Come, Let Us Sing for Joy

Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. — Psalm 95:1-2

Let us sing with joy to the Lord. 

And shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.

Come before God with thanksgiving.

And praise Him with music and with songs of joy.

He is our God, and we will praise Him!

Sing and Make Music From Your Heart to the Lord

Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. — Ephesians 5:19-20 

It's not always easy to speak to others from the Spirit.

Sometimes I just want to call people idiots.

But God commands me to speak with psalms,  hymn, and spiritual songs from the Spirit.

He asks me to sing and make music from my heart to the Lord.

And He commands me to always give thanks to God for everything.

And to thank God in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Come Before Him With Thanksgiving

 Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. — Psalm 95:2

Yesterday we celebrated Thanksgiving.

Today we are thankful for a wonderful time with family, even though we were missing quite a few of them.

Our prayers are with those who couldn't join us.

Lots of prayer requests in our extended family.

And we thank God for the ability to bring our concerns and praises to Him in prayer.

He listens and answers us when we cry to Him.

Abby picked out this centerpiece that matched our tablecloths and napkins perfectly!

We are thanking God for beautiful flowers created by Him!

Music From Your Heart

Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. — Ephesians 5:19-20

Sunday was our First Pres. San Diego Christmas by Candlelight concert.

We sang along with the Kings Brass group.

They are amazing musicians.

What a great sound to sing carols with such skillful brass accompaniment.

They played from our church balconies, antiphonally.

It was bittersweet because it was also our final time to sing with our current conductor, Ed Basilio. 

He is pictured conducting us in this photo from 2016.

He and his wife have moved to Reno Nevada, where Becky's mom lives, and we will miss them.

His wife, Becky, was our soprano section leader and filled in as conductor while Ed was recovering from surgery. 

She is an excellent conductor, too.

Our organist, Rodney, will fill in as our interim choral conductor while continuing to be our organist.

God has provided for our church family.

Come Before Him with Thanksigiving

Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. — Psalm 95:2

Today I met a friend for a walk down at Mission Trails this morning.

We met at 7:00 a.m. and walked about four miles.

It was a bit cold, but the sun came out in the middle of our walk.

God has created a beautiful world for us to enjoy.

We had a chance to share Scripture, praise God, and pray for each other.

Let us come before God with Thanksgiving.

Come Before Him with Thanksgiving

Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. — Psalm 95:2

We are thankful for all that God has done for us and for others.

We praise Him with music and with song.

When we come before Him, we do so in reverence and awe.

He is our God, and we are humbled.

We extol Him with music and song.

Singing Praise

My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to You — I, whom  you have redeemed. — Psalm 71:23

I enjoy singing, and God has given us music so we can praise Him with our words and our music.

One songwriter said that when we sing, we pray twice!

I like that thought.

God has redeemed us, we are His.

He has called us by name, and I can shout for joy and sing praise to Him day and night.

God Our Strength

Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob! Begin the music, strike the timbrel, play the melodious harp and lyre. — Psalm 81:1-2

They say music has healing powers. I think God created music that way: to calm the savage beast, relax our hearts and minds, and help us praise him when words alone are just not enough.

Doctors even recommend bringing music to chemo sessions. Research shows that it helps the treatment go more smoothly, and I can attest to that. 

Thanks to Abby for helping me find the Pandora stations that keep me relaxed and pain-free while undergoing my treatments.

Here's the hat I wore to my chemo treatment on Thursday. It was a hit. Another lady asked for the website so she could get one, too. TLCDirect.org has lots of fun styles and some great sales in the clearance section. 

Kaiser even had their catalog in the chemo suite for people to browse through while they have their treatments. 

Next week I'll take a free nutrition course at Kaiser for best practices and foods to eat while on chemo. I have a good start but am hoping to learn even more.

Sing for joy to God our strength!

Begin the music, strike the timbrel, play the melodius harp and lyre.

Shout for Joy

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music; make music to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing, with trumpets and the blast of the ram's horn — shout for joy before the Lord, the King. – Psalm 98:4-6

I love the Sundays that our orchestra plays during our worship service.

The instruments add so much to the hymns, at times even drowning out our voices, causing us to sing even louder and more jubilantly.

The trumpet players often sit in front of me in the choir loft, and I especially enjoy their sound, although I love them all.

The trumpet en chamade on our organ has pipes that extend over our heads, and that sound is wonderful, too.

Shout for join to the Lord, all the earth. Burst into jubilant song with music.

Shout for joy before the Lord, the King!

Shout for Joy!

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music; make music to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing, with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn—shout for joy before the Lord, the King.  — Psalm 98:4-6

Flowers from Axos Bank Employees

Yesterday I drove back into work for the first time since my surgery.

I was overwhelmed with wonderful food including fruit, coffee cake, muffins, croissant sandwiches, a chocolate genache cake and two bouquets of flowers! Here's one.

One of my coworkers even lent me his ergonomic anti-fatigue mat so I could use it while standing at my computer. When I offered to return it that afternoon, he encouraged me to keep it for a week until I decided if I want to get one of my own.

I am blessed by wonderful people who kept asking about how I was doing.

After work, I met with my prayer accountability group, and they are such encouraging and supportive Christian women.

Thank you, Lord, for surrounding me with such a blessed support team.

Today we are shouting for joy!