Power in Praise

Lately I have been inspired and challenged by people who take some of life's hardest circumstances and turn them into opportunities for praising God. Maybe because the past months have been so full of beauty and wonder, yet also so full of... other stuff... for us. I want to be one of those people, those praise Him for the storm people. The kind of wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, and neighbor whose hope lies beyond the wind and rain. Whose faith inspires others who may feel the very idea of hope has been all but lost.

I was reminded of this just the other day while we listened to one of Hope's Christmas presents from Grandma. To be more truthful, I was reminded of this just the other day while we rocked out to that present. It was a new Veggie Tales CD; I cannot lie.

Somewhere between cucumbers crooning about "Big House" by Audio Adrenaline and tomatoes belting out "My Place in This World" by Michael W. Smith, I was flooded with memories. The words to these songs brought me back to places I've been, so many joyful and some just full of that... other stuff. To be more truthful, I was flooded with some worries too. What about these two little girls we've been given? Will we help them to be full of joy, full of strength when their inevitable storms roll in?

And so I opened my eyes. To twirling, to a guitar made out of markers, and to this. I could hardly believe my camera was within arm's reach:


Powerful praise for a hope that cannot be dashed by the storm, but strengthened-- so strengthened--in and through it.