Praising My Way Out...

Days ago I began sharing with you about the birth of my book and how I started developing the concept of Biblescopes. I had become so sick from the effects of multiple sclerosis, I had to apply for disability. Every Tuesday morning at this point in my life, I went to church every Tuesday morning at 5:00am to pray with other church members. One morning I stayed after to talk to my pastor. I explained to him that I was having trouble with depression and frustration that seemed to be picking up steam. I wanted to know what he advised people in the same situation. The problem that hit me hard this time was I lost 2 of my grandchildren, ages 4 and 2. Gawd, it ripped my heart out. A mother's heart isn't separated at birth like an umbilical cord. The heart strings are always intact even into eternity

This is the advise my pastor gave me and it worked. He told me to start reading Psalms and Proverbs everyday. He said, "Start with the calendar day of the month, read that Psalm and add 30 to it then read the next Psalm until you read all the way through them for that day. Then read the corresopnding Proverb too. There are only 31 Proverbs. Let me recap.

Let's just say today is the 12th of the month.

• Read Psalm 12, reflect in your journal about what you can praise God for
• Add thirty to 12--> read Psalm 42, reflect and journal
• Add thirty to 42--> read Psalm 72, reflect and journal
• Add thirty to 72--> read Psalm 102, reflect and journal
• Add thirty to 102 -->read Psalm 132, reflect and journal (There are only 150 Psalms so in 1 month you use the 'Plus Thirty Principle' and then the Proverbs.)

Then the hard part comes next. This is the part that starts the healing. As you read God's Word remember, it is alive and active, healing and eternal. It is Christ on the pages of a book. The Holy Spirit is our teacher and instructor. So, get ready for the this job.

As you use the 'Plus Thirty Principle' you must read and listen at the same. Then you must surrender your will to that of God's and offer Him a sacrifice of praise. Here's an example.

Psalm 12 (v. 1) Help, Lord, for I am so alone. For this I give you praise.
(v.2-4) Forgive me for my lies, flattering lips, deception and boasting. For this I give
you praise.
(v.5) You promise to protect me when I am down. For this I give you praise.

(v.6) Thank you that your Word is pure. I'm thankful for your protection. For this I
give you praise.

What my pastor had me do was praise God even when I didn't want to and after a month of journalling and praising God, I could thank God for everything and feel good about it. The first couple of weeks were tough but I slowly looked forward to praising and reading the Psalms and Proverbs. Even more so, I began to take some control of my freight train runnin' and got up from my bed and my recliner. I went back to school and got my master's in education and completed one year's work toward my doctorate. Then I had a chance to take a job teaching ninth through twelfth graders in Healthcare Science Technology. There is no time for depression teaching teenagers!

I didn't start connecting Psalms and Proverbs to people's lives until my grandson, Collin, was born and spent the first week of his life in Neonatal Intensive Care (NICU).

I'm going to stop talking about the depression and such unless I get a response from someone who might need me to go a little deeper. However, I will keep posting about the book and my life even if no one reads from it 'cause it's doing me good.