A Moment with My Father

Have you ever had a moment when the realness of God and what He's continually doing for you kinda smacks you in the face? Personally, I love it when that happens. I need those kinds of moments to keep me focused and centered in the middle of this crazy life.

I wasn't looking to have that kind of moment this morning (shame on me), but I'm so very glad it happened. I was reading over the liturgy for tomorrow's service in order to pick out some appropriate music for our group to sing. The music and worship planner that I have comes with hymn and contemporary song suggestions that I glance at occasionally to get ideas when I'm stumped.......other times I, frankly, completely ignore them. Not that I'm thumbing my nose at what they have listed, I just like to stay open to whatever the Lord is leading us as a group to sing. I had the first two songs down pretty quickly, but the anthem was beginning to give me fits. So, I glanced over at the song suggestions and "My Tribute" by Andrae Crouch leapt out at me. Okay. I'm down with that....what's not to like about Andrae? As I sat there looking over the music for it, this song that I've heard many times before, the words caught my attention like they never really had before. Oh. OH.

How can I say thanks for the things You have done for me-
things so undeserved, yet You gave to prove Your love for me? The voices
of a million angels could not express my gratitude. All that I am and ever
hope to be, I owe it all to Thee.

The world around me faded away and I was alone with my precious Heavenly Father. As fast as the flow of tears down my face, so was the flow of praise that filled my heart and mind and made its way to His ears. I was instantly enveloped in a feeling of love so intense that it was almost as tangible as being wrapped in loving arms. Then and there, the things that had been weighing so heavily on my mind and heart faded away before the certainty of my Saviour's love.

To God be the glory. To God be the glory. To God be
the glory for the things he has done. With His blood he has saved
me; With His pow'r He has raised me. To God be the glory for
the things he has done.

Just let me live my life; Let it be pleasing, Lord, to
Thee. And should I gain any praise, let it go to Calvary.

So on the eve of Father's Day, I had a moment with my Father. Have you had one of those lately? I hope you have, Shug.

A "Gibbs" Moment

So....the Bubs and I have been having a bit of a rough week, thus the lack of entries recently. We're on an upswing today even though our day wasn't completely devoid of "run-ins". There were moments of laughter betwixt those moments of head butting. We even managed to end the day on a fun note by giggling together over a Max and Ruby book as opposed to tears like the last couple of days. (Not all of them were my son's...)
As odd as it sounds, I've found that there are times when I'm teaching my son, I'm also the one being taught. Case and point, I was washing dishes this afternoon when he blasted into the kitchen and started talking about something he had done with one of his train sets. All of a sudden it got quiet and he tugged on my shirt, "Mommy, I'm talking to you! Are you listening to me?" I turned, with my hands still in the hot, soapy dishwater and told him, "I always hear you, Bubs, even when you don't think I'm listening." Well, I had a "Gibbs" moment when I heard that come out of my mouth. -- For those of you who don't know what a "Gibbs" moment is, let me explain. Agent Gibbs is a character from the show NCIS. He occasionally finds it neccessary to pop his agents on the back of the head when they have a duh moment or start to get a little too big for their britches. --
Anyway, what my son didn't know was that I had been trying to pray for a friend's situation and wasn't feeling the connection with God that I normally do when I pray. Do you know what it feels like when your prayers have hit the ceiling only to fall to the floor and flop around like fish out of water? I was working on a pretty ugly bout of frustration when David walked in and inadvertantly taught me a lesson. I felt like God was standing behind me giving me a tap on the back of the head and saying, "I always hear you, Anna, even when you don't think I'm listening."
I needed that.