Raining on the inside

When all goodbyes
Are said and done,
And nighttime finds you home,
Are you all right
To spend a night
Of being all alone?

And do you hide
Between the lines
Of conversations past?
A wall of words,
A heart unheard,
That hides behind a mask?

I'm raining on the inside;
My heart wells up with tears that start to pour.
I'm raining on the inside,
But then Your cries of love break through,
And I fall in love with You once more.

When friends who care
Can't be there
To ease away my pain,
And peace of mind,
It's hard to find,
Like sunlight in the rain.

God sees my heart,
The deepest part,
Inside this lonely me,
And reachin' in,
His love begins
To heal the heart in me.

I'm raining on the inside;
Oh, my heart weels up with tears that start to pour.
I'm raining on the inside,
But then Your cries of love break through,
And I fall in love with You once more.

Sometimes we're raining on the inside,
And our hearts well up with tears that start to pour.
But when we're raining on the inside,
Let His cries of love break through,
Know that He loves you, once more....

Sometimes I'm raining on the inside,
But then Your cries of love break through,
And I fall in love with You once more.

Amy Grant

Hymn

O Jesus, I have promised

To serve Thee to the end;

Be Thou for ever near me,

My Master and my Friend:

I shall not fear the battle

If Thou art by my side,

Nor wander from the pathway

If Thou wilt be my Guide.

O let me feel Thee near me:

The world is ever near;

I see the sights that dazzle,

The tempting sounds I hear;

My foes are ever near me,

Around me and within;

But, Jesus, draw Thou nearer,

And shield my soul from sin.

O let me hear Thee speaking

In accents clear and still,

Above the storms of passion,

The murmurs of self-will;

O speak to reassure me,

To hasten or control;

O speak, and make me listen,

Thou Guardian of my soul.

O Jesus, Thou hast promised,

To all who follow Thee,

That where Thou art in glory

There shall Thy servant be;

And, Jesus, I have promised

To serve Thee to the end;

O give me grace to follow,

My Master and my Friend.

John Ernest Bode, 1816-74

How Beautiful

How beautiful the Hands that served

The wine and the bread and the sons of the earth.

How beautiful the Feet that walked

The long dusty roads and the hill to the cross.

How beautiful... How beautiful... How beautiful is the body of Christ.

How beautiful the Heart that bled

That took all my sin and bore it instead.

How beautiful the tender Eyes,

That choose to forgive and never despise.

How beautiful... How beautiful... How beautiful is the body of Christ.

And as He lay down His life,

We offer this sacrifice:

That we will live just as He died,

Willing to pay the price...

Willing to pay the price.

How beautiful the radiant bride

Who waits for her Groom with His light in her eyes.

How beautiful when humble hearts give

The fruit of pure lives so that others may live.

How beautiful... How beautiful... How beautiful is the body of Christ.

How beautiful the feet that bring

The sound of good news and the love of the King.

How beautiful the hands that serve

The wine and the bread and the sons of the earth.

How beautiful... How beautiful... How beautiful is the body of Christ.

Music & Lyrics by Twila Paris

Lost in a musical reverie

I love how music can cause my heart to ache with sorrow or happiness...

how music stimulates my imagination...

how music can cause me to feel completely and utterly engaged when I hear it...

how music teaches me more and more about myself...

how music can convey powerful messages without a word...

Last night I had a musical experience that ranks up there with some of my most cherished memories. I was one of over 300 musicians on stage that performed Verdi's Requiem in front of a sell-out audience at the Melbourne Town Hall. I cannot even begin to describe the thrill of emotions I and my fellow musicians experienced, truly a case of music speaking where words fail. I am so utterly, utterly blessed to be studying music.

Matthew 6:25-34

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

Spring loveliness

Stop. Take a breath, a deep breath. Count to 10, or 20 if you like, or pick some completely random number just for fun. Look around you. Notice the colours, textures, pictures around you. Listen.

As it seems to be the first gloriously sunshiny spring day in Melbourne for the year, I thought I'd stop and appreciate it. So, taking an old tablecloth to sit on, myself, my pillow, my journal, a book, and my laptop, out into the garden I went to reacquaint myself with spring. Yes, it is finally here!! The soft breeze, the differing shades of green and foliage emerging, and the buzzing insects are strangely calming to me (well, maybe not the insects!), and I find myself so glad to be alive. As I've mentioned on here earlier, I've never been a fan of lugubrious winters, no matter how cozy it may feel to sit in front of a roaring fire with friends.

Moments like this make me wonder how amazing eternity will be. It's a concept we mere mortals cannot fully grasp, and at times scares me, but when I look at the beauty of God's creation even despite the consequences of the fall, and flip through endless pages of God's promises in my Bible... well, words fail. How great is God? I cannot answer, I have not the depth of words or understanding to respond as I ought. All I know is, as Isaac Watts poetically expresses it,

Were the whole realm of nature mine,

Such were an offering far too small;

Love so amazing, so divine,

Demands my soul, my life, my all.

No matter what trials and troubles may come at me tomorrow, I just want to be thankful for the gift of today. :-)

Join all the glorious names

Join all the glorious names

Of wisdom, love, and power,

That ever mortals knew,

That angels ever bore:

All are too mean to speak His worth,

Too mean to set my Saviour forth.

Great Prophet of my God,

My tongue would bless Thy Name;

By Thee the joyful news

Of our salvation came, --

The joyful news of sins forgiven,

Of hell subdued, and peace with heaven.

Jesus, my great High Priest,

Offered His blood and died;

My guilty conscience seeks

No sacrifice beside:

His powerful blood did once atone,

And now it pleads before the throne.

My dear Almighty Lord,

My Conqueror and my King,

Thy scepter and Thy sword,

Thy reigning grace, I sing:

Thine is the power: behold, I sit

In willing bonds before Thy feet.

Now let my soul arise,

And tread the tempter down:

My Captain leads me forth

To conquest and a crown:

A feeble saint shall win the day,

Though death and hell obstruct the way.

Isaac Watts, 1674-1748