this is my song...

"Can you hold please?"

The voice on the other end of the phone did not wait for my response. I am put on hold. Sure, I can hold...I would rather not, but since it wasn't up for discussion I will.

God does this sometimes too.

Hold please. Wait on me. Be still and know that I am God. Well, I would rather not sometimes, but since it wasn't up for discussion, I will. And so I do. Seasons of waiting can be difficult. Especially if you are not very patient. Learning new lessons, being refined, sanctified just a bit more seems to occur most during the seasons of waiting on the Lord.

While on hold the background music plays. Here is today's song while I wait:

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine.

O what a foretaste of glory divine.

Heir of salvation, purchase of God,

Born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.

This is my story, this is my song,

Praising my Savior all the day long;

This is my story, this is my song,

Praising my Savior all the day long.

Perfect submission, all is at rest;

I in my Savior am happy and blessed,

Watching and waiting, looking above,

Filled with his goodness, lost in his love.

The Lord is my strength and my song, he has become my salvation. Exodus 15:2

Thankful that my God gives me a song while having me wait!

fifteen years

Celebrating fifteen years of marriage to the man I love! It all began eighteen years ago, we had met just three weeks earlier on a mission trip. One evening we sat outside by the pool...talking, sharing with one another our hopes and dreams when he reached out for my hand. He cupped my hands in his and asked if he could pray.

One of the most tender, heartfelt prayers I had ever heard...somewhere in there he thanked God for having our paths cross and committed us to Him...if that was just a friendship or if we would grow old together, serving him...rocking side by side in our rocking chairs some day. When he finished praying, I looked up to see a tear coming down his cheek. In my heart, I was already saying "I do."

It was three years later that I got to say those words before our family and friends, confessing that covenant of marriage before our Lord.

Thankful for a faithful God who has held two sinners who love one another.

My nose in a book!

For the first time, in quite a while, I have picked up some great fiction novels for the summer. Lynn Austin's Gods and Kings series has me walking the dusty roads of Jerusalem alongside kings and prophets of the Old Testament. Loving that my feet are getting dusty with this series.

While determined to read only for fun & enjoyment this summer - meaning that I would not jump right into my regular reading of ministry, leadership, church. Well, maybe just one won't hurt - I have Alan Hirsch's The Forgotten Ways on my kindle! Admission - while taking the summer for rest, I also find enjoyment in learning more of how God's church can best bring Him glory!

"No man can be called friendless who has God and the companionship of good books."

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, poet