One Year of Hope

I drive a good bit to work every morning, and it is always a good time alone. However, having good music on the radio is always hard to find, so I ordered two CDs that I thought would be good listens. One was the new Stephen Curtis Chapman CD, and it blew me away. He put to song his grief. It was real, and I felt like he was singing so many of my feelings. The lyrics written here are from the song "Beauty in the Morning". It is late, and I am tired but I had to go ahead and write my heart. Since July I have had the book One Year of Hope by Nancy Guthrie, and I have not gotten up the courage to deal with the deepest wounds left by my grief. After reading the intro in July I just didn't think that I was ready, yet, lately I have been feeling like God has been calling me to go through this study on the blog. And on the last song of Stephen Curtis Chapman's CD, he talks about how long ago a seed was planted so that, although our world is hardening now, God will use what we know to give us spring again. This is the time it must begin. I can't tell you what to expect, but I want to invite all of the many of you to go through this as a group. We can leave each post for discussion. There are so many of us suffering in different ways that I want to remind you that you are not alone, and together let's be reminded of God's promises and through them the Hope that He gives us. I plan to begin on February 6th, which would mark 18 months to the day that God brought Magdalena into this earth. Nancy writes in the beginning of the book that the readings can be done daily or all at once. Once we get started we can see what works best.

Beauty will Rise

It was the day the world went wrong

I screamed til my voice was gone

And watched through the tears as everything

came crashing down

Slowly panic turns to pain

As we awake to what remains

and sift through the ashes that are left

behind

But buried deep beneath

All our broken dreams

we have this hope:

Out of these ashes... beauty will rise

and we will dance among the ruins

We will see Him with our own eyes

Out of these ashes... beauty will rise

For we know, joy is coming in the morning...

in the morning, beauty will rise

So take another breath for now,

and let the tears come washing down,

and if you can't believe I will believe

for you.

Cuz I have seen

the signs of spring!

Just watch and see:

Out of these ashes... beauty will rise

and we will dance among the ruins

We will see Him with our own eyes

Out of these ashes... beauty will rise

For we know, joy is coming in the morning...

in the morning...

I can hear it in the distance

and it's not too far away.

It's the music and the laughter

of a wedding and a feast.

I can almost feel the hand of God

reaching for my face

to wipe the tears away, and say,

"It's time to make everything new."