The monitor had been quiet for several minutes. So. I thought two-year-old Madelyn was asleep in her room. But. When I sneezed in the room next door, her voice came over the monitor, "Bless you Nana!"
"Thank you Madelyn. Time to go to sleep."
She responded, "Okay, bless you!"
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name! (Psalm 103:1, NKJV).
Psalm 103 opens with the declaration to bless God and finishes with a list of reasons why anybody and everybody wants to bless Him. It's worth reading the whole passage. The passage is underlined in our Grandma Roleder's Bible. I have always thought it was underlined as a declaration of what she intended her life would be about, despite the many hardships she encountered--losing her home and family members to the Communist regime, leaving her homeland, suffering the death of a child, learning to live in a country with a different language and culture than her own--intentionally refusing to give in to the difficulties, blessing God with her life.
Make a declaration to bless God with your life, regardless of the stuff you are facing.
Bless the Lord with all that is within you.
Bless His holy name!
Learning to Kickstart the day declaring I will bless God with all that is within me,
Kerrie
(written by Kerrie Carlisle Palmer © 2011 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED)
"Thank you Madelyn. Time to go to sleep."
She responded, "Okay, bless you!"
It made me laugh and still makes me smile. I love to hear her voice and words of love.
It makes me wonder about God's response when we say it to Him, "Bless you, God!"
It makes me think how God loves to be blessed.
It makes me wonder about God's response when we say it to Him, "Bless you, God!"
It makes me think how God loves to be blessed.
The space between heaven and earth disappears when we bless God--when we care more about Him in the moment then ourselves, when we love Him with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength, when we voice our love.Consider:
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name! (Psalm 103:1, NKJV).
Psalm 103 opens with the declaration to bless God and finishes with a list of reasons why anybody and everybody wants to bless Him. It's worth reading the whole passage. The passage is underlined in our Grandma Roleder's Bible. I have always thought it was underlined as a declaration of what she intended her life would be about, despite the many hardships she encountered--losing her home and family members to the Communist regime, leaving her homeland, suffering the death of a child, learning to live in a country with a different language and culture than her own--intentionally refusing to give in to the difficulties, blessing God with her life.
The underlined words of her declaration have impacted me, knowing I, too, have the same choice to make: I will bless God.There's always something to bless God for in the day. Always. And, there are endless possibilities in the day when we live to bless God, knowing and believing God is enough. Blessing God is personal, something no one can do for us, changing the dynamics of our life, shifting our perspective beyond our personal space and time we live in. The thing is . . . intentionally blessing God opens us to living beyond ourselves, taking us to a new depth in our relationship with Him, giving us eyes to see we are invited to something bigger than ourselves . . . life in Christ.
Make a declaration to bless God with your life, regardless of the stuff you are facing.
Bless the Lord with all that is within you.
Bless His holy name!
Learning to Kickstart the day declaring I will bless God with all that is within me,
Kerrie
(written by Kerrie Carlisle Palmer © 2011 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED)