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Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent. He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters; he makes the clouds his chariot; he rides on the wings of the wind; he makes his messengers winds, his ministers a flaming fire.
He set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be moved. You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. At your rebuke they fled; at the sound of your thunder they took to flight. The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed for them. You set a boundary that they may not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth.
You make springs gush forth in the valleys; they flow between the hills; they give drink to every beast of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst. Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; they sing among the branches. From your lofty abode you water the mountains; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.
You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man's heart.
The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted. In them the birds build their nests; the stork has her home in the fir trees. The high mountains are for the wild goats; the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers.
He made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting. You appoint darkness, and it becomes night, when all the beasts of the forest creep about. The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God. When the sun rises, they steal away and lie down in their dens. Man goes out to his work and to his labor until the evening.
O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. Here is the sea, great and wide, which teems with creatures innumerable, living things both small and great. There go the ships, and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it.
These all look to you, to give them their food in due season. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things. When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. When you send forth your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.
Let the glory of the Lord endure forever; let the Lord rejoice in his works; he looks on the earth and it trembles, he touches the mountains and they smoke! I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being. let my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord. Let sinners be consumed from the earth, and let the wicked be no more! Bless the Lord, O my soul! Praise the Lord!

"When God opens his hand, I am filled with good things." What a true statement.

i'm feeling it today...the little rock experience...12 griping women...a baby daddy...a kid from the bronx...and me...yes indeed...i'm an onion in a big bowl of jello...not a good mix...but it could be worse...it has been before...

well here i am on the road again...isn't that a bad bob seger (sp) song...little rock has received me well...it could have been really ugly...i had plenty to do to keep me busy today though...i just hate sleeping in hotel rooms miles from home...but i've had enough experience...i should be used to it now...i miss my wife...my kids...my friends...my dogs...i have my God though...thankfully he's always with me...he's really good about letting me know that too...not that he has to...but he wants to...that's the cool thing...pray that i'll take advantage of the extended amounts of time i can spend with him over the next few weeks...i need it...

we retreated again last week...pastors and staff and their spouses...what a good time...it was nice to relax and spend time with everybody...i wish we could do that more...mucho profitable...a few people didn't get to go...i was disappointed about that...i was really looking forward to hanging out with them...but we pushed on anyway...

my daughters were baptized yesterday...wow...what an experience...marli was first and she told everyone at oak mountain why she was getting baptized...it was great...kaelyn went second...she was quiet and only responded to pastor harry's questions with an "mm-hmm"...she's such a sweetheart...those girls love jesus...

it's tough to live in a world that requires so much aquisition...i've got a lot more stuff now than i used to...i always told myself 'if i could just have one of these and one of these and one of those then i'll have everything i need'...turns out i didn't think long and hard enough about it...i'm still wanting more...my mistake came in the beginning when i started thinking about the stuff i needed...i just didn't plan well enough...i should have set my goals really really high so i wouldn't find myself disappointed when the next aquisition didn't satisfy...but you learn from experience...with the next big aquisition i should be set...