Fifteen Minutes of Praise

My first praise will go all the way back the the beginning. I praise the Lord that even though my mothers labor and delivery of me were touch and go for awhile, that even though the cord was wrapped around my neck, that the drs. asked my real dad who he wanted them to save, both my mother and I lived. I praise the Lord for my life, and for a mother who was alive and present and able to raise me up to the best of her ability. A mom who stayed up too late making the coolest birthday treats, sewing Halloween costumes and puffy painting Christmas sweatshirts. For the traditions she made and the fun parties she threw for my birthdays.

I praise the Lord for my sisters, that I had built in friends to entertain me. Even though it drove me nuts at times to have them, so much younger, tailing my every move I love them both with all of my heart and cannot imagine my life without them.

I praise the Lord today for his protection of me through many missed or minor events like car accidents, horse accidents, stepping on rusty nail accidents, scissors through the hands accidents and the like. Growing up is dangerous and I can truly see how my Father God kept me safe from harm, answering someone's prayers somewhere.

I praise the Lord for my step dad who is for all intents and purposes MY DAD, for his unconditional love of me and acceptance. For his guidance, his good morals and good heart. For his family and their love and acceptance of me. For the memories he has given to me over the years. For the vacations I wouldn't have had, the friends I wouldn't have made, the homes I wouldn't have lived in, the love I wouldn't have known. The rules I wouldn't have had, the things that kept me safe even if I hated them at the time. I praise God for a dad who read to me nightly before bed, who taught me to love the power of story and written words, and didn't give up on me when it seemed like I'd never learn to love reading.

The biggest childhood praise I have is how greatly He protected me from what could have been. I know now how much risk I was in every other weekend as a child and I praise praise praise my God for His hand of protection. I thank Him daily for getting me out of a risky situation before it was too late and Praise Him for helping me heal from what was extremely painful at the time. I still don't understand all of the ins and outs of this blessing but I know that I was greatly spared and I pray for those who were not.

I also praise my Lord for the way the before mentioned praise kept me on the straight and narrow in high school. That my previous experiences gave me a healthy fear of boys and while I crushed hard on a few choice guy's in high school, above all I'm so glad I never had the guts to talk to any of them (smile) and that I was spared the broken heart of many bad relationships. I praise my Lord that this mindset reduced the opportunities for me to get into situations where I would have been in danger or danger of sinning against my future husband.I praise the Lord that I only had 2 or 3 relationships before meeting the man He wanted me to marry and that they were all short lived and relatively unemotionally attached. Relatively.

I praise the Lord for my best friends through the years. That each stage and phase of my life came with one or two new good friends. I praise the Lord that those friendships had always started to drift apart just before the friends started getting into dangerous and bad behavior like sex, drugs, and alcohol. I praise the Lord that my rebellious stage was little more than a belly button ring, a few drinks at dinner with a Turkish friend, a couple of college mild college parties and whatever shenanigans my cousins or friends got me into by association!

I praise my God for small things, things non Christians or baby Christians often overlook as being gifts from God. Things like green lights when I'm running late. Copy machines that work right when I'm in a bind. Teachers who were understanding, papers that shouldn't have been A quality. My senior project speech which I nailed thanks to the answered prayers of my dear Aunt Barbie.

Hmmm.... Would you look at that, my Fifteen Minutes of Praise have come to an end but I'm not even 22 years old yet! ;)

I'll end this hear and do another post of specific prayers I've seen answered soon.