In my Sunday School lesson yesterday there was a quote from Augustine: "A Christian should be a hallelujah from head to foot". Hallelujah was defined as "praise the LORD". My mother used to use the word hallelujah for just about everything. For example even in the last weeks of her life as she did puzzles with my sons and myself, she would say "hallelujah" when she or someone else found a puzzle piece that fit.
Doing this lesson made me smile as I remembered my mother using that small but powerful word. I have noticed that we continue that tradition of my mother's, punctuating our conversations with "hallelujah". My boys can be heard using it with regularity. With the common place things like puzzles and with the successes of potty training and school. Today we have a list of "hallelujahs" to report:
Carson had a great field trip to the Ruth Lilly Health Center.
Carson did not miss any of his words on his spelling test that was returned today.
Ephraim had a good day with no potty accidents.
We got our new at&t U-verse service for TV/Internet/Phone. Very fast, Very good picture, Very clear. Supports Troy's "bread and butter".
We had supper with Troy at McDonald's (not so great location, but great company).
Troy had a productive day at work.
I put away a big pile of laundry.
As you can see "hallelujah" covers the big and the little things of life. This idea also makes me think of my mother's tradition of the "happy and sad things" that were discussed around our supper table as children. Each evening we would offer up our "happy thing" of the day (you could have more than one, but you had to have at least one). You could also share your sad thing, if you had one. We do this with our boys. When we forget at dinner we share before bed after devotions. It gives us a chance to evaluate our day and our emotions.
I think we may consider adding the "hallelujah report" to our evening routine. A great opportunity to practice "praising the LORD" for the big and little things in our life. Praising the LORD as a routine takes an attitude shift. Choosing to praise God even in the hard times isn't easy, but it sure makes you appreciate what God has given you. Hallelujah!
