Snowman Praise

It’s 45 below in Chicago? Praise the Lord! Our flight might be cancelled? Praise the Lord! Our entire trip is cancelled?! Praise the Lord! That was the progression of thoughts last week before our trip to a basketball tournament in Michigan was cancelled due to the worst weather conditions in over 25 years.  I was organizing the trip for 42 people—girls’ and boys’ varsity teams, sponsors, and parents--to fly to Chicago, drive to southwest Michigan, and then compete in a national high school basketball tournament.  Everything was well-planned and under control, and it was going to be AWESOME! Plus, it was my son’s chance to play in front of the coach of his chosen college’s team, hopefully with the opportunity to earn a basketball scholarship. 

But things fell through. The weather predictions kept getting worse. The temperatures kept dropping. The airlines sent the dreaded email that the flight was cancelled. We desperately tried alternative routes, to no avail.  Apparently, this trip was not meant to be.  My son was devastated. And I felt completely out of control. 

I argued with God over this one.  But He convicted me when I read this verse: “For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised…” (Psalm 16:25).  This entire chapter is actually a song of praise. David dealt with disappointment after disappointment, but he continued to praise God.  Wow! I can and SHOULD praise God, even when I’m disappointed, simply because God is praiseworthy!

An alternate basketball trip presented itself, this time to Texas.  We fly out next week.  My son will have the opportunity to meet the college coach.  God works everything out! He is greatly to be praised!

For this page, I created a wintery theme with the Crazy About Snowmen stamp set.  I first stamped the image of a snowman with his arms lifted, as if in praise, and then used Distress Oxides in Cracked Pistachio, Broken China, and Dusty Concord to paint him.  I used watercolors from DotsNDust  (Sugar Rush set and Shimma) to create the colored background, then used some stencils from FaithItSociety with Distress Oxides.  I stamped the words with the Healer of My Heart set directly onto the Bible page, and the letters from the Typewriter Blocks Alpha set onto white card stock, and then cut them out.  I alternated the colors of the letters to match the colors in the snowman.  I finished the page with washi tape, a tag, and texture stamping (Texture Tiles 1).  Of course, I added my journaling to help me remember this story, and the date stamp to truly archive this entry. 

How has God taught you that you weren’t in control? How does He remind you to continue to praise Him?  Share below in the comments.  Remember, we praise Him because He is worthy to be praised!