Hope, Joy, Faith...Praise

Where are you most comfortable?  Where do you go that you feel most like yourself?  I'm talking about a place besides your home.  

Is it at work, with your coworkers?

Is it at a party, relinquishing your fears, insecurities with substances?

Could it be that you are most yourself when you are in a large crowd, blending in, not being noticed at all?

Some find their best fit while helping others.  

Me, the place out there that I find is where Kimi is most Kimi...anywhere the Presence of the LORD is. If there is praise and worship...Kimi's in her element.  If the Word is being preached...Kimi is most comfortable.  (Sorry about all the third person stuff...I know it sounds crazy)

I love to laugh and have a good time.  I'm loud when I talk and when I laugh.  Get the Estep Family together and there will be NOISE.  We can't help it.  We are loud.  Everyone except for Daddy and he has his moments...(only when he's preaching).  

Our family are storytellers, we over-talk one another, we are animated, we are physical, even in our story telling.  We will act out what we are talking about.  The funnier something is, the louder we get. We sing loud, praise loud, worship loud and Daddy preaches loud.  That's us.

So when I talk about being in the presence of God, where His Holy Spirit is moving, I am not talking about being shut up, in a dry place, meditating and alone.  Now, there are times that there can be a Holy Hush (so to speak).  I'm fine there too.  

Truthfully, my personality is exemplified in my praise.  I was created to praise Him.  I am most like my true self when I praise.  I am loud in life, I am loud in praise & worship.  I long for the presence of God, daily.  Just to be embraced in His wondrous grace.  

Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir sings a song that speaks to me each time I hear it.  It has also become a prayer of mine.  I never want to lose my praise.  If I lost my praise, I would cease to be me.  The me that I was created to be.  My divine destiny, the path that I have been ordained to walk, my attitude towards life, my coping abilities, my joy, a fulfilled life...it's all wrapped up in my praise.  It's in my praise that I can see how I truly am and who I truly am.  When I start becoming to distracted by life or things or whatever, it shows in my praise.  I love it when I can put everything aside and give it all to Him.  It is such a release for my mind and spirit.  In praise, I can actually feel a release...physically.  Let me tell you, there isn't anything else like it.  And it never hurts me.  I can't have too much of it.  It won't make me  hurt others or become mean or destructive.  

I don't need foreign substances ingested into my physical body to feel the release of the day.  I just have to praise.  It's my place of refuge, healing, renewal, refreshment.  

Where is your place?

Where do you go for renewal?

I Never Lost My Praise

by Tremaine Hawkins

I LOST SOME GOOD FRIENDS ALONG LIFE'S WAY
SOME LOVE ONES DEPARTED IN HEAVEN TO STAY 

BUT THANK GOD 

I DIDN'T LOSE EVERYTHING.
I'VE LOST FAITH IN PEOPLE WHO SAID THEY CARE,
THE TIME OF MY CRISIS 

THEY WERE NEVER THERE
BUT IN MY DISAPPOINTMENT 

IN MY SEASON OF PAIN
ONE THING NEVER WAVERED 

ONE THING NEVER CHANGED
I NEVER LOST MY HOPE, 

I NEVER LOST MY JOY, 

I NEVER LOST MY FAITH, 

BUT MOST OF ALL 

I NEVER LOST MY PRAISE.

I'VE LET SOME BLESSINGS SLIP AWAY, 

AND I LOST MY FOCUS
AND WENT ASTRAY, 

BUT THANK GOD I DIDN'T LOSE EVERYTHING.
I'VE LOST POSSESSIONS THAT WAS SO DEAR
AND I LOST SOME BATTLES BY WALKING IN FEAR
BUT IN THE MIST OF MY STRUGGLE, 

IN MY SEASON OF PAIN
ONE THING NEVER WAVERED, 

ONE THING NEVER CHANGED---

 I NEVER LOST MY HOPE, 

I NEVER LOST MY JOY, 

I NEVER LOST MY FAITH, 

MOST OF ALL I NEVER LOST MY PRAISE.