Bless the Lord, O my Soul

There are those times in life when you are so very overwhelmed with all of God’s grace to you, that there are no words.

I’ve been there a lot lately. So much so, that I’ve found myself humming, singing, meditating on the same song again and again. It started at the end of September, when amidst a heart of tumultuous uncertainty, I stood surrounded by several of my “mommy friends” as we sang this song with 1200 others at the DotMom Conference. We sang the words, and I was overcome at the sound of the women I cherished so closely, their sweet voices singing of God’s mercy to us all. And it occurred to me, how well God had answered my prayer of when we first moved here. A prayer that cried out to Him to “please, please give me women to share life with.” Having left such a support system, my heart craved close community with other women. And I was made aware, He had answered my prayer– far beyond what I expected.

Again, a month later. Sitting in a room full of other writers. Women who had been strangers just hours before. Other moms. Other Christians. All of us wanting to make BIG the name of Christ in our writing. This song was again part of our worship set. I stood overwhelmed and could hardly speak, let alone sing audibly. But I know He heard the cry of my heart. He heard my singing– choosing to trust and praise rather than focus on the reality of our current uncertain situation.

And again over the last few days and weeks. Days that have proved what we have known all along, that GOD WAS WORKING. And He has.

And we are overjoyed. We are blown away at how He has provided a way for us to continue to serve and worship in our family of faith and to do so full-time. When we moved here in 2010, it was for a job. A job that the thought of confused us. Years in seminary, hoping to join a full-time ministry somewhere and then this? But God had a plan that was so.much.bigger than our expectations. And we have grown and learned and been refined. We have been able to see just a fragment of His desire for us as we loved and worked alongside our beloved small group family.  Three years ago, we came here knowing only each other. We immediately joined the community of our church and were challenged and loved; we never even dreamed we would be able to be on staff there. But God has done great things and we are filled with joy! We are no less than ecstatic that we will be able to stay here in our new(ish) home of Augusta and we cannot wait to see all that He has in store for this next chapter.

And all we can say is, “Bless the Lord, Oh my Soul!”

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