Joy In The Mourning - Songs on Sunday (Long Post)

It has been awhile since I have posted Songs On Sunday, but today I want to share some pieces of my journey and how God met me today. Maybe someone else out there is or has been feeling like I am. Depression is a very touchy topic amongst Christians. Many don't believe it is a valid diagnosis and think that if you are depressed you aren't trusting in God. Their solution is "Read your Bible, say a prayer, get off your bum and get going." Well, sometimes that is not bad advice, but one size does not fit all!



My depression is complicated by my migraine syndrome, insomnia and the same hormonal issues that caused my infertility. I can be having the happiest day of my life, but my body feels physically depressed and I want to cry. My neurologist explained how pain and serotonin use the same pathways in the brain. That's why I almost always have severe depression 24 hours before a bad migraine. This fall the pain from my knee has compounded that. Add to that a few stressful situations and sadness and grief and the combination has been overwhelming! Probably for the same reasons my neurologist explained, I cannot take anti-depressant medications because they cause scary hemiparethic migraines (my face, mouth and lef arm go numb and I have painful headaches!). It's important to say for my family reading, that I am NEVER suicidal. And my focus on God is probably stronger that it ever has. But I have no control over my feelings. It's a continual exercise to tell myself that what I feel is not how things really are. One of the most difficult things with depression is that unless you have experienced it, you DO NOT understand! You might think you do, but trust me, you do not. I'm glad you don't because that means you have not suffered.



Spiritually, I believe that the enemy uses all things to pull us away from God. If a Christian succumbs to depression, what a triumph for our enemy. If depression keeps us from praying and communicating with God, what a triumph for our enemy. If it keeps us from praising God, what a victory for our enemy. I have Victory in Jesus. And in even the depths of intense emotional pain, I know that He is there with me. He did not create my body to respond this way, but it is the result of sin in our world. However, He will not abandon me. He will not forsake me. He walks every step with me. So, even when I cannot smile on the outside, there are moments of JOY when He speaks to me through music, His Word and the books I am reading.



Today our pastor quoted Soren Kirkegaard and it is fitting: "Despair is precesly to have lost the eternal." I do not despair. I have a priceless eternal gift and the Eternal watches over me.



I've shared this Third Day song before, but it is still speaking to me.



Chorus:
Your love, oh Lord
Reaches to the heavens
Your faithfulness stretches to the sky
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains
Your justice flows like the ocean's tide


I will lift my voice
To worship You, my King
I will find my strength
In the shadow of your wings
Chorus



His love reaches to the heights of the Heavens and also to the depths of depression. I do find my strength in the shadow of his wing - One foot in front of the other.



In December I was chosen to be on the first quarter Creative Team at Faith Sisters for digital scrapbooking. They are beginning a challenge for 2009 - His Holy Name which will focus on the different attributes of God. It is being sponsored by Patter who happens to be the Mom of identical triplets! She is an incredible designer.



Most participants are using 6x6, 8x8 or altered Rolodex cards. Those who have paper scrapped with me, now I have a difficult time being confined! LOL I am doing 12x12 double page spreads and the scrapbook is to be determined. But I'm starting on the layouts now along with the challenge. I didn't need one more thing to do this year. But. Focusing on WHO God is, is a good thing. When you are depressed and sad and facing stressful situations or even if you are happy and everything is going well, it is better to focus on WHO He is and NOT on your circumstances. This will give me the oomph to keep putting that one foot in front of the other!



I didn't feel inspired and wasn't sure where I would start. Then I saw Cheryl's layout featuring a Bible that has been in her family since 1883! It's gorgeous. I was inspired to do my layouts featuring my Grandma Hopkins' Bible. This is the right hand side of the first challenge for the attribute, Holy....

In the church where my Grandma married, the old Methodist Church on Colby in Everett, WA, there was a window with an arch and it said, "Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness." She shared this with me several times and it really touched my heart. She believed, as do I, that making a Covenant of marriage with a Godly man, is an act of worshipping God. I know that sounds strange (NO, I don't worship my husband!), but think about it... God created us to marry and he created marriage as a HOLY COVENANT between a man and woman (that's not shouting, just emphasis). Obedience is a form of worship. Somehow I understood this in my girlish heart and spirit, even when my mind was too young to comprehend all that it would mean. So, when discussing the attribute of holy, this naturally came to mind. And the page features a wedding photo of my Grandparents, Alden and Holly (Tisdale) Hopkins, who were married June 2, 1930. You can see her writing in the margin of the Bible.

This is the left hand side, which is where I will journal my ideas and thoughts about His holiness and what that means to me. (If you want to see the full credits, you can see in the Faith Sisters Gallery. While you are there check out Shelley's layout - it's her first digital layout and I talked her into joining me. I should have convinced you too Dorothy!

Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty!

I picked up this journal in December as it was so beautiful and it was based on the song Amazing Grace, with quotes and Scripture inside. I didn't know what I was going to do with it, but I couldn't leave it in the store.

I decided to write my spiritual life story. It is good to know and remember all that God has done in our lives. As an older in life Mom, one of my dreams is to live long enough to see my children grow up and choose God in their lives. I want to be able to pass on to them the rich spiritual heritage that my Grandma and family gave me. It would give me no greater joy than to see them spiritually mature. Reality is, we don't all have our dreams come true. So, I'm writing this down... for my own good and profit, but also for them. I thought the quote on this page was good. A love of quotes... another thing I got from Grandma! :o)

Today, as Pastor Mike continued through his series on Abraham, he taught about Sarah's death. Some people think that Christians will not have struggle and that because God loves us we don't have to worry about bad things happening to us. This is a false gospel. God never promises we won't suffer, in fact there are many Scriptures that indicate we WILL suffer. But God promises to be with us in these struggles and He gave the Holy Spirit to be with us to comfort us in all our struggles.

Just like Abraham never fully saw the completed promises of his Covenant with God, but still believed He would fulfill them (Abraham purchased a lot in the Promised Land for Sarah's burial, believing that even though it had not happened yet, it would be his land and the land of his descendants.), we know that God will complete His promises to us even if they do not occur here on Earth. All God's promises will be fulfilled.

Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. 36Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. 37They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
39These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. 40God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. Hebrews 11:35b-40

He further shared with us that God's people believe that the promises of God extend beyond this life.

13Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18Therefore encourage each other with these words. I Thessalonians 4:13-18 (Bible Gateway)

As I sat in the pew, hearing this Scripture, I thought of my brother Danny and Amy's Joshie and thought "Oh Lord, I long to hear your trumpet sound!" and tried to picture them, wondering what they would look like when they were called to meet Him. Then Mike said, what I have felt and known in my heart all along, that it never says NOT to grieve, but when we grieve to grieve in hope. It has long comforted me that Jesus wept when he learned of Lazarus' death and that in the Psalms He says that the death of His saints is precious to Him... He is mindful of what we go through. But we grieve in HOPE! Our hearts may be broken but can be mended through hope and faith in God's promises for the future.

This past year Steven Curtis Chapman and his family experienced the incredible tragedy of losing a child they love dearly. Little Maria was killed when she ran out to meet her brother and was hit by his vehicle because he could not see her. They were shoeless at her packed memorial service, because God met them there on Holy Ground. Matt Redman was there to sing this song he wrote. And as Jack faces a battle of Cancer, it is difficult not to weep when I read "You give and take away". I have hope for Jack's healing, but the very fact that he faces this battle brings to the forefront the fact that NONE of us know when we may die or why or how. A few in history have been told by God how and when they would die, but for the rest of us, we are given the responsibility to LIVE our life each day. From the great wisdom of the movie, Wall E, we believe, "We don't want to 'survive', we want to 'live'"! Because we believe in hope and wait in hope, we can praise His Holy Name in all circumstances!

Blessed Be Your Name

by Matt Redman- - -

Blessed Be Your Name

In the land that is plentiful

Where Your streams of abundance flow

Blessed be Your name

Blessed Be Your name

When I'm found in the desert place

Though I walk through the wilderness

Blessed Be Your name

Every blessing You pour out

I'll turn back to praise

When the darkness closes in, Lord

Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your name

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be Your name

When the sun's shining down on me

When the world's 'all as it should be'

Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name

On the road marked with suffering

Though there's pain in the offering

Blessed be Your name

Every blessing You pour out

I'll turn back to praise

When the darkness closes in, Lord

Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your name

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your name

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your glorious name

You give and take away

You give and take away

My heart will choose to say

Lord, blessed be Your name

Though the darkness closes in, though there's pain in the offering, STILL, I will say, blessed be the Name of the Lord.

If the darkness closes in on you, do not turn away from the Great Physician. Lean into Him, cleave to Him, be protected in the Shadow of His Wings. Praise Him in the darkness. Remember there is a time for every purpose under Heaven. Perhaps I am in a season of grief, but joy comes in the morning. And if you are looking, Joy can come in the Mourning. And maybe not today, but some day, I know His promise will be fulfilled that He will give me the oil of gladness for my mourning.

So, I leave you with one more picture, Scripture and song...

My Grandma Hopkins lived in the Truth of Isaiah 53. He comforted her in her grief at losing her Husband so early (age 56)... Surely he has bourne our griefs and carried our sorrows. By His stripes we are healed. And I know that promise holds true for me. That promise holds true for Jack. And that promise holds true for YOU if you love the Lord your God with all your heart. Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you. He's always good on His promises!

I don't know if this link will work to You Tube, but if not google "video Spafford It Is Well With My Soul" and you will find it. The story of Horatio Spafford is incredible and his hymn has long comforted me:

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll;

Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,

It is well, it is well, with my soul.

It is well, with my soul,

It is well, with my soul,

It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,

Let this blessed assurance control,

That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,

And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

It is well, with my soul,

It is well, with my soul,

It is well, it is well, with my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!

My sin, not in part but the whole,

Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

It is well, with my soul,

It is well, with my soul,

It is well, it is well, with my soul.

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,

The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;

The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,

Even so, it is well with my soul.

It is well, with my soul,I

t is well, with my soul,

It is well, it is well, with my soul.

And though the darkness descend, it is well with my soul. Though it threatens to draw me in, I can bless and praise His Holy Name. He is the God of all the Universe and He has called me Friend.

Life is deep and simple and what our society gives us is shallow and complicated. (Fred Rogers)

Remember the 80s? CHOOSE LIFE! That's what it all boils down to. Life and Death. The enemy offers us death. He offers a culture of death... look at tv, music, fashion and the fixation we have with violence and crime and our flirting with the occult because of the dead - it's everywhere. God offers Life.

Congratulations if you made it this far. I hope that you have found some nugget of inspiration or encouragement. Thank you for all your comments and prayers! You are important to me!

A Picture IS A Thousand Words

Is this good enough reason for not getting up the post with our anniversary pictures and other catching up?


This is Baby N, who at the time of this picture was about 26 hours old, and is the son of my Sunday School teachers, A and C. (No I didn't make the hat, apparently there is a group called "Mad Hatters" that makes the baby hats for the hospital.) Don't you just love how babies come out with these long, perfectly manucured fingernails?

Blogger is doing strange things with photos tonight, so this is out of order, but proves that all the necessary cuteness parts are there!

Like my little Princess, he has to be encouraged to eat, so he is nakey in this picture and his Grandma is burping him.

Look at this face! He's kinda wishing he could go back to his warm, swimming abode! LOL

This is also out of order, but Daddy A is holding N as he frowns in his sleep.

Yes, he had all ten fingers and toes.

I got to hold the baby, smell the baby (hmmm... newborn straight from God baby smells so good!), change a poopy diaper... but I didn't get to take him home! :o(

Family Pictures

Phew! We don't celebrate the whole deal of Christmas and we are exhausted! I don't know how families go on and on and on without going insane with exhaustion and overload.

The kids woke up bright and early on the 24th, not wanting to miss a minute of playing! Here's Boogie with his Mars Mission Legos - all 759 assembled! He has been having a lot of fun with them.

Our church has a Christmas Eve service and we went to enjoy the singing and fellowship. It's always nice to go and see visiting friends and family members of our friends or people who go to second service (we go to first).

Here is Pastor Mike in his non-Abrahamic clothing! :o) He's holding my friend L's daughter L, who is a tiny little cherub with big brown eyes!

Speaking of tiny little cherubs with big brown eyes - look at my friend S and her daughter C! Doesn't C look like one of the Precious Moments figurines? She was just getting over her tears because she thought Mom and Dad had left the sanctuary.

When we got home the kids were anxious to open up the boxes that came from Aunt Shelley two weeks ago. They are left to right Sunshine, Boogie and Princess.

We were all tired but wanted to see what was in the big boxes!

Our neighbor's girlfriend gets something for the kids every holiday. Here's Princess with her bear and candy.

Here is Sunshine with her bear and candy.

Princess is looking at the cool wood and magnet dress up doll set from Shelley. The girls have had fun with that.

You can see in Princess' face that we were all tired. Here is Boogie with his model set. He also got a cool schooner wagon model and another one that I haven't had a chance to look at. These will be fun projects with Daddy and for school.

I always hate seeing families open gifts and it becomes a shark frenzy, free for all. So I had the kids sit on the couch and open one present at a time. The kids actually are excited to see what their siblings are getting. This is Sunshine and Boogie concentrating on getting it just right!

This is so Mom knows I exist and that it's not just a robot uploading pictures on the blog! LOL

Boogie made us ornaments his Sunday school class. Mine is a cross and Hubby's says WWJD.

Boogie and Hubby with handmade ornament.

Let the games begin! Even though they could hardly keep their eyes open, we let them put on jammies and play for half an hour before going to bed.

Thursday, Hubby's Instructional Aid came for dinner as her husband is out of town. This is she and Sunshine.

Here is Hubby, Boogie and Princess. We had homemade turkey barley soup, fresh made Spelt bread rolls and fruit salad with real whipping cream (a holiday tradition from my Mom).

After our friend left, we opened our stockings in the evening. We just give the kids a few small things. Aunt Shelley also sent bags of stocking stuffers too. Grandma and Grandpa sent "Jesus - The Greatest Gift" tshirts for the kids. Princess, Boogie and Sunshine.

I thought this picture was funny. Who knew a plastic dinosaur could elicit such responses.

Even though he's "more of a Mars mission fan", he was very excited with a new Indiana Jones tshirt!

Princess got an as of yet, unnamed dolly, which she just loves.

Sunshine wasn't sure what to think of a boy doll. She had never seen one before and wasn't quite convinced of his vintage cute-ness. Look at Boogie though. He's pretty interested. Negotiations were held after picture taking was over! LOL

As you can see Boogie hides his emotions well - ha ha! We got him a new cover for his Bible. He had out grown the big green Larry Boy cover with the huge eyeballs on it, so we opted for a more "boy-ish" one that looks like a blue back pack. He loves it - not that you could tell or anything! LOL

I gave each of the kids a tube of Flick's. When I was a kid I think they were made by Ghirardelli, but they aren't anymore. Do you remember those? After you were done eating you could put your nose up to the empty tube and drink in the heavenly aroma of chocolate! They kind of taste like cheap, yucky, fake chocolate now but the kids got a kick out of them. At first though, as witnessed in this picture, they didn't know what to think of them!

Aunt Shelley's snow is starting to melt. Grandma and Grandpa are still snowed in. It's still brown and wet down here. I miss the snow!

Tomorrow is another celebration for us. Hubby and I are celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary!

Catching Up - Boogie's Solo

Sorry I have not been posting lately. There has been a lot going on in our family and I have also been focusing on some projects with digital scrapbooking. I thought I would try to start tonight, to catch up before it was June and I still hadn't gotten December's pictures posted!

First we start with our kitty Abbie and the boxes from Aunt Shelley. They came in the mail a couple weeks ago (and were opened finally tonight!) and Abbie considers herself the official guard!

On Sunday December 21st the kids had a concert at our church. Sunshine and Princess are showing off the new skirts I made them. As you can tell they were intended to be warm weather clothes but I was a little slow getting them cut up. They love them however.

They also love their big brother Boogie. Unfortunately he was feeling pretty rotten the day he was supposed to sing with a sore throat and congestion. You can tell in the pictures he doesn't have his usual charm in his smile. Poor guy.

Here's Boogie in his new church outfit. On the armoire behind him is an ornament he made in church a couple years ago. Instead of getting out the nativity this year, we hung that up on the knob. Then we he came across his Washington State Ferry boat that he got with Grandma and Grandpa this summer, he wanted to hang it on the other knob! I thought Grandma and Grandpa would want to see that.

Here is the group of kids singing during first service. He sang both services. The girls were going to sing. Princess was very excited about it as we practiced. But Sunshine was too shy. When she decided that she didn't want to go up on the stage, Princess just lost heart. She didn't want to go up without her sister! It's a twin thing - no arguing with that. So they sat with us and sang in the pew, which shows up on the video that Hubby took - priceless! They sang What Child is This, The First Noel and Joy To the World.

On the left is Boogie's friend G who along with E had a duet for one stanza of The First Noel.

At first Boogie didn't tell us that he had a solo, so I was surprised. He nonchalantly says, "Yeah, I signed up for a solo." It turns out he had a really hard stanza:

Then entered in, there Wise men three

Full rev'rently on bended knee

And offered there in His presence

Their gold and myrrh and frankincense.

The phrasing is a little peculiar, but he did just fine in spite of the croaky sore throat. I was really amazed. You couldn't pay Hubby or I to do that! LOL Before hand he was a little nervous. Afterwards I asked him if he was nervous or afraid when he was up there singing and he said he wasn't. The picture above is him singing the solo.

Afterwards we had a delightful "sermon". As I wrote earlier, we honor and study the significance of Christ's birth (even if it is highly unlikely to have occurred 12/25), but we do not celebrate Christmas per se. So, sometimes we don't feel comfortable with Christmas sermons. I have to say that this, while quite unusual, was one of the more meaningful Christmas sermons I have heard.

Pastor Mike has been doing a series on the life of Abraham and Sunday he acted out Abraham giving Isaac as a sacrifice, correlating this to God giving His own Son as the Ultimate Sacrifice. It is a powerful image and I believe that God allowed this to occur so that we could, in human terms, understand a little, the significance of God's Gift. Without giving His Son, first as a little baby, then sacrificed on the cross as a full grown man, we would be in eternity without Him. His cost was emotionally dramatized before our eyes as we considered Abraham's faith in offering Isaac.

Here Pastor narrates, as Abraham, the events leading up to offering Isaac.

Pastor placing Isaac (our friend L) on the altar. He jokingly said that when he lifted the dagger to sacrifice him, he covered L's eyes, because he didn't want him to have images of his Pastor raising a dagger above him! We all rejoiced as Isaac/L was released! A friend of mine had a blog called Ram In The Thicket, which sadly, she stopped. She chose the name because it reminded her of how God always provided for her. That image has stuck with me. Ram in the thicket. My God always provides for me. Not always what I want, when I want or how I want, but always on time and always the right thing. Thank you Lord that You have provided for so much!

I'll end with a picture of our Sunday School teachers A and C. C will have baby N on 12/29 and he will join big brother M. Our children adore M even though he is several years younger.