"Bless the Lord, O my Soul"

I had a few spare minutes this afternoon and was almost giddy to sit down and blog a little bit.  I've had a bit of a rough week for no particular reason.    I keep trying to pinpoint it, but I've come to the conclusion that this season in life has worn me a little thin, and I need to be on my knees a lot more often to recharge my batteries.  My mom used to remind me to "Count your blessings, name them one by one."  On that theme, I stumbled across this week's Encouraging Wednesday print over at French Press Mornings blog, and thought I would pass it on.   I believe I was introduced to French Press Mornings by Laura Beth (my college roommate and now cousin-in-law) who blogs at Pretty Little House.  I think Scripture is beautiful, and I love it when people use their talents in this way to create something beautiful out of Scripture.

  

"Bless the Lord, O my Soul" was on a loop in my head the day we got to pick up Ella for the first time.  Sometimes I need to bring those memories of God's past faithfulness to the forefront when I'm feeling sorry for myself.  I still get overcome when I think about that day.  

This is also my Grandpa RG's favorite passage, and it is one that my cousins and I split up and recited out loud for my grandparents at their 50th wedding anniversary.  When we were kids, my Grandma Phyllis challenged her grandchildren to memorize the whole passage.  Here it is in full.  I hope as you read it, the words resound through your heart and soul and encourage some of those places that feel worn out today.

Praise for the Lord’s Mercies

103 Bless the Lord, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
² Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits:
³ Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,
⁴ Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
⁵ Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

⁶ The Lord executes righteousness
And justice for all who are oppressed.
⁷ He made known His ways to Moses,
His acts to the children of Israel.
⁸ The Lord is merciful and gracious,
Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
⁹ He will not always strive with us,
Nor will He keep His anger forever.
¹⁰ He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor punished us according to our iniquities.

¹¹ For as the heavens are high above the earth,
So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
¹² As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
¹³ As a father pities his children,
So the Lord pities those who fear Him.
¹⁴ For He knows our frame;
He remembers that we are dust.

¹⁵ As for man, his days are like grass;
As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
¹⁶ For the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
And its place remembers it no more.^[a]
17 But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
On those who fear Him,
And His righteousness to children’s children,
¹⁸ To such as keep His covenant,
And to those who remember His commandments to do them.

¹⁹ The Lord has established His throne in heaven,
And His kingdom rules over all.

²⁰ Bless the Lord, you His angels,
Who excel in strength, who do His word,
Heeding the voice of His word.
²¹ Bless the Lord, all you His hosts,
You ministers of His, who do His pleasure.
²² Bless the Lord, all His works,
In all places of His dominion.

Bless the Lord, O my soul!

♥ Molly

A year later

The blessing of the Lord makes one rich,
And He adds no sorrow with it.  Proverbs 10:22

Wow!  What a year it has been.  I have been looking back through this blog recently and in some ways it is hard to believe sweet Ella Shae is already a year old and in other ways it seems so long ago that we were living out of suitcases in a hotel in South Carolina waiting to bring her home.  So much has happened in this last year.  It occurred to me though that I set out to write this blog as a way to chronicle our journey and be an encouragement to others going through the adoption process, and while we have already brought home our daughter, the adoption journey certainly did not end there.

So, to catch you up.  We brought Ella home in May of last year (2013).  My husband Jonathan actually had to meet me in Atlanta when we went to get her because he was testing for a job with the Houston fire department that week.  A few weeks after we brought Ella home, we found out that Jonathan was being offered a spot in the HFD's July Fire academy...July...as in a few weeks later.  We put our house on the market and started packing.  The week before we moved, I found a pregnancy test under the sink as I was packing and took it on a whim.  Positive.  WHAT?!?!?  So we strolled 10 week old Ella into the ultrasound room at the doctors office and confirmed, yes, we were going to have another baby.  Heads spinning does not even begin to describe how we were feeling.

I would consider myself to be a fairly even keeled person.  Drama is generally not part of my world.  This year was full of extremes for me though, and there were many times I wanted to retreat.  I know many parents can relate.  When you bring a newborn home, you go through a time of what I would call sleepy bliss.  You are so dog-tired, but so in love with this new little person, it is hard to allow both feelings to co-exist.  At least that was true for me.  I felt that way with Ella, and then again with the move to Texas, getting pregnant with Adie, Jonathan's job, and having two babies under 10 months.  To be perfectly honest, I have felt a little bi-polar in how I have processed all of the events of the past year.  I have spent much of my time feeling so overjoyed, and so overwhelmed all at once.

With all of this going on, I have neglected some of the things I had the best of intention of maintaining, including this blog.  In short, I want to get back to focusing on the things the Lord has laid on my heart to write about.  He has given me a testimony through these many experiences, as He has done for all of you.  So, as with everything in my life, this blog may not end up the way I had planned when I started out.  I am now the mama of two sweet little lives.  I have experienced miscarriage, infertility, adoption and an unexpected pregnancy.  I need God's grace every day. Every hour.  I hope I can speak truth, life and encouragement to someone.

As I wrap up this post, would you consider submitting a guest post to be featured on SweetbabyLove?  If you are in the adoption process, have adopted, have any insights into daily life as a family (whether or not you have adopted), have experienced miscarriage or infertility, or just have anything else God is impressing on you to share, I would love to feature your post.   Email me at molly.brumley@yahoo.com if you are interested. 


                                                                                                               ♥ Molly