Humming Hymns

Some of my favorite songs right now are old hymns and I thought I would share my favorite with you :)

I Come To The Garden Alone

I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses.

Refrain

And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.

He speaks, and the sound of His voice,
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing,
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing.

Refrain

I’d stay in the garden with Him
Though the night around me be falling,
But He bids me go; through the voice of woe
His voice to me is calling.

Refrain

What we can learn about trusting God from fireworks

Colossians 3:1-2, The Message: 

So if you're serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that's where the action is. See things from his perspective.

My dear friend Kendra invited my sister and I to the annual Londonderry township's Fourth of July fireworks display yesterday evening. We all had a wonderful time; people were chatting happily, children squealed their joy at the playground, a marching band filled the breeze with their medley of songs, and the smell of grilled burgers and hot dogs filled our noses. Around 9:30 the fireworks began.

We were sitting near to where they were being fired off...the sound was nearly deafening and the flashes were nearly blinding. My favorite thing about fireworks is how the land responds underneath them, for brief moments the sky doesn't seem so dark and the land glows. I like to see the trees light up in the flashes of the exploding fireworks. Last night was no different, I found myself watching the land and the trees instead of the fireworks themselves. 

As I was watching the trees glow with purple and blue and yellow light, I heard the Lord whisper to my heart. He said, "If you watch the response of earth too closely, you miss what is going on above you, the beauty that is filling the night sky. You're missing the true wonder of what's happening."

I think in ministry, it's easy to be focused on the response of others around you. We get caught up in the reaction to what God is doing, rather than watching what His hands are orchestrating. We keep our eyes open for students who seem to be responding to the Lord, or we watch for the ones who aren't. We rejoice in victory and success. And this is good! I loved watching the trees light up by the light of the fireworks, it was truly beautiful. But that beauty paled in comparison to the actual fireworks themselves. When I turned my eyes to see the fireworks, exploding right before me, there was a whole deeper sense of wonder and awe I experienced as I sat watching them, it was truly glorious. I could trust that the trees were still lighting up, even though I had taken my eyes off of them and set them above to the fireworks.

Last night was such a wonderful reminder...I don't want to miss the things that God is doing, how His hands are working, and how His voice is speaking simply because my eyes are searching for the result of His moving. I don't just want to see the clay taking shape into a pot, but I want to see the Potter's hands molding it and trust that everything else is responding just as it should be.

Happy Fourth of July, friends! And thank you to all who have served our great country.