It's About Time!

Well, this blog is LONG overdue!  I regret not starting it sooner, but I'm thrilled to begin the process of sharing my story.  We all have a story to share, no matter what the details are.  My hope and prayer through this site, is that someone else will be able to connect with something I have experienced.  I want to share how even though God has allowed me to navigate through some very difficult days, that's not the end of my story!  Praise God!  I have seen the hand of God at work through each of these difficulties.  He has not deserted me, rather He's carried me through the storm. 

The title of this blog, A New Song, comes straight from Psalm 40.  Whenever I quote scripture, I will write out the passage, so that no one needs to have a Bible in their hand.  Who knows, you may not own one.  If that's the case, let me know, you can have one of mine.

Psalm 40:1-3 says:
1) I waited patiently for the Lord;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
2) He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
3) He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the Lord.

Oh, so many things I LOVE about these verses.  Really, the entire chapter is a beautiful hymn of praise to the Lord.  First of all, I notice that David is waiting patiently for the Lord to rescue him.  As Christians, we will face many different kinds of trials in our lives.  So often, we want the Lord to give us an immediate resolution to the problem, or relief of the pain.  But sometimes, it is in those dark days that the Lord is able to grant some of the richest blessings we will ever know.  It doesn't mean He's not there.  He IS there, ALL the time.  When we find ourselves waiting for relief, we need to ask ourselves, "What is the Lord trying to teach me through this process?"  In my personal experience, I can think of a few reasons that I have been granted the long and treacherous road of widowhood.  The number one reason was to bring me back to my knees at the throne of God.  I've been a believer of God as long as I can remember, but was not living my life to the glory of God.  As C.S. Lewis says, "You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you.  Only a real risk tests the reality of a belief." I think the defining moment in my journey was even before I knew J had died.  When I knew he was missing, realized the boys were with him, and thought I had lost EVERYTHING, I heard the words over the phone from his grandmother, "the boys are right here."  At that moment, I believed that God would bring me through whatever road was laid out before me, because He had delivered my boys from harm.  An hour later, when I learned that my J had not survived the car accident, I found myself in that slimy pit mentioned above.  I knew the only way out was through the Lord's help.  Believe me, I cried out to the Lord!  Just as the psalm says, "He turned to me and heard my cry."  Praise God, He doesn't leave us in the pit forever!

The other reason I believe the Lord granted the journey of widowhood to me is to help others.  I will share more about this in a future post.  Each of us will experience difficulties in this life.  When we do, we can choose to wallow in self pity (which may be necessary for a time), or rise up from the ashes and encourage others going through their own impossible situation.  This would be my purpose in becoming a blogger.  My time of wallowing is over, and I want to share my story with the hopes that it will point others to Jesus, our true Comforter.  After all, this is our sole purpose on this earth.  If even one person benefits from the message the Lord has given me, I will count this loss for His gain.  May His glory always be my desire.

There is no way I can leave us hanging here.  We must move on to my favorite part of this passage.  When God rescues us from deep despair, not only does He give us a firm place to stand on THE Rock,  but he puts a new song in our mouth.  I have always loved singing, but never has the message been more vivid to me than the last 15 months.  I feel as if each hymn or song of worship was written for me.  For those of you who know me real well, you know how much I enjoy being a member of our church choir.  I count it an honor to be able to sing each week with fellow believers who are also journeying through difficult situations.  My reason for singing is because I have seen the Lord working throughout every detail of this journey, and I want to give back my praise to Him.  It's not about me (I'm not that great of a singer, anyway!), It's all about HIM!

So, there you have it . . . I am officially a blogger!  I pray the Lord will receive all the glory for everything I post on here.  Just to warn you, there will be times of sharing my heartache, as well as sharing my joys.  I will do this to paint a picture in your mind of how great our God truly is.  He has brought me from the slimy pit, to the firm Rock with "A New Song" in my mouth.