More for me than for y'all

So I think I'm a pretty cheesey writer, but I enjoy making the attempt--thus the title of this post. I'm pretty sure this writing thing is more for me than for you, but maybe you'll find some joy in these messes of words I am calling poems/lyrics. So here we go with another one I'm working on. Hope it doesn't offend anyone. I have just been struck lately thinking about saints in the church who have stayed and stayed. They've remained faithful through thick and thin. I admire these people greatly as I am learning that while there were aspects of moving from church to church as a PK that were challenging, there are challenges also with staying where the Lord has planted you. I've recently been so saddened to hear about some family members of mine who have poured themselves out in a lifetime of ministry to a church and it now looks as if, through some painful circumstances, the Lord might be leading them out to a different place. This family has been such a witness to me throughout my life. They've loved their church passionately. They've given all they have and more to the Kingdom work the Lord had for them there. While they've experienced many joyous moments there, they have also had many, many difficult times. They've dealt with oddballs in the church, weak leadership, and just down-right frustrating folks. But because they believed in the notion that there is no such thing as a perfect church--only a perfect Savior, they've remained where they felt the Lord wanted them to remain. From the outside looking in, it seems as if there were many times when they could've justified throwing their hands up and saying, "I'm outta here! I've had it!" But they remained submitted to the Lord's will for their family. He may or may not be transplanting them into a new body of believers, but what a testimony they've been to me and so many as they have loved their church, served Christ there wholeheartedly--recognizing that they bring their own imperfections to that Holy Spirit hospital we call the Church. I have to believe that their dedication and desire to lift Jesus higher despite the enemy's attempts to confound is a spiritual discipline that can bring the angels in heaven to their feet singing songs of praise to Jesus who has given them the fortitude they've needed to stay. I love them and am so grateful for them. For the lives of service and love they've shown to me and so many. I wish I were a better writer, because their lives are worthy of greater excellence in writing than what I can create. Here are some thoughts I've been mulling over in the last few days as I have been praying for them in this challenging time.

"The Perfect Church"
v1
They'd been serving in that church for nearly thirty years.
They'd had a lot of joy,
but they'd shed their share of tears.
Pastors came and went
Friends came and went too.
The devil hard at work
tried to split the church in two.
There were days, weeks and months
when they felt their hearts would break.
And showing up Sunday mornings
was sometimes a tough step to take.

(chorus-1stX)
But there's no such thing as a perfect church
There's no house of worship where the devil doesn't lurk.
The church is full of broken hearts
but jump on in and give it your part.
So give up the hunt
You'll never be pleased.
Perfect only comes
when we're all on our knees.

v2
Miss Alice had been there for nearly 50 years
she didn't stick around 'cause of how things made her feel.
Her time, her talents, her gifts--she'd made a promise.
And she never once thought
of stepping away from us.
Church was a place to worship and love
Baking cakes, training acolytes
serving her Father above.
Glamorous and exhilarating?
Not all the time.
But Kingdom work had its way of satisfying
No, things didn't always go as she thought might be best
Knowin' His hands were on her life
gave her heart joy and rest.

(chorus-2ndX)

Cause there's no such thing as a perfect church

There's no house of worship where the devil doesn't lurk.

The church is full of broken hearts

but jump on in and give it your part.

So give up the hunt

You'll never be pleased.

Perfect only comes

when we're all on our knees.

(bridge)
Bring all your hurts
He wants them to be His.
A place to find freedom
that's what the true church is.
There might be disappointments
There might be pain.
We're all just sinners
who need grace the same.

(chorus-3rd&finalX)
Cause there's no such thing as a perfect church
There's no house of worship where the devil doesn't lurk.
The church is full of broken hearts
but jump on in and give it your part.
So give up the hunt
You'll never be pleased.
Perfect only comes
when we're all on our knees.

(tag)
So come on, church

let's get on our knees.

Been doin' some writing

     My sweet husband said to me out of the blue recently, "Why don't you work on some song-writing? You're a good writer and I bet you could find some joy in the process."
     I don't know if I can fully express what these few words from my precious husband's lips meant to me.  I felt inspired and uplifted immediately. What a blessing to have a spouse and friend who knows me, my passions, my abilities and interests, and he believes in me. Thank you, Lord, for this gift. May I be just as supportive and encouraging to him in all his interests and pursuits.
     So anyway, I pulled out one of my many partially filled journals and began scribbling. This is the result of some scribbling and a little bit of editing. I feel like it's still got some edges to be softened (maybe a lot), but I have, just as Stan knew so well, truly enjoyed the creative process. I think this song would definitely be in the slightly country genre. As I've been editing it, I've been toying with the melody, but that still feels like a long way off. Just writing the lyrics was fun. To my writing friends/family, I welcome your constructive criticism--things that are working or not working as much, etc. Without further ado,

"Don't Let Me Slip Away"

Thirteen years might sound unlucky

but the Lord knows they don’t believe in luck

He was workin’ two jobs goin’ day and night

She was home with the kids, but somethin’ didn’t feel right

Life’s pace was fast, the days became a blur

He sometimes felt lucky to steal a kiss from her

But one night in the darkness

she cried to him,

Don’t let me slip away,

don’t let our love grow cold and gray

life has pushed our hearts apart

so press my heart against your heart

and say, “Honey, I’ll never let you slip away.”

Sixteen years old, he thought he was a man

just lost and confused, cared nothin’ ‘bout his family’s plans

didn’t care a bit ‘bout what The Lord had to say

figured he’d just try things his own way

thought he knew what was right and best

inside he was just a boy scared to death

though he pushed them all away

they knew what he really wanted to say was,

Don’t let me slip away

don’t let your love for me grow cold and gray

I’ve pushed our lives apart

but press my heart against your heart

and say, “Son, we won’t ever let you slip away.”

She’d been raised in the church all of her life

gave her life to Jesus at the age of five

years and years of walkin’ with her Savior everyday

she never thought she could fall away.

but the world pressed in hard and tragically

She woke beside her husband the day she turned 63

reaching for his hand to greet him with the sun

she found he’d gone to be with Jesus before the day had begun

what will she do?

who’ll hold her in her pain?

then she heard her Savior saying,

I won’t let you slip away!

My love for you never grows cold or gray.

When life’s pain pushes us apart

press your heart against my heart

and I’ll say, “Dear child, I’ll never let you slip away.

I’ll never let you slip away.”

Birthday Fun

Well, my Mom came to visit for my birthday! Doesn't get much better than that! Love it when my mom comes--for sooo many reasons. I love that we always get some little project or to-do item done when she comes, I love that she plays with the kids like she's still 35 years old (which I turned on Oct 3rd!), I love that she listens to me so lovingly and responds in grace, and I love that she never leaves without helping me gain a new/better perspective about things I'm facing. I value her friendship, her prayers over me and my family that are passionate, her dramatic, emotional response to injustice, her dedication to serving her Savior through the church and community, her great desire to be used up for Kingdom purposes, the way she never stops parenting all of us kids and prays for wisdom to do so....I value you, Mom! Right now, she and Dad are at a very, very busy point in their ministry, and it is challenging for her to find time to leave town. So when she is able to steal herself away and find herself on my doorstep, I am ecstatic! Monday night we ate at Ops and then came home and Stan and Mom had cake and ice cream for me. Mom and Dad gave me a generous amount of mad money and then also gave me a Fontanini manger scene lighted grotto. I look forward to building my collection! Stan and the kids had given me an iPod touch earlier as an early gift, and on Monday they gave me a wonderful little travel case for it. We were able to hop over to the Jekyll Island Hotel's Grand Dining Room for lunch on Tuesday, and we had Benjamin as our tag-a-long. We weren't certain how he'd do, but praise the Lord, he was wonderful! We enjoyed a scrumptious lunch in that beautifully appointed room and had a funny experience of over-hearing several little old ladies at a table near by talking fairly mild church gossip about St. Simons UMC. :) I hope that if there are little old ladies having lunch together in Albany that they are saying wonderful, sweet things about my parents! Then after lunch (and I'm sorry the pictures aren't better!) we zoomed home just in time to meet Olivia at the bus stop. Wednesday was a shopping day. My sweet Mom and Dad-in-law gave me a Belk gift certificate and Mom and Dad also gave me mad-money, so we went and spent every bit (except for .07 cents!). I saved $308. :) Not bad! We had a dinner picnic at the riverfront park, and the weather was sublime. Then Mom came with us to our Wednesday night church activities. What a fun thing to have her there to see what we've been pouring our hearts into week after week. She was sweetly encouraging through it all. She helped me look at paint colors at Lowe's on Thursday morning before she left. I took home a couple of samples to try on the walls. This is something I've been meaning to do for months, so I appreciate her pushing me to do it! Maybe in November we'll find some time to do this big project! All in all it was great having her here, and I had such a nice birthday! I'm so grateful for my loving family who made it a special week! I also meant to mention in my post about our trip to Charleston that Karen made me a delicious cake for my birthday! I don't remember the name of it, but I remember she said she has friends who call it "Waffle Cake", because it tastes wonderfully rich and sweet like waffles! It was delicious, Karen! Thanks for making it for us to enjoy!

A Weekend With The Hollands

We enjoyed a visit to Charleston/Mt. Pleasant, SC this past weekend to see Karen and Nick and their kids, Caroline and Nicholas. We traveled up after school on Thursday. Carrie Beth met us at the interstate exit near Rincon and took Posy for us for the weekend which was a tremendous help. We got to the Hollands' wonderful, lovely new home later that night, and we stayed busy the next couple of days with plenty of  cousin-time fun. Caroline and Olivia kept us entertained with creative plays they wrote and performed together. Nicholas and Benjamin did plenty of Star Wars roll-playing and Wii playing, too, much to Benjamin's delight! We were able to see their schools, shop at a neat farmer's market type of store, have yogurt at Menchies after Aunt Karen's yummy dinner on Friday night, and before we left on Saturday we were able to go to a CSU football game and see the Buccaneers play and see Nick's marching band perform in the stands and on the field for the homecoming game. It was nice to be able to catch up with them all and we were grateful to have the opportunity to have a good visit with one another on a weekend with such glorious weather!  A big thank you to the Holland family for having us in your home! We were also pleased to meet the Holland family members, Lexi and Otis, their dogs. They are such funny characters! :) We'll see you at Thanksgiving, Hollands!