Everything Falls

In my daily bible reading, I’ve been reading for a while now about the destruction of Judah and of the temple at Jerusalem. The prophecies leading up to it, the siege, the battles, the exile and aftermath… it’s all pretty terrible and frightening stuff. And it’s amazing how much Old Testament writing is devoted to it… So the lesson I’m seeing? I think God wanted us to understand the toll that idolatry will take on our lives. Then I came to this passage today in Lamentations 3 and was grateful to be reminded, once again, that there is always hope for us because God is always compassionate and faithful. (and was honestly surprised to find such an encouraging passage in Lamentations, of all things. ha)

I have been deprived of peace;
I have forgotten what prosperity is.
So I say, "My splendor is gone
...and all that I had hoped from the LORD."
I remember my affliction and my wandering,
...the bitterness and the gall.
I well remember them,
...and my soul is downcast within me.

Yet this I call to mind
...and therefore I have hope:
Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
...for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
...great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;
...therefore I will wait for him."

The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
...to the one who seeks him;
It is good to wait quietly
...for the salvation of the LORD.
It is good for a man to bear the yoke
...while he is young.
Let him sit alone in silence,
...for the LORD has laid it on him.
Let him bury his face in the dust—
...there may yet be hope.
Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him,
...and let him be filled with disgrace.
For men are not cast off
...by the Lord forever.
Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,
...so great is his unfailing love.

Then as I was driving to church this morning, this song, Everything Falls, by Fee came on the radio – the lyrics made me think, once again, about this passage that I read this morning:

Everything Falls

You said
you'd never leave or forsake me
when you said,
this life is gonna shake me
you said
this world is gonna bring trouble on my soul
this I know

when everything falls apart
your arms hold me together
when everything falls apart
you're the only hope for this heart
when everything falls apart
and my strength is gone
I find you mighty and strong
you keep holding on
you keep holding on

when I see
darkness all around me
when I see
that tragedy has found me
I still believe
your faithful arms will never let me go
and still I know

Sorrow will last for the night
but hope is rising with the sun
(it’s rising with the sun)
there will be storms in this life
but I know you will overcome
but I know you will overcome

I was searching for the music video of this on YouTube and found the lead singer talking about a great story that goes with this song – watch it here:




So I guess no matter what happens, the best thing that we can do is to keep our eyes on God and continue to wait on Him and worship Him...

Strange Poetry

This is for all my poetry loving friends. Mackenzie came home with an assignment in her AP English class to write a response to the following poem:

The Red Wheelbarrow
by William Carlos Williams

so much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens.

So we were at my dad's house last night and my brother is still in town and we ALL got involved in the interpretation of this poem. It was pretty comical. :) But it did make for some pretty lively dinner conversation last night. ha (And if you find this one interesting, you should go look at some of his other poems!!)

A Day in Nashville

On Saturday, we took a last-minute trip up to Nashville for the day. We have been wanting to check out Belmont University and see "Music Row." What we found out is that Belmont, Vanderbilt and Lipscomb are all within about 5 miles of each other - we got to drive around all of them. :) But we got out at Belmont and wandered around the VERY deserted campus. It's quite beautiful. And who know that Minnie Pearl went to school there? ;-) Mackenzie is thinking about a possible major in Public Relations if she doesn't decide to major in Youth Ministry... ahhhh... let the college applications (and wrangling for scholarships!!) begin! :) So I've posted some pictures below of our walk through the campus.

After we left there, we drove down Music Row - pretty neat to see all the recording studies (and spas and hair salons! haha). We ended up in downtown Nashville and Courtney had suggested we try out dinner at the Wild Horse Saloon. That was a neat place and we even got to watch some country line dancing. (funny!) By the time we got there, the girls were tired of me taking their pictures so the only way I could get them to take a picture with the horse was to agree to have my picture made with it. ;-)

It was a good day with the family and a nice way to end our summer... still can't believe that Mackenzie starts her Senior Year tomorrow and Anna will start 8th grade... wow.