A Song For This Year

And so begins another year. I'm beginning my Junior year of college (where did the time go!?). My classes are fine and my course load is a lot easier than it was last semester (which is not saying much as last semester kicked my butt). I'm excited for all that God has in store for this year for me. Yet as I sat in my room today contemplating all that is in store for this year, I began stressing about all that I have to do, both in this week and in this coming semester. It wasn't until my iPod "randomly" shuffled onto a certain song that I began to calm down. God has a way of breaking through right when I'm at my most vulnerable and He certainly came through today! As I listened to the lyrics of this song, I was struck by the simple truth of it, and was faced with what God wants me to focus on completely this semester: HIM. My heart is so prone to wander and to focus on the fleeting, unimportant stuff of today. Jesus was calling me in that moment to focus only on Him this coming semester. This may seem much more trite than it really was. All I need to do this semester is fall deeper in love with my God! Instantly a load was taken off my shoulders. As I contemplated the last verse of this song, the Lord brought to mind a promise that He had made me at the beginning of last year: that He would guard my heart if I just obeyed Him and followed where He led me. He reminded me not only of that promise today, but also of His faithfulness in keeping it. Here is the song that will be echoing in my heart this coming year. I'm so excited to experience God in a much deeper way.

Come Thou Fount of every blessing,

Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;

Streams of mercy, never ceasing,

Call for songs of loudest praise.

Teach me some melodious sonnet

Sung by flaming tongues above.

Praise the mount, I'm fixed upon it,

Mount of Thy redeeming love.

Here I raise my Ebenezer;

Here by Thy great help I've come.

And I hope by Thy good pleasure

Safely to arrive at home.

Jesus sought me while a stranger

Wandering from the fold of God.

He to rescue me from danger,

Interposed His precious blood.

O to grace how great a debtor

Daily I'm constrained to be.

Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,

Bind my wandering heart to Thee.

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it.

Prone to leave the God I love;

Here's my heart, Lord, take and seal it,

Seal it for Thy courts above.

Helped By The Help

The more I come to know myself, the more I realize how much I love stories. It doesn't really matter if it's fiction or not, because I believe that all great stories come from some basis of truth. We write from what we know. So while the story in the book and movie The Help may not have actually happened, it's still quite inspiring. The story centers around Jackson, Mississippi right before the Civil Rights Movement. To see how divided our country used to be over the issue of race was beyond words. I'd like to think we've come so far, especially now that we have a black President. The movie itself was incredible, but something I witnessed in the theater itself helped convince me that this country is not beyond hope, no matter how discouraged I may get sometimes. I volunteer at pregnancy crisis center in the South Capital district of Washington D.C., but I sometimes feel like I'm in a completely different country. The stories I hear are so beyond anything I've ever even imagined that I can't help but get discouraged. The women I serve are wonderful, brave women who never really had a chance. Some of the situations I hear about are so heartbreaking, it makes me wonder if we've even come that far at all. But while I was sitting in the theater today waiting for the movie to start, two women walked in and sat right in front of me. One was white, the other was black. All during the movie, they laughed and cried together and as I was pulling out of the theater parking lot I saw them embracing each other before getting into their cars and leaving. That simple gesture reminded me that we have come so far, and though our society is not perfect, we're not hopeless. The movie itself was incredible and I highly recommend it. We all need these simple reminders from time to time, to show us that we really are witnessing the unfolding of an incredible story. It's not perfect, not yet anyways. But it's not without hope either.

Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost

"All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not whither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,

A light from the shadows will spring;

Renewed shall be blade that was broken,

The crownless again shall be king."

-J.R.R. Tolkein, The Fellowship of the Ring