly reminded that the God I serve is in control of every situation and is gonna do what He wants to do. And I am reminded that all I can do is to Bless the Lord, O my soul. I wish I knew why God does what He does. I really do. But I don't. And so I must trust in Him. And pray. I do a lot of praying. I think more this year than ever before. I seem to be more worried, more concerned, have more things on my mind and in my heart than ever before.
And yet I am reminded that God is in control and I have nothing to do but to bless Him. To praise Him. To understand that I can't understand. And you know what? THAT IS OKAY. I'm not supposed to understand everything. A pretty hard concept for me to grasp. But I'm slowly learning. Keyword is slowly. And as these things happen to me and around me in my life, these situations where I can't do anything and I can't be in control, I am learning that all I need to do is surrender to the One who has it all planned out already. I am learning that I need to let go. People seemed to be surprised a lot of the time about how much I trust God with all that has gone on in my rather short life. It's simple. If I didn't trust Him, I wouldn't have made it this far. I really wouldn't have. There have been many, many times I have doubted God and His plans. But in the long run? The majority of the time I can already see that my doubts are silly, my fears are irrational and He was right the whole time. I still don't understand why He took my mom when I was so young and that is probably one of the things I won't understand until I can ask Him face to face one day. And so until then I trust that He knows what He is doing. Lately, I've been really jealous of some things that others have been blessed with. I mean to the point that I realize that I am being jealous, and I tell myself to stop because I am SO amazingly blessed. And I came to the realization the other day that God has put in my life exactly what is supposed to be there right now. And so once again, what can I do but Bless the Lord, oh my soul. Bless the Lord.
One other random thing… To everyone who has said something to me about reading my blog, thank you thank you thank you. You don't know how much that means to me. I write these blog posts because it's just what is on my mind and they really do come from the heart.
Thanks for reading. Especially if you made it all the way to the bottom, that was a lot of words! I should probably go start my pre-calculus homework now. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Bless the Lord.
So I took this picture on Easter last year, at First Pres and I just really wanted to put it up so here it is.
Very touching. You are wise beyond your years, Alana. May God continue to bless your sweet soul!
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