Turning from Panic to Prayer and Praise (w/ Worship Video)

 
  We have a running joke in our house about hand soap.  Somehow we always have way to large of a stock of hand soap and for a long time anytime Joel (my husband) would make a trip to the store for me he would come home with a thing or two of hand soap because just thought we might need more.  Once he finally realized we were set for a year he still would bring home hand soap just to be funny.  I do have to admit, I have a really hard time passing up a good deal on bath and body works soaps, even if we do have a bucket load of soft soap at home.  With all of the extra hand washing to avoid this virus and with being at home a lot we are going through soap more than ever.  We are down to our last 3 bottles of hand soap.
     Last week our 1 year old son, Corban, started moving his hands in a motion that looked like he was washing his hands. So I asked if he was washing his hands and now he just does it all the time..  Joel was going to pick Corban up one day after coming home and said “oh I better wash my hands first.” Corban then followed him into the kitchen making his hand washing motion.  I think all of this hand washing is even getting to his head at just 15 months old.
     Something I’ve noticed more than ever in the past few weeks is that our little Corban brings us so much joy!  When I’m playing with him or just watching him as he learns and grows I completely forget about all of the troubles of this life because he just fills my heart with joy! .  James 1:17 tells us that “Every good and perfect gift is from above.”  I believe with all my heart that Corban is a gift from God. In fact, it’s in his name! Corban means a blessing from God dedicated back to God.  I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that this joy that I get to experience watching Corban ultimately comes from God.
     This whole Coronavirus situation we are walking through right now is tough.  There is so much panic and maybe rightfully so.  We have never seen something like this and it is having a huge impact in many different ways on all of our lives.  We don’t know what the outcome will be in all of this and if we’re being honest, it can be really scary.  It is so easy for me to get caught up in all of the panic but as I got thinking this week about that joy that I feel when I’m hanging out with my son and how I forget about all of the chaos in the world, I was reminded that God wants to give us a constant joy.  He does not want us to be run by panic.  What if we focused on prayer and praise rather than the panic that is all around us?  Psalm 34:1-6 says,  “I will praise the Lord at all times. I will constantly speak his praises. I will boast only in the Lord; let all who are helpless take heart. Come, let us tell of the Lord’s greatness; let us exalt his name together.  I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears. Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces. In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened; he saved me from all my troubles.”
‭     Let’s make this a habit in our day to day lives. Let’s constantly go to God in prayer and constantly give him praise.  There is so much to praise him for!  Let's allow him to give us that joy that we so desperately need and he so desperately wants to provide.  Let us look to him for help during this season (and every season) so that we might be radiant with joy and the world can see his light shining through us!

     So this is totally out of my comfort zone but I just felt it was appropriate for a post about giving God praise.  I have been singing and listening to worship music a little extra this week with all of this that has been on my mind.  There is one song in particular that I have really enjoyed this week and I decided to share a video of it.  I hope this can bring you joy and you can join me in singing praises to God!