History

It feels appropriate to re-awaken the blogger in me with an excerpt from my history, and some honor for the roots I grew from.

I have a lot of memories of my Daddy sitting in his armchair with a tattered leather Bible on his lap. I remember him reading his, and when his Dad passed to eternity, he held my Grandpa's in it's place. He's a teacher, and a Bible teacher, and crawls deep into the word, looking for the Lord.

My grandpa was a worshiper with every part of his being. I sat with him on the tall, wooden organ bench, feeling the grand and glorious rumble of sound from within.  He played with his hands and his feet, and his eyes smiled out of his long, english face. He hummed hymns while he walked, and longed for heaven not with the sorrow of this life, but foreshadowed joy for the next.

My Momma gave me a little blue book when I was eight. She told me to write my heart out to the Lord. She told me to tell him all the woes of my childish worldview, and sent me on the road less traveled. In the pages of the little blue book, I found that He was good. He was gentle and kind, and never interrupted my sobbing. He listened intently to every smeared, cursive sentence, and soaked up the tears that fell on each page. He  cared that I didn't want to clean my room, that the boys were mean and I wasn't allowed sleepovers. He never shushed me, never dealt harshly. He won me with his kindness and faithfulness in my youth.

Each new notebook and wave of woes, He never changed. Each first entry, He felt familiar and steady. He stayed patient as my woes turned into dreams. He listened and cared, the whole time.

I have my Grandpa's heart for songs for the Lord, I can't help it.

The Lord calls to me in song and in the word, and in the middle of my buzzing life, and He is never distracted from His patient, steady pursuit.

I bought a new notebook this week, and like every time before, His arms were wide open on the first page.

The people above and those close to them know there is so much more to their stories and mine. There are piles of hardship and sorrow and frustration. There are unfulfilled dreams and disappointing relationships, but that all falls away in the presence of the Lord. He didn't use their perfection to capture me, He used their connection with Him. He held me near to the places He meets with them and let me feel Him there.

He is the pursuer, and all He wants from me is response.

He has never, never failed to be wonderful, and He never will.




**pictured: the original blue notebook, my newest, and the Bible Josh proposed with

//side note//
I love the way He never wastes a detail... some of you are familiar with a different 'little blue book' in my life... my songwriting notebook, the one He delivered lyrics for The Unfolding into.
 Isn't He wonderful??