From start to finish

On this last day of August, I need to repost what I posted on the first day of August. God willing, I will update it at some point. The month seemed incredibly long, and now it's an hour from being over. It ended up offering many gifts for which I am grateful. Seeing what I wrote Aug. 1 reminded me, as did things this past weekend that I discussed with my pastor today, that I never know what seeds of faith will yield. May I continue to grow in my faith that God will meet every need!

I started the day wondering and praying: Who am I & what would you have me do and be, Lord?

Shortly thereafter, I wrote these words, which I kept in my heart, thoughts and prayers throughout the day:

I am a child of God, loved by God, beautiful and good in His sight, able to do all things through the power of the Holy Spirit, and yet not required to do anything, because nothing can separate me from His love — no matter what I do or don’t do, God loves me and is working for good. He longs for me to accept His love, mercy and grace and to partner with Him, that I may know the fullness of peace and joy that comes from loving, honoring, obeying, praising and thanking Him. He is greater than whatever it is that has been holding me back from experiencing His love. All I need is the tiniest grain of faith. I have that! Thank You, God, for the hope and promise of a new day, this day, every day. I am grateful and eager to see where You lead me.

And at day's end: Thank You, God! Today definitely seemed much better! Thank You! Amen!

Pleasing meditation

The commentary from today's Bible in One Year reading plan by Nicky Gumbel, about verses from Psalm 104, was timely after a restless night, typical of what happens before I sing on Sunday.

It affirmed what I have learned: When I can’t sleep, it is good to pray and meditate on Scripture. Whenever doubts arose during the night and I worried I wasn’t getting the rest I needed, I shifted back to prayer and meditation. Praise be to God!

If you know how to worry, you know how to meditate! All you need to do is change what you think about and you will be practising Christian meditation.

‘Meditation’ (v.34) means what you think about, what you allow your mind to dwell on.

The psalmist praises God for the entire created universe. He says, ‘I will sing to the Lord all my life’ (v.33). Then, he prays, ‘May my meditation be pleasing to him’ (v.34).

The apostle Paul has good advice: ‘whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things’ (Philippians 4:8).

Talking with my accompanist at church, I voiced another awareness: Not being able to get the sleep I think I need before singing (or traveling or any other big thing I try to prepare for and then rest up) ends up forcing me to again realize that any good thing that comes through me is a result of me placing my trust in God. May I never forget!

Empowered by the Spirit

I meant to post this Aug. 17:

 

I am grateful beyond words for the love of singing I inherited from my Mom. 

 

As best I can tell, the passion that pushes me to take the risk of standing in front of family and friends and sometimes even strangers to raise my voice in song skipped a generation. 

 

Little thrills me more than to know Mom’s great-grandkids include some who share that passion. My heart rejoiced to have Heidi join me Sunday at Whaley UMC in singing praise to God in honor of the 85th birthday of Mom/Grandma Alice. 

 

Also this excerpt from the Aug. 16 commentary in Nicky Gumbel's Bible in One Year reading plan helped me understand some of my feelings of joy and fulfillment in praising the Lord: 

Many years ago, I was helped in my understanding of worship through C.S. Lewis’s explanation in his Reflections on the Psalms.

He wrote: ‘The most obvious fact about praise… strangely escaped me… I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise… the world rings with praise... walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favourite game – praise of weather, wines, dishes, actors, horses, colleges, countries, historical personages, children, flowers, mountains, rare stamps, rare books, even sometimes politicians and scholars…

‘I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It’s not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed.’

In other words, worship is the consummation of joy. Our joy is not complete until it is expressed in worship. It is out of his love for you that God created you to worship. According to the Westminster Shorter Catechism, humankind’s ‘chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him for ever’.

In celebration of Mom -- Then Sings My Soul!

Celebrating my mother's 85th birthday with her this weekend brought many good memories for me, along with a flood of gratitude.

A key to the emotion and memories for me was that, rather than just sing a solo at Mom's church in her honor, I was able to work up a duet with one of her great-granddaughters. This is something I'd been wanting to do and had never managed to follow through.

For God to give me the idea, for me to ask my niece Emily and sister Becky if they thought Heidi would be interested, their affirmation that she would be, and then to come up with a song and to practice and then do it was a blessing beyond measure for me.

She has a beautiful voice and such a sweet spirit. My heart danced to hear her sing out strong and secure!

 I thought of how I would have loved to have someone sing with me when I was that age. Then I remembered: I did have someone to sing with me!

I thought of growing up with a singing Mom, and sharing that love of singing. I wish I could remember specific songs I heard Mom sing. Right now, I can't even remember for sure which songs Mom and my sisters and I sang at church. "Pass It On" and "Ivory Palaces" come to mind. Maybe she and Becky will help me remember other songs. My memories of singing with Mom and my sisters possibly blur into us all singing in the choir at Whaley during my junior high and high school years. The last song I recall Mom and me singing together was "The Lord Is My Shepherd and Keeper," many years ago at Whaley.

Another thought that came to mind several times yesterday (the party day) and today (the actual birthday) was Daddy's 85th birthday celebration. It was March 2011 -- and little did we know, that would be his final birthday on this earth. Rather than bring sadness, the memory brought gratitude for those final months with Daddy as well as gratitude for another celebration with Mom. 

Mom's 85th also brought to mind her 80th birthday celebration, which included a big party at the church. My gifts that day included songs as well.

Somehow, this also goes along with my spiritual journey -- bringing to mind "My Mother's Faith," a song as well as a testament to what keeps me going and what made my soul sing today.

In my journal this morning, I noted that several of my daily scriptures were about joyous praise to God, perfect for this day of singing praise to God for the gift of Mom, among so many examples of His goodness.

The Bible App/Bible.com Verse of the day:

The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing. (Zephaniah 3:17)

And the Psalms 98 passage from my Bible in One Year reading plan:

A Song of Praise to the Lord for His Salvation and Judgment

Oh, sing to the Lord a new song!

For He has done marvelous things;

His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory.

The Lord has made known His salvation;

His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations.

He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;

All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth;

Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.

Sing to the Lord with the harp,

With the harp and the sound of a psalm,

With trumpets and the sound of a horn;

Shout joyfully before the Lord, the King.

Let the sea roar, and all its fullness,

The world and those who dwell in it;

Let the rivers clap their hands;

Let the hills be joyful together before the Lord,

For He is coming to judge the earth.

With righteousness He shall judge the world,

And the peoples with equity.

The tiniest grain of faith

I started the day wondering and praying: Who am I & what would you have me do and be, Lord?

Shortly thereafter, I wrote these words, which I kept in my heart, thoughts and prayers throughout the day:

I am a child of God, loved by God, beautiful and good in His sight, able to do all things through the power of the Holy Spirit, and yet not required to do anything, because nothing can separate me from His love — no matter what I do or don’t do, God loves me and is working for good. He longs for me to accept His love, mercy and grace and to partner with Him, that I may know the fullness of peace and joy that comes from loving, honoring, obeying, praising and thanking Him. He is greater than whatever it is that has been holding me back from experiencing His love. All I need is the tiniest grain of faith. I have that! Thank You, God, for the hope and promise of a new day, this day, every day. I am grateful and eager to see where You lead me.

And at day's end: Thank You, God! Today definitely seemed much better! Thank You! Amen!