Music for the Soul

I totally know how to write in paragraph and the draft here is written with paragraphs, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to make the new version of blogger keep the format I typed it in once I publish it... So forgive the long, run on paragraph. Tonight I was cooking dinner with Iz. Tre' wasn't home from work yet and Chip was reading (after being forced off screens). I had iTunes on shuffle. There was a little Veggie Tales from when the kids were little, a little Allison Krauss, a little Hootie and the Blowfish, a little country, a little Allman Brothers, and some Bon Jovi. Then came "When Love was Slain" (Selah), "Where Joy and Sorrow Meet" (Avalon), "Chicken Fried" (Zac Brown Band), "Palm of Your Hand" (Allisons Krauss's version), and "Come Thou Fount" (Chris Rice's version). A couple of those songs are so tied to certain times of my life that I'll never hear them without them stirring something deep within me. But the odd mix of songs and then one a friend sent later in the evening matched my mood tonight. The world is such a mess right now and there is so much hurt... so much hurt everywhere. And there doesn't seem to be any good or easy way out of the messes for any of us. And tonight it felt heavy even as I felt the love in my kitchen as I cooked with Iz... and Tre' came home and was happy to see fried squash on the menu (he and Iz have been wanting it and I always avoid frying b/c it's messy)... and Chip woke up and came and snuggled in for a hug (which doesn't happen as often as it used to). Even with all that goodness, there was still a heaviness that hung in spite of the good and the gifts. We can't fix the world... we can work to make our corner of it better for those we come in contact with... but there's so much we can't fix. There's so much hurt we can't mend... So tonight, these songs were salve for my heart... From "When Love Was Slain" This world is not my home; Oh, this world is not my home; My home's been made at heaven's throne; This world is not my home. From "Where Joy and Sorrow Meet" There's a place of thirst and hunger where the roots of faith grow deep; And there is rain and rolling thunder when the road is rough and steep; There is hope in desperatio,n there is victory in defeat; At the cross of restoration where joy and sorrow meet. From "Chicken Fried" Well I was raised underneath the shade of a Georgia pine; And that's home you know; ... And my house it's not much to talk about; But it's filled with love that's grown in southern ground; From "Palm of Your Hand" I'd rather be in the palm of Your hand; Though rich or poor I may be; Faith can see right through the circumstance; Sees the forest in spite of the trees; Your grace provides for me. From "Come Thou Fount" Come, Thou Fount of every blessing; Tune my heart to sing Thy grace; ... Let that goodness like a fetter; Bind my wandering heart to Thee. And then a friend texted with a link to another song that was just what I needed tonight. "There was Jesus" was a bonus b/c it's Dolly's part of the duet. These words though... In the waiting, in the searching; In the healing and the hurting; Like a blessing buried in the broken pieces; Every minute, every moment; Where I've been and where I'm going; Even when I didn't know it or couldn't see it; There was Jesus; In all of it... the hard and the hurting and the good and the healing and the certainty and the doubt... He is there... Every minute. Every moment. He is here. He is faithful... even when we can't make sense of it all and don't know how the world or our country will continue to move forward... He is here. And to help my eyes to see more clearly... to trace His faithfulness in this broken world full of hurting people... I'm so grateful for... A June day in GA where I actually wore a long sleeve t-shirt with my shorts because there was a chill in the air, music that soothes, the moments when siblings get along well, Louis Armstrong's voice, catching up with my brother, softball tournaments, sleepy cats, soft blankets to snuggle under, friends who know just what you need (sometimes when you don't even know), hydrangeas that are deep blue, the word benign, a laid-back summer night...