A couple of weeks ago, I was listening to a song on K-Love that I'd heard countless times before but never really listened to the words. You know, one of those songs that you listen to and can even sing, and then one day you think, "Wow, didn't realize that's what I was singing! Ha!" It's a David Crowder Band song, How He Loves, but it was written by someone else. One of the lines in the song says:
He is jealous for me, Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When I listened to the lyrics, I was wowed. What an awesome illustration! His love is so powerful, it's like a hurricane, and I'm a tree stuck in the middle of all of that love! Wow! Us Mississippi folk remember Hurricane Katrina. Yes, Mississippi was a direct hit, not New Orleans. The problems in the crescent city were not from the direct force of the eye, but that's a different story. Anyway, Chandler and I lived in Henderson, Tennessee at the time, but he was working out of town and we decided to meet up at his parents' house in West Point. Great idea, Jamie, let's go CLOSER to the storm instead of farther away! We watched a huge tree in front of their house literally split down the middle throughout the course of the long (and at times scary) night. The force of the wind was so strong that it weighed down this huge tree that had been standing for who knows how long. Think about that wind as love that someone feels for you. Wow!
Not thinking of any other meaning to the words, I googled the lyrics to the song so I could post about how awesome I thought it was, and to my amazement, I stumbled upon a blog discussing the words. This lady, a Christian, told about how she hated this song because it was a terrible worship song because of how terrible it made God sound. (I'm paraphrasing, of course, but this was the overall gist.) She didn't think that God should be described as a hurricane because that is a sign of destruction, despair, hurt, death, and the trees in the paths of hurricanes? Well, they were twisted and snapped and stripped of their leaves if left standing at all. Wow, again! Hadn't thought about that! She goes on to discuss the other facets of the song that disturb her. I can see her point. But then I read a comment someone posted in response that basically said that he views the metaphor differently. Tornados in the midst of hurricanes are the real culprits behind the twisted trees, trees that aren't deeply rooted and are weak may snap from the force of the wind. Most trees, though, bend beneath the weight of the wind. They are often times forever bent, or changed, by the wind from the hurricane. He said that God "bends" us, molds us to who he wants us to be. Wow! I can totally see what he's saying!
My take on all of it:
Like it, love it, or hate it, the point is that God is God, no matter who we think He is or who we think He should be. The God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament and is the same God of today. We can sit around and imagine our God as a sweet, kind, loving, giving God (and He is ALL of those AND MORE), but we need to remind ourselves that we should still fear Him because He is our friend, our father, but He is also the MOST HOLY ruler of EVERYTHING who is ultimately seeking His glory, not ours. I thank Him everyday that He was gracious enough to love me and care about me soooooo much that He bends me with love like a hurricane. Wow! Who am I? NOBODY compared to Him. Yet He still loves me more than any other being I will ever encounter EVER. Nothing offensive about that to me. If loving like a hurricane offends you, how would you possibly be able to grapple with the fact that God would willingly kill His son, a part of Himself, in such a cruel and tortuous way. THAT'S how much He loves you. Wow!
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. 2 Cor. 4:7-11
LOVE it! So, go love like a hurricane, if you can. :)
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Ketchup
There is a definite difference between boys and girls. Okay, I mean, I knew that, but to experience it is quite eye-opening! Charlee has always been a sweet, go-with-the-flow, loving, nurturing, cuddling, little thing. Barrett? ALL BOY! Ha! This kid is all over the place, all of the time. He is still army-crawling, has been for two months, but buddy, he GETS it and gets it FAST! He is not scared of anything and could care less about sleep. My two Castles have been taking baths together for a few months now, and until recently it was fine. A few weeks ago, though, Barrett decided he wanted to teach himself to swim. When we put him in the tub, he is on his belly in no time, crawling over Charlee, climbing up the side of the tub, pushing the soap and shampoo off of the side, reaching for the faucet. It is near-impossible to get either kid bathed because he will not sit still! I can only imagine when he starts walking/running. (Sigh) He is a big ole belly of sweetness, though, and his smile makes it all worth it. Speaking of that smile, he has finally gotten a couple of teeth. The first one, of all places, came in up top. No, not the middle teeth, but the one next to the middle. Not sure of the name of it, but I can't wait to see what that will look like when it comes all the way in. Ha! The second tooth just popped through on the bottom (this one in the middle) a few days ago. I was getting a little worried that he was missing some teeth, but the pediatrician pointed out the buds under the gums and told me they should be making their grand (and no doubt painful and sleepless) appearance soon.
Charlee is quite the little priss-pot lately. She has been labeled as one of the "mother hens" of her preschool class. Great. Praying that doesn't turn into one of the bossy kids! She says the funniest and cutest things now, though. She is a SPONGE and picks up EVERYTHING said or done around her. Yesterday I heard her tell Barrett, "I told you tree times, Bubba. You listen to me? I'ma pop you!" Can't imagine where she picked that up from......
I'm teaching her Puggles (Awana) class at church, and it has been so much fun! Those two-year-olds are quite the handful, but it is so incredibly sweet to hear them sing and see them listening so intently to their lesson. Charlee loves pointing out all of the things that God made, and it melts my heart. :) A couple of weeks ago she said, "Mommy, God made the flowers to us! That is so sweet of Him." BIGGEST GRIN I've worn in a long time.
Pampered Chef is going fabulously! I'm having so much fun with it, and making some extra money! I've already earned over $350 worth of free products, too, which is AWESOME!
Running? Well, I have been consistently falling off the wagon! I'll do really good one week, then slack off for two weeks when something comes up, then do really good another week, and another two it's pushed aside. I keep managing to push back the 5k, too. I'm not even going to tell you when I'm planning to do one. I'll just surprise you and post about it if it happens. Ha!! I will say that jumping back into it after a hiatus hasn't been nearly as hard as I thought it would be. I can run 2 miles after not running for a couple of weeks usually, and that's pretty impressive given my history of athletic involvement (nonexistent). I'll take it!
The season is upon us. Where did the year go?? My little man will be a whole year in less than two months. My big girl will be three in less than two months. I will have been married for 6 years in less than two months. Christmas will be here before we know it! Yes, that's right. Two birthdays, an anniversary, and Christmas all within 2 1/2 weeks. Fun (and slightly busy) times!
My sweet "nephew" was born 6 days ago. :) I leave this for last, today, because it's the hardest to talk (or write) about. My bestie, Kim, delivered a sweet baby boy November 4th, and he is absolutely precious! At least from the pictures he is, anyway. :) I can barely stand being 8 hours away from my sweet friend and her sweet little man. Through her pregnancy, I couldn't look at pictures from her showers or of her belly without crying because I missed out on all of it. Life has gone on without me there. Not that I think it shouldn't, but the pictures make it all more real that it has. I'm happy where I am and where I'm raising my family, don't get me wrong, but I miss my friends. I miss their babies. I miss Target. Ha! (No, really, I do.) I can't wait to meet you, baby Cade (aka Ossy). I'll be there just as soon as I can! We'll be talking with your Mommy and Daddy about opening up the Culver's market in Mississippi......
Charlee is quite the little priss-pot lately. She has been labeled as one of the "mother hens" of her preschool class. Great. Praying that doesn't turn into one of the bossy kids! She says the funniest and cutest things now, though. She is a SPONGE and picks up EVERYTHING said or done around her. Yesterday I heard her tell Barrett, "I told you tree times, Bubba. You listen to me? I'ma pop you!" Can't imagine where she picked that up from......
I'm teaching her Puggles (Awana) class at church, and it has been so much fun! Those two-year-olds are quite the handful, but it is so incredibly sweet to hear them sing and see them listening so intently to their lesson. Charlee loves pointing out all of the things that God made, and it melts my heart. :) A couple of weeks ago she said, "Mommy, God made the flowers to us! That is so sweet of Him." BIGGEST GRIN I've worn in a long time.
Pampered Chef is going fabulously! I'm having so much fun with it, and making some extra money! I've already earned over $350 worth of free products, too, which is AWESOME!
Running? Well, I have been consistently falling off the wagon! I'll do really good one week, then slack off for two weeks when something comes up, then do really good another week, and another two it's pushed aside. I keep managing to push back the 5k, too. I'm not even going to tell you when I'm planning to do one. I'll just surprise you and post about it if it happens. Ha!! I will say that jumping back into it after a hiatus hasn't been nearly as hard as I thought it would be. I can run 2 miles after not running for a couple of weeks usually, and that's pretty impressive given my history of athletic involvement (nonexistent). I'll take it!
The season is upon us. Where did the year go?? My little man will be a whole year in less than two months. My big girl will be three in less than two months. I will have been married for 6 years in less than two months. Christmas will be here before we know it! Yes, that's right. Two birthdays, an anniversary, and Christmas all within 2 1/2 weeks. Fun (and slightly busy) times!
My sweet "nephew" was born 6 days ago. :) I leave this for last, today, because it's the hardest to talk (or write) about. My bestie, Kim, delivered a sweet baby boy November 4th, and he is absolutely precious! At least from the pictures he is, anyway. :) I can barely stand being 8 hours away from my sweet friend and her sweet little man. Through her pregnancy, I couldn't look at pictures from her showers or of her belly without crying because I missed out on all of it. Life has gone on without me there. Not that I think it shouldn't, but the pictures make it all more real that it has. I'm happy where I am and where I'm raising my family, don't get me wrong, but I miss my friends. I miss their babies. I miss Target. Ha! (No, really, I do.) I can't wait to meet you, baby Cade (aka Ossy). I'll be there just as soon as I can! We'll be talking with your Mommy and Daddy about opening up the Culver's market in Mississippi......
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