one of the many revelations in the grand canyon.

i desire to to be a woman of praise, a son of God who knows and sings of His greatness even in the darkest of times. BUT i can often lose sight of this spiritual view. this past semester i was riddled with pain. literal pain. almost daily. my head hurt. for months. it began to ware on me, to drag me down, to steal my joy. it exhausted me. it isolated me. i've never felt more alone than when i am alone with my headaches. AND i started to lose my heart of worship. at times i felt i could hardly whisper a prayer much less maintain a spirit of praise.

BUT i desperately want that heart of praise! i want to praise my God for His goodness during my times of pain and suffering. His truth cannot be limited to an experience....during instructor training i was walking through a narrow canyon with walls rising hundreds of feet above me. i began to pray. Lord! GIVE ME A HEART OF PRAISE. make my love for you overflow, surpassing and overcoming all pain and suffering. help me cling to you in admiration and joy and love and praise when pain seems never ceasing. at that moment it began to rain. rain at a time when i was cold and had no dry clothes left. in a wilderness setting rain can be serious and taxing. you have no way to escape it. when the rain started i could have instantly turned to mourning, to irritability, to anger....but i chose to praise...thank you Lord for the rain. it is so good and it has its purposes. it has its place. it is greatly needed. it brings life...as quickly as it came, the rain ceased. then i lifted my eyes. all the rocks that lay on the canyon floor were wet from the rain and because they were wet, their true colors, bright purples, blues, greens, oranges, were made visible. it was a beautiful sight. what a blessing from the Lord who is ALWAYS worthy of praise.

Em