Bless our God

Bless our God, O peoples,
Give Him grateful thanks
and make the voice of His praise be heard,
Who put and kept us among the living,
and has not allowed our feet to slip.
For you, O God, have proved us;
You have tried us as silver is tried,
refined, and purified.
You brought us into the net (the prison fortress, the dungeon);
You laid a heavy burden upon our loins.
You caused men to ride over our heads;
we went through fire and through water,
but you brought us out into a broad, moist place
[to abundance and refreshment and the open air]
Psalm 66:8-18 AMP

My mind has not come to a place that I can articulate my thoughts in writing yet.
I do feel like God has really tried us and refined us (and still is). I marvel at the strength that God has blessed our family with. I am amazed at what God has taught us. I have been reflecting on it all and really want to share it. I just need a little time to gather my thoughts.

My hope now is even stronger. My hope is that we now can live what we have been taught. That we never go back to what we were. We will be forever changed by Elijah's presence in our lives.

I spent hours praying for Elijah and seeking God. I don't want to lose that. There is so much to pray for, so many people in need of prayer. Right now my concentration is shot. I am feeling a little aimless. But the hope of God is still very strong in me and I am looking to Him for comfort in this time of grief. He knows and cares.

Our family is doing a lot of visiting this week and some long overdue chores. We are also going to set a temporary grave marker on Elijah's grave. It will be nice to go back to the cemetery. We have beautiful memories there.

The air is fresh and filled with SNOW at our house today! We have been blessed.

Lori