Day 16

Acts 16:25-26 But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶ Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.

Paul is the man when it comes to praising God.  He faced so many tough things,  but he always seemed to have a spirit of thankfulness on him.  I think it was because he was truly grateful that God had saved his life on the road to Damascus.

Here he is again with his friend Silas and they have been thrown into prison for a really lame reason..  casting out a demon that was living in a fortune teller.  He wasn’t just imprisoned though, he was beaten before that.  And there were no limits to the amount of blows a person would receive before being locked up.  The types of stocks they would have been put in didn’t just come with two standard leg openings.  They would have had many openings so the pain could be customized to fit each person.  They would stretch your legs as far as they could stretch to cause the utmost pain and cramping.  Sounds so awful!  Yet, in the  midnight hour Paul & Silas were praising and singing songs to God.

Then God sent an earthquake and everyone’s chains were loosed.  My mom just shared with me that when we praise God it helps to loose our chains and the chains of people around us.  Wow!  When we are thankful and have praise for God coming out of mouth even in hard times it will loosen our chains and the chains of those around us.  God could have easily just loosed Paul & Silas’ chains, but I think he wanted the prisoners who heard Paul & Silas singing and praising God to experience what they had experienced.  Freedom!

Don’t forget people around you are listening.  What will they hear today?

1. Paul’s inspiring spirit of thankfulness.
2. The reminder that our words have an affect on the people around us.
3. How every story in the Bible will speak to us if we take the time to listen.
4. The cool air and light sprinkles this morning, perfect for a morning run.
5. The crazy amount of joy that came over me while running. I could not stop smiling and it wasnt because I love running… Jesus is the joy of my heart.
6. Watching Papa push Beau in the swing this morning.
7. I sent my sweet babies off to Tulsa for 3 nights. We’ve never spent a night away from either of them. But I’m thankful I get to spend the next few days being spontaneous with Josh.
8. Portable DVD players.
9. I convinced myself to get a manicure and pedicure this afternoon.
10. A great lunch with the kids and nana and papa at Rudys before they hit the road.
11. The sweet boy I saw at Kroger that said to his mom, “Hey! She’s my teacher at Gateway.” I could tell he thought it was neat to see me outside of class and that I knew his name.
12. The lady giving me my manicure asked if I was about to start school… God bless her!
13. Curious George. Love seeing Gus and Beau watching it together on the couch.
14. My WordPress app.
15. I got to attend the volunteer night at church.
16. All of the people who serve every weekend at Gateway Frisco. We have such a faithful group of volunteers.
17. Dinner at one of my favorite places in Frisco, Fifth Street Cafe, free of charge thanks to the Halls!
18. Gus getting annoyed as we tried to explain that if there is more than one goose they are called geese. It was too early for that conversation.
19. The bar in the kitchen. I love having my quiet time there.
20. I stayed awake for our late night movie at the Angelika in Plano and laughed harder than I have at a movie in a long time.
21. My sweet Beau slept great on the way to Tulsa for Nana & Papa.
22. Josh is really excited about our time alone together.  I love that he loves hanging out with me more than anyone else!
23. Time alone this afternoon with Leeland blaring through the house as I cleaned, prayed, and wrote.
24. The picture updates of the kids from Nana.  Made me smile big!
25. Two different girls e-mailed me today about how they were believing God for babies in their family and said 10k reasons was helping them to not be focused on what they don’t have but all God has blessed them with.
26. Encouraging words from my Pastor’s wife, Cheri Cochran.
27. Josh didn’t get butter on the popcorn, just for me.
28. I got to visit with Cathy Bartel for a few minutes tonight.  Her words were so sweet and her care sincere.

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