A Spring of Joy

A very different Wednesday Worship. No song this week. Just a moment to pause and reflect. This morning as our little one snuggled in between us for our early morning ritual , she finished inhaling her juice, let out a sigh of contentment and burrowed down deep into our bed. Her red curls leaned on my shoulder and she looked up at me. I smiled as she patted my cheek. “Me. You. Here.” she said.

As I have reflected on the past year and all of God’s faithfulness, Jill Phillips’ song, I Am, has been a tool God used to speak the comfort of Who He is to me. I know what the past has held for me. I don’t know what the future holds in this life. But one thing I do know is that no matter what the circumstances of my life may be, God never changes, and He is my Emmanuel. He is with me!

May the words of His faithfulness bless your hearts today.

By request of my readers (this is for you, Jason!), I am now including an Amazon.com widget to preview or download the recording.

There is something healing about singing the names of God. Who He is. What He has done. When I am singing of His work then none of my own working can enter in, and worship becomes a complete focus on what worship is. Seeing the beauty of Christ. All of Him, none of me.

Sitting in yet another doctor’s office this week, I heard a familiar voice begin singing over the piped in music. I haven’t listened to Steven Curtis Chapman in years, but suddenly I sat up straighter and listened as the lyrics began pouring through me. “This is a moment made for worshipping, because this is a moment I’m alive.” I found myself choking up as I thought about the impact of those words. Every second of my life is a moment for worship. I came home and looked up the lyrics on my computer and have read them daily since… a reminder that each moment is a gift, every breath is grace from His hand, every second a chance to praise Him, every morning His mercies are new, and every beat of my heart is a chance to begin again covered by forgiveness. Oh for a heart that worships Him every moment! But what glorious mercy that as I fail so often, every second is a new moment to begin again.

Walking in the early morning hours, watching day brighten the already beautiful flower framed streets, nodding heads and exchanging greetings with the other walkers, I talk with God. I love walking and telling Him about my life. I love sharing my heart with Him. And I love that I can hold nothing back, because He knows it all already. It has been good to be home to my morning routine. Yesterday my prayer was for a heart that yearns for Him, and I couldn’t stop singing Shane & Shane’s song, Yearn (found on An Evening With Shane & Shane). I made it my prayer, and it has been burned into my mind and heart since.

Yesterday I watched my boys and their cousins spend hours playing in the surf. I’m not sure what game they were playing, but Ash and Dan would stand sideways, arms raised in a symbol of power, and taunt the ocean, daring it to attack them. You can guess the results of that battle. Over and over they would either run screaming in delightful terror or they would bear the brunt of the assault of a very rough ocean with one or both of them thrown to the sand. It was a game, an adventure, and they loved every minute of it.

This past week I heard of the passing of two women with cancer. Neither one of them were my friends. In fact, I had never met them. I knew one of them because of her blog, and I had been following her cancer story almost as long as I had mine. The other one was a friend of a friend. Both of them were young. Both of them left behind children. One had five, the other seven. Both have husbands and parents who are grieving right now and trying to explain to young ones how Mommy won’t come home again. I am tired and sad and broken. I have wept over these women and their stories and their pain. I have prayed for them. I have identified with them.

Due to a crazy week, Wednesday worship is on Thursday this week. And my choice of song is actually Asher’s choice–every night during family worship. I watch his face as he sings Once Again by Matt Redman each night. His eyes light up, and he can’t wait to belt out the chorus. I love how God is showing Himself to me through my son. I will let Asher’s words speak for me today.

“I love to remember this, Mommy.” he says. “Jesus died on the cross for me.” I can say no more.

Last week I picked up a copy of the Vacation Bible School CD for my children to be listening to in preparation for this week. I put it in the player in our van, and out belted the theme song for their “Power Lab” excitement. Then came on a song called Thankful. And I sat in the car in the WalMart parking lot and wept (and not because of how much I hate WalMart). My chaotic heart stilled hearing the sweet words of this song, a song my children have quickly memorized, and we sing it together all day long. I love children’s music for this very thing. It’s easy for me to get lost in the theology and the bigness of songs and forget the sweet simplicity of walking with Jesus. And being thankful.

I can’t believe it’s been twelve weeks of Wednesday Worship! I just want to let ya’ll know how much I have loved hearing the ways God is teaching you through music, and my heart has been ministered to by you. Thank you!

This week I heard a song I hadn’t heard before by Jill Phillips, and I’ve listened to it over and over and over, because, well, I’m obsessive like that. It has really spoken to me of the truth of trusting in Jesus. The Door can be found on her Nobody’s Got It All Together CD. Frankly, anyone who titles their CD Nobody’s Got It All Together has become an instant friend in my mind. Jill just doesn’t know it yet. Written by her husband, Andy Gullahorn, Jill sings about reality with simple melodies and strong lyrics that speak from the heart.