Saturday Symphony

Aggressive. Edgy.

This past week has left me feeling this way. Just an exhausting parade of work overload, personal challenges, and winter blahs.

And at the heart of it all - as ever - is the love of God. Always there to pick me up and lead me back to the straight and narrow path that brings me to Him.

Everyday when I wake
I'm trying to get up, they're knocking me down
Chewing me up, spitting me out
Hey, hey, hey
When I need to be saved
You're making me strong, you're making me stand
Never will fall, never will end

I have seen Skillet live - they are passionate, talented, and deliver a gut-punch about faith. In a raw, visceral way that gets down into the beating of my very soul. I feel them thru the soles of my feet.

Their message is universal - love is the answer. In all things, in all ways - trust in God and his love will carry you thru the darkest moments, the most trying times.

Of Nightmares & Joys

It's been a dreary couple of weeks here in New England. No snow (which is a big disappointment to this here winter lover), lots of rain, and basically bleak.

Inside and outside. 

A small part of my personal life is, once again, in serious upheaval. Draining emotional issues that leave me numb and useless. It is times like these that we should turn to God. Yet my perfectly formed little human ego - makes that a huge challenge for me.

We doubt your goodness

We doubt your love

As if every promise from your word 

is not enough

Doubt. Such a human thing to do. Even as I pray ceaselessly, I doubt.

Is God listening? Does he hear my "desperate pleas"? Does he even care? 

But he is there always. And those blessings as well. They do abound no matter what else is going on around us. Yet when those other things leave us feeling disoriented - as if our very soul has fractured into a million tiny pieces - God is still there.

Even if we don't feel him, hear him, or even worse, acknowledge him.

What if trials of this life

The rain, the storms,

The hardest nights, are your mercies

in disguise.

God is there. In our nightmares, our worries, our fears, our anguish. In our joys, our laughter, our happiest moments.

God is there.

Always.

Blessing us no matter what we think or feel.

Saturday Symphony

Another new year, a week already in the books. 

And it has been a week.  Even though it was only 4 work days it feels like 30.  The Fortune 100 can be like that.

In fact, the pace of my work has increased exponentially over the past 5 years or so.  At this time last year I said to my hubby - I don't know that I can sustain this pace all year.  

And here I am, one year later, working at a much faster pace than this time last year.  I am once again wondering how I will keep this up for 2023.

That is only my professional life. My personal life is also moving at a rapid pace. I find myself stumbling along to keep up. And it gets ahead of me to the point where I feel like I'm falling...falling downward so fast and so far.

Then I remember who is in control and I reach out to my Lord and ask for a safety net to catch me.

He is always there.

When my hopes and dreams are far from me

And I'm runnin' out of faith

I see the future I pictured slowly fade away

And when the tears of pain and heartache 

Are pouring down my face

I find my peace in Jesus' name

Saturday Symphony

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty

Who was, and is, and is to come

With all creation I sing praise to the King of kings

You are my everything and I will adore you.

"The Revelation Song" performed by Philips, Craig, and Dean. (Based on the fourth chapter of the mighty Book of Revelation.) A long-time favorite song of mine; I'm a sucker for the harmonies.

And also for the message. Appropriate all year long and most especially on this last day of the year.

I'm leery of saying anything about 2023. The past 3 years have shown me, personally, that I need to stay in the present moment. Looking too far ahead will only set me up for disappointment - or worse.

Staying in the moment means letting God dwell in my heart. The thing I pray for most often and it is decidedly NOT easy to do. Speaking for myself - I am a planner. I plan all day long in my profession; I plan most of the time in my personal life as well. 

So it remains quite the challenge for someone whose DNA is programmed to plan - to stay in the moment. I succeed maybe 5% of the time. :-) 

Yet God has a larger plan for me - for all of us. Only he knows the depth and breadth of that plan. And while that can be utterly frustrating, I find when I do yield to God and let things unfold in his time - I am calmer. My ever-present anxiety settles down. The pace of the days also evens out a bit more. Things don't feel so frantic.

As another year comes to a close, I pray for God to continue to forgive me when I neglect to turn my cares to him. I pray for his wisdom to guide me thru my days. And I pray fervently that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ returns to Earth again - to put to right all the wrongs that man has wrought all over the world.

Saturday Symphony

Ancient words 

Changing me

And changing you

We have come

With open hearts

Oh let the ancient words impart

This is my latest song obsession. First it must be said that I adore the work of Michael W. Smith. He always performs with a clarity & reverence that fills me. And when he's working with the poetry of "Ancient Words" by Lynn DeShazo, it's hard not to create a living, breathing testimony to the power of God's words.

Holy words long preserved

for our walk in this world,

They resound with God's own heart

Oh, let the Ancient words impart

Words of Life, words of Hope

Give us strength, help us cope

In this world, where e'er we roam

Ancient words will guide us home

Indeed - words given to men from the heart of God himself. 

My darling husband is a wonderful musician who lends his God-given talents to the Praise Band at our church. They performed this song a couple of months ago, so it was on heavy play in our home as he rehearsed his part. 

I find myself singing the song in my head sometimes - like the beautiful prayer it is.