Early in the morning our praises rise to Thee...
Holy, Holy, Holy was one of the first worship songs I ever learned after I got saved. It was one of the first "religious" songs I ever fell in love with. It made me understand that God wanted to communicate with me, and wanted me to communicate with Him. That even though He is the most important being in the entire universe- He wanted to take time out of His busy schedule every day just to be my friend.
When I learned to worship the Lord first thing in the morning, I learned how to die to self and live for Him each day. When I forgot to do such things, I learned how to die inside...
I had a very frightening life before Christ. There were times I didn't know if I would make it another day, feared for our very existence. The sad part was, there weren't many humans around to help us through the hard parts. We were all alone. The word of God, and communication with Him through music and the arts saved me from going over the deep end in worry and doubt. Kept me sane. Helped me to be filled with the courage I needed to fight back in a world that says children don't matter enough to protect them. The Lord was with me when man failed me; refused to be my friend.
The day I found Christian rock and roll I felt as if I had gotten saved all over again. I could jam out and still glorify the God of all gods & King of all Kings. I felt like a little piece of heaven fell from the sky into my hands in the form of a compact disc. And I will never forget the day my hubby mentioned a band called Third Day. We were spreading out a drop cloth on the floor so we could paint our living room. He said, "There's this song..."
"You mean this one babe?"
I pulled out that c.d. and popped it in the radio and his face lit up like a lighthouse on the darkest of shores.
"Yeah! That's the one! Where did you get that?"
"I ordered it in the mail."
We listened to it all day long. We had found something (as a newly wedded couple) that we shared in common. Music.
Through the years we have made rhythm with objects we found lying about, played musical instruments and sang with the churches we attended, did silent dramas, taught kids to paint and make drawings, showed them Jesus through creative avenues, and even did a few festivals. We have traveled together across the United States (our five kids, the dog, and a twenty-one foot motor home) to share the same hope we had been given by the Lord alone.
Being in the woods for seven of the eight years we have lived here taught us valuable lessons about Who our friend is. His name is Jesus.
My point, I guess, is this. Music is the breath of our souls. It is a way to speak our gratitude to the Lord when we don't have prayers that we can utter. It is the most expressive avenue of entering into His presence. It is a form of worship that makes the Lord smile. True music doesn't come from the brain of an intelligent being. It comes from the heart of a thankful child.
Like a love letter.
These are the things we are going to teach young people.
Soon.
Again there is that word.
In the mean time, we spend many hours drawing away from other humans (because humans can't help where God is concerned anyway- this we have found) in order to know what He wants in this wilderness experience we are in the midst of creating for the young. Hours spent worshiping, healing, smiling in His glory; learning to lean on His understanding.
Selah
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