Thursday, May 17, 2012

Praise. . .

This morning I buckled Yummers into his little bike trailer and went for a ride on the forest preserve trail near our home.  It was gloriously beautiful.  While I pedaled, my mind thought in circles. 

And I was reminded once again of how blessed I am.  How blessed we are as a family.  We live in such a lovely corner of the world.  Chicago has been a fun and vibrant place for our family to live.  I would have never imagined myself living here, in such a big city, so far from everything that is familiar to me, but I have loved it.  Not every minute of it, but most minutes.  And Heavenly Father really planted us in the perfect location.  We have a great ward, perfect school, wonderful neighbors, a yard (not an apartment, remember?), and a beautiful neighborhood near the forest preserve.

I could smell the lilacs in full bloom, the Russian Olive trees and the dirt, and then I would pass some smell that I couldn't quite recognize, and wonder what kind of flower it was.  My brother Garrett would know.  He is a plant genius, and so kind and tender and generous.  What a blessing to have such a brother.

Then I would think about the rest of my family and extended family, which has truly extended in the last couple of years.  Blessed is the only word I could think of.  We are not close in proximity to any of them, but they are such a huge part of our lives.  Parents and in-laws who come to help out at a moments notice, and who love my children regardless of their imperfections. 

Then the words of a song came to my mind.


Praise to the Lord, the almighty, the King of creation.
Oh, my soul, praise Him for He is thy health and salvation.
Join the great throng, psaltery organ and song
Sounding in glad adoration.


Praise to the Lord! Over all things He gloriously reigneth.
Borne as on eagle wings safely His saints He sustaineth.
Hast thou not seen how all thou needest hath been
Granted in what He ordaineth?


Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy way and defend thee.
Surely His goodness and mercy shall ever attend thee.
Ponder anew, what the Almighty can do,
Who, with His love, doth befriend thee.


Praise to the Lord! Oh, let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath breath, join with Abraham's seed to adore Him!
Let the "amen" sound all our praises again,
Now as we worship before Him.

Let me give some background on this song.  Clear back in January, we were sitting in Sacrament Meeting and the organ began to play the opening song.  It was "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty".  Before then, I had never really paid any attention to the words, but this particular time while we sang, the Spirit was so overpowering.  By the end, I had tears in my eyes, as did many in the congregation.  I felt impressed at that time that I needed to memorize the words to that hymn.  So over the next few weeks, I listened to it repeatedly, until I had all the words down.

Then Isaac got very sick and we found ourselves spending days and then weeks in the hospital.  One night as I was driving home, after a particularly bad day for Isaac, the words of that hymn came into my mind.  I was reminded, once again, of how complete and perfect God's plan is.  He truly watches over us "as on eagle wings" and had provided every needful thing.  We had competent doctors and nurses, and wonderful modern medicine to help Isaac get well.  And when that failed, as it was failing then, we had prayer to call down miracles from heaven.  And, if the answer to our pleas should be "no," then we had the promise of resurrection, and that our family had been sealed by the priesthood and was eternal. 

The words of that hymn are now etched into my heart. 

Then, as I pedalled, I thought about how we are mere weeks away from moving our family again to. . . who knows where.  I find great confidence in the fact that because we were inspired to come here, Heavenly Father has it all worked out somehow.  And even though the road that lies ahead may still be bumpy and long, He will eventually gently set us down right where we are supposed to be, and it will all make perfect sense. 

And I felt so blessed.

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