Back again…

The conference was great!!! It was so good to see everyone! I think that we all had a major lack of sleep and I am so exhausted. Next week, my goal is to catch up on sleep.   New profile picture was taken by a dear friend – Katie Karmen. Thanks, Katie!!!
So, I am back at work. It is so hard to get back in the swing of things after being gone…
I am going down to Alabama to some friends’ house this evening. My family is there. I am looking forward to it.
Other news : Wednesday was one year since I started my Xanga. It doesn’t seem like that long ago, yet on the other hand it seems like forever ago.

…my random ramblings…
I was reading Psalm 107 & 108:1 yesterday and was reminded once again of God’s loving-kindness and that whether I feel like it or not, God is still pouring out His loving-kindness on me. In spite of (or rather in the midst of or even because of) my circumstances I still have to make a choice to praise Him for His loving-kindness. So last night on the way home I had a 40 min drive. I made a choice to sing praises to God. It wasn’t that my circumstances changed or that I instantly had a peace, but I was encouraged that I serve such a loving, wonderful God who wraps His arms around me and holds me.

Psalms 107 (New King James)

1 Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is
good!
For His mercy endures
forever.
2 Let the redeemed
of the LORD say so,
Whom He has redeemed from
the hand of the enemy,
3 And gathered out
of the lands,
From the east and from
the west,
From the north and from
the south.

4 They wandered in the wilderness in a desolate
way;
They found no city to
dwell in.
5 Hungry and
thirsty,
Their soul fainted in
them.
6 Then they cried
out to the LORD in their trouble,
And He delivered
them out of their distresses.
7 And He led them forth
by the right way,
That they might go to a
city for a dwelling place.
8 Oh, that men
would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness,
And for His
wonderful works to the children of men!
9 For He satisfies
the longing soul,
And fills the hungry soul
with goodness.

10 Those who sat in
darkness and in the shadow of death,
Bound in affliction and
irons—
11 Because they
rebelled against the words of God,
And despised the counsel
of the Most High,
12 Therefore He
brought down their heart with labor;
They fell down, and there
was none to help.
13 Then they cried
out to the LORD in their trouble,
And He saved them
out of their distresses.
14 He brought them
out of darkness and the shadow of death,
And broke their chains in
pieces.
15 Oh, that men
would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness,
And for His
wonderful works to the children of men!
16 For He has broken
the gates of bronze,
And cut the bars of iron
in two.

17 Fools, because of
their transgression,
And because of their
iniquities, were afflicted.
18 Their soul
abhorred all manner of food,
And they drew near to the
gates of death.
19 Then they cried
out to the LORD in their trouble,
And He saved them
out of their distresses.
20 He sent His word
and healed them,
And delivered them
from their destructions.
21 Oh, that men
would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness,
And for His
wonderful works to the children of men!
22 Let them
sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving,
And declare His works
with rejoicing.

23 Those who go down
to the sea in ships,
Who do business on great
waters,
24 They see the
works of the LORD,
And His wonders in the
deep.
25 For He commands
and raises the stormy wind,
Which lifts up the waves
of the sea.
26 They mount up to
the heavens,
They go down again to the
depths;
Their soul melts because
of trouble.
27 They reel to and
fro, and stagger like a drunken man,
And are at their wits’
end.
28 Then they cry out
to the LORD in their trouble,
And He brings them out of
their distresses.
29 He calms the
storm,
So that its waves are
still.
30 Then they are
glad because they are quiet;
So He guides them to
their desired haven.
31 Oh, that men
would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness,
And for His
wonderful works to the children of men!
32 Let them exalt
Him also in the assembly of the people,
And praise Him in the
company of the elders.

33 He turns rivers
into a wilderness,
And the watersprings into
dry ground;
34 A fruitful land
into barrenness,
For the wickedness of
those who dwell in it.
35 He turns a
wilderness into pools of water,
And dry land into
watersprings.
36 There He makes
the hungry dwell,
That they may establish a
city for a dwelling place,
37 And sow fields
and plant vineyards,
That they may yield a
fruitful harvest.
38 He also blesses
them, and they multiply greatly;
And He does not let their
cattle decrease.

39 When they are
diminished and brought low
Through oppression, affliction,
and sorrow,
40 He pours contempt
on princes,
And causes them to wander
in the wilderness where there is no way;
41 Yet He sets the
poor on high, far from affliction,
And makes their
families like a flock.
42 The righteous see
it and rejoice,
And all iniquity stops
its mouth.

43 Whoever is
wise will observe these things,
And they will understand
the lovingkindness of the LORD.

Psalm 108 (21st Century King James)

1 O
God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise, even with my inmost being.