A way of reminding us of a phase of life or bringing light to what we're currently going through. It has a way of helping you cope, inspiring you and allowing you to express what you're feeling when sometimes you just don't know how.
Music has always been a big part of my life. I was a band nerd from 5th grade all the way through high school, I sang in my high school choir, and in various pageants through out the years.
My Grandmother taught me hymns. I used to sing with her all the time as a kid growing up. In church is where my love for singing and for the Lord grew. My roommates and I led worship in college together for various retreats and church events. We were a modern day Point of Grace, with some amazing memories and stories from that time in life that I treasure.
I love when you find that perfect song that captures what you're going through. Maybe it's the song you chose for your wedding day that summed up your relationship with your Husband to be. Maybe it's that quirky song that has a beat that just makes you want to dance and fills your heart with happiness. Or maybe it's that sweet song that you relate to your children.
When I first heard the song Blessings by Laura Story I was in my car. I caught the premise of the song, when I got home that night I pulled it up on itunes to listen to the whole thing. The words to this song are so powerful, and ring so true in my life.
The last two and a half years have been years of growth and learning a lot of lessons about God and myself. I feel like I've lived every last single word of this beautiful song.
It makes me weep every time I hear it. Not from sadness but more from the blessings that have followed in my life since the hardest season I faced almost three years ago. You can't see it always while you're in it. God's timing is not your timing. It has taken me so long to see those things, but I am thankful for all the lessons.
My favorite line of this song says;
What if my greatest disappointment, or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy.
What if trials of this life the rain, the storms
the hardest nights are your mercies in disguise.
What if everything that happens to us in life is an opportunity to draw us closer to our Savior. I believe it is. In everything that happens we have a choice about how we're going to respond. Will we respond in love or anger? Will we draw closer to the Lord and look for the things he may want to teach us in every trial or will we retreat into ourselves and shut out the very person who can heal and bring us through?
I can tell you that in our flesh we will act out in anger, or hurt. And we will not look to the Lord always first for those lessons and unexpected blessings he has for us. I know that because I've done all those things and probably more.
But, I also know the freedom that comes when you truly forgive and let God into those hurt parts and disappointing parts of life. He makes them even more beautiful than I could have ever imagined them to be. He truly has a plan for you and your life.
This song has become one of my favorites and sums up a season of life for me, but it also is a small reminder about where I've come from and where I'm going. I am so blessed. Blessed in ways that others might not see as blessed but I trust and have faith and love for a Savior who brought me out of my despair and replaced my anger with eternal JOY.
I hope that no matter what you're facing today that you would be encouraged by this song. Encouraged to know that no matter what season you're in your life right now that God has blessings and peace ahead for you in life.
What your blessings come through rain drops
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know He's near
His promises are true today for YOU!
Joyfully, Andrea
