Tuesday, August 25, 2009

O God Beyond All Praising

O God beyond all praising we worship you today
And sing the love amazing that songs can not repay
For we can only wonder at every gift you send
And blessings without number and mercies without end
We lift our hearts before You and wait upon Your Word
We honor and adore You our great and mighty Lord

Then hear O gracious Savior accept the love we bring
That we who know Your favor may serve you as our King
And whether our tomorrows be filled with good or ill
We'll triumph through our sorrows and rise to bless you still
To marvel at Your beauty and glory in Your ways
And make a joyful duty our sacrifice of praise.


O Lord, my God, I pleaded that You might heal and save
Lord You from death have ransomed and kept me from the grave
His saints, O praise Jehovah, and praise His holy name
His anger lasts a moment, His grace a whole lifetime
For sorrow, like a pilgrim, may tarry all the night
But then a shout of joy comes when dawns the morning light.


O hear me now Jehovah be gracious unto me
To You I cry Jehovah O now my helper be
You now have turned my sorrow to dancing full of joy
You loosened all my sackcloth and girded me with joy
To You sing songs my glory and never silent be
O Lord, my God, I thank You through all eternity.

This is a song we sing in our church with two added verses from Psalm 30. We sang this Sunday with many tears streaming down my face.
The desire of my heart this past year and a half was to give all praise, honor, and glory to my heavenly Father who has enabled me to persevere under the trial that was set before me.
As I have tried to humbly submit to God and bless His holy name through my sorrow I now have the privilege of doing the same with great joy.

Sooooooo....
I am officially announcing that I am engaged to be married to an incredible man by the name of Phil Olsson.



We are planning on being married this December.
He is everything that I was hoping for and even more.
I am blessed and sometimes find myself overwhelmed with the gracious gift that God is giving me. I am so thankful that I chose to obey and rejoice in the Lord always during my days of grief. It has made these new moments of my life all the more precious. I hope you will rejoice with us and pray for us as we start this new life together.
My next post will give you all the details on our courtship and engagement.


~Heather



37 comments:

Anonymous said...

Heather,
Congratulations, and may God continue to bless you! I am so happy for you! Tabitha

Cinnamon said...

Heather~ I have followed your blog since right before Eric's death. I've prayed for you and cried with you. Your children are precious and I am excited for you to be entering this new journey~ Many blessings~

~Cinnamon

Anonymous said...

Heather,

Congratulations!!! God is so gracious and loving. Your willingness to share your journey with others has been a blessing.

In Christ,
Cindy H

Jonathan Hunt said...

One of my favourite hymns. Rejoicing with you.

Nan said...

What an awesome song and what an awesome guy... Of course I'm partial since he's my big brother! Happy to almost call you sister!!

Genealogy Joanie said...

Heather, I have learned to love and respect you, first through your blog, and then in person, and it is a privilege and a joy to welcome you as a future daughter-in-law. This hymn is a song of joy to the Lord who worked in your life and in Phil's to bring all this about. Welcome to our family.

Melissa said...

Wonderful news!!! Congratulations to both of you. I pray the Lord blesses your marriage abundantly. What a testimony. What an example you have set, by God's grace, for your brothers and sisters, in being joyful and patient in affliction. Thank you for being willing to share your story with us.

RMSLIL said...

Congratulations!

CristyLynn said...

One of my favorite hymns, too! We are so happy for you! Praise our great God! Can't wait to congratulate you in person!

ElderClan said...

Heather,

Congratulations - I am so happy for you. I have read your blog since Eric's death, prayed for you often and am thrilled to hear your news.
Kim

Crayl said...

That;s simply wonderful.
Congratulations.
:)

Anonymous said...

So happy for you Heather!

Liz, UK

lynda said...

Too young and too pretty to remain single for very long.... I've thought that all along. Phil is a VERY lucky man and I'm thrilled for you BOTH. Praising God with you and for you!

Erin said...

I am so happy for you!
Erin

Becky said...

I have been reading along here for so long but I have never commented. I don't know why. I feel compelled to send my heartfelt congratulations to you on your engagement. I wish you all the best on this joyous occasion!

Colleen Adams said...

Congratulations from all of us! We're looking forward to getting back to Turlock and seeing you again!

the Adams

Emily in MS said...

Congragulations, Mrs Davis (soon-to-be-Olsson :))! I am a longtime lurker on your blog (my family started reading it after James & Stacy McDonald recommended it for transracial adoption encouragement). I am so happy for you & your family.
Last spring I was at the wedding of dear friends. He had been a widower for thirteen months. She is a wonderful, sweet girl and very brave to take on marriage to an itinerant preacher/missionary with (in his words) 'no job, no house, no insurance' and two transracially adopted children. They are a blessing and an inspiration to everyone that knows them:
http://matheniafamily.blogspot.com/2009/03/ultimate-update.html

Anyway, just wanted to say 'Congratulations from a blog lurker!' :)

Lazy D Ranch said...

Emily,
Thank you for sharing the news about Anthony and his new bride. Many people that visit his blog visit mine as well. We were widowed about the same time. I am soooooo excited to hear such beautiful news for him and his dear children.
God is incredible isn't He? To bless us both with two amazing marriages is just too good for words! Praise His name! Please pass on my congrats to Anthony and his family. ~Heather

Della said...

Congratulations! God bless you and keep you.

Holly said...

Congratulations Heather (and Phil!) You don't know me, but I've heard lots about you from Nan. And Phil had supper in our home when he was here visiting his sister. I look forward to meeting you and those 6 lovely kiddos one day. What a wonderful blessing you two will be to one another!

Anonymous said...

Heather

Congratulations and may God bless you.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and faith with us. It has been an inspiration.

Lize Marie, the Netherlands

Diane said...

Congratulations Heather! Rejoicing with you!

DianeK
Peoria, AZ

jlarsonrn said...

Congratulations!! I've followed your blog since right before Eric's death. You have encouraged me many days to keep going through these draining pre-school/early elementary years (my kids are 7, 4, 2, 1). Thank you for remaining faithful to your Heavenly Father. May God bless your marriage.

Tracy M. said...

Hi Heather,

I stumbled upon your blog from another's who was asking for prayers for Eric at the time. I have followed it since then. After Eric passed, I paged you with the pager given to you from the church everytime I prayed for you.

I am just so happy for you right now! It's sort of strange since we don't know each other but I feel like I've known you for a long time. If anyone deserves happiness, it's you. You are a wonderful mother and person.

I wish you nothing but happy and healthy days ahead filled with love!!!

Congratulations to you both!

Anonymous said...

Coming out of lurking to say CONGRATULATIONS on your engagement! God is good!

But details, girl, details! Inquiring minds what to know!!!! :)

Anonymous said...

Congratulations to you and your family. God is good.

R5catechumen said...

Congratulations, Heather!!! Can't wait to hear more!!

~Susan G.

Mama2fiveblessings said...

Congratulations! I too have been following since Eric's death and I was thrilled to read this amazing news!! I have prayed and thought about your family so often over the past year and a half and I'm so very thrilled that you have found someone special to share your life with!!
Many blessing to you both,
Tiffany

NYLass said...

What an awesome God we serve!
What an amazing answer to prayer!

I am so happy for you!

Congratulations and many, many blessing to you both!

Annie

Charlotte said...

Heather, I have been reading your blog since Eric's death and am so happy for you!! I am also so thankful that you opened your heart up on this blog so that we could continue to specifically pray for you.

That hymn is one of my favorites and I love the two added verses, in my mind they complete the hymn...thanks for sharing.

All 8 of Us said...

Heather,
I have been following since Eric's death and am just thrilled for you. I keep checking to see the next post about the details :)
Rejoicing with you in His goodness~ Surely goodness and Mercy shall follow you all the days of your life!
Blessings,
kathi (aoh mom to 2 Liberian blessings)

Karen said...

Hi Heather,

I've been reading your blog since around the time that Eric died. Your words have often been an inspiration to me.

I am so thankful that the Lord has provided someone special for you to love, and to be loved by. Truly, joy cometh in the morning!

Blessings,
Karen

Robin said...

Congratulations!!

Lesa said...

Praise God from whom all blessing flow! Congratulations!

Ingrid's Organic Body Care said...

wow. so great to see all that the Lord does. It has been yet another testimony of the Lord's faithfulness as we have prayed for you and your family since eric's death.
and now, a new marriage. Christ and the Church, our earthly marriage as husband and wife; wow! God is so neat to give us these blessings in this life that we may better understand our relationship to Him as we live on this earth. congrats!

HandsRaisedToHeaven said...

My husband and I are an AoH family waiting to bring our 2 girls home from Liberia. I couldn't be happier for you. Praise God! Tears of joy for you and your children!

Unknown said...

Congrats! Congrats! Congrats!
I praise God for his many Blessings!! Ever since you posted that you knew God had another husband for you, I knew in my heart of hearts that you were right and from that time forth I looked forward to this announcement! :-)

I just LOVE how God works out all the seemingly impossible details in our lives.

He is soooo Good!!

God's rich blessings continue to flow into your relationship and family!

IHS,
Teri
MaBee
PS. I have visited your church (from Texas) a few times when I've been out to tend to my father. Great church! Great people!