The Crown

Her flower crown reminded me of another kind of crown - the kind that the Lord daily places on us.

"Bless the Lord, O my soul and forget none of His benefits.......who redeems your life from the pit; who crowns you with lovingkindess and compassion; who satisfies your years with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle." Psalm 103:2-5

A list begins forming in my mind of all the ways the Lord has crowned us with his love and compassion. The good things He gives are satisfying, and can cause me to forget my true age! My youth is daily restored and I am energized by the bounty of His goodness. I have often thought of this verse and am amazed at the truth - if I realize the truth of all He has done for me, my soul cannot help but cry out in praising His name. If I forget His benefits I can only be filled with despair, instead of holding a beautiful crown of his love on my head.

The short list of His benefits to me:
Peace in moving our family to live in another country,
Seeing God put our lives together here as a family,
Hearing words from God when I open the Bible to read,
Being able to live in a spiritually dark place and share the Good News,
Being greeted with 2 kisses from our Hungarian friends,
Our stolen trash can showing up (unharmed) in our yard 4 days later,
Having to buy 6 pairs of shoes in a period of 4 weeks,
Having a washing machine for our dirty clothes,
Having access to medicine for our children,
The ONE morning that all 4 children slept in until 7AM,
The endless hugs and kisses (especially the slobbery kind) from the children and husband!

Are you wearing your crown today?