The Mommy Calling: A Call to Sing

Friday, January 13, 2012

A Call to Sing

Continuing on the journey about "me", I want to share one of my greatest passions. One that has nothing to do with the wife and mother in me, and one that has everything to do with the God who lives in me. Worship through music. It can literally change your entire perspective. It can make a sad spirit happy, an overwhelmed heart peaceful, and a hurting body refreshed. As a worship leader, music may be more a part of my life than most, so I'm sorry if some days it seems like I'm just taking the easy way out by posting music. It's just that, for me, music reveals so much of where my heart is at that moment. It's like the saying, "The eyes are the window to your soul," well, music is the window to my soul. I've been singing my entire life and a worship leader since high school. Leading at school, conventions, our church youth group. It was a dream, the opportunities that I had, the travel I got to do, and the people I got to meet. It's been a great aspect of my life, one of the greatest callings. To bring others into the presence of God, to be able to be so transparent, to be a part of such a personal aspect of someone else's relationship with God. To watch the faces as they cry out to God, to see the hands raised higher and higher as they try to get closer and closer to God, to see the tears as people receive forgiveness, peace, and joy that they know they do not deserve. There are times I have to just stop and bask myself in the presence of the Lord. In those times, getting just the tiniest glimpse into what Heaven will be like when all believers gather with the angels around the throne of God and cry out "Holy, Holy, Holy."

The greatest thing about worship is that it has absolutely nothing to do with you because it is 100% about God. Psalm 100 A psalm for giving grateful praise.¹ Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. ² Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. ³ Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. ⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. ⁵ For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. No matter what your day has been like, God is still God and He is worthy of our praise. There is never any reason not to worship God. He has granted us everything we have in our lives (James 1:17), He has provided us access to Him (John 3:16, 1 Peter 3:18, Psalm 23:6)

It is about sincerity. If my heart does not desire Him, does not desire to worship Him, does not desire to fellowship with Him, then it's just not going to happen. Leading on Sundays for me is a reflection of my worship life throughout the week. Worship reflects where our heart is at the moment, there is no hiding our emotions. It is about welcoming the presence of the Lord, wherever you might be. Psalm 42 For the director of music. A maskil of the Sons of Korah. ¹ As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. ² My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? ³ My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” ⁴ These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty One with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng. ⁵ Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God...If you have a minute to read through and reflect on the entire chapter of Psalm 42 please do. Even the spiritual giants in the Bible, like David, felt and understood those moments when we feel so far from God.

I know it's not technically "leading worship" when it's on a blog, but here is my attempt. Join me in a song as I cry out to God...my heart's cry to Him! God, some times, most times, things are just too hard for us. We praise you and we thank you that You ARE and that You WILL. We ask you, God, to reveal Yourself to us in these moments, to wrap us in Your protection, to cover us in Your peace. What little we have left of our broken lives, we offer it up to You, God, to do with what You will...

1 comment:

FawnJanuary 13, 2012 at 2:21 PM
It's leading worship if you're causing others to sing and praise before the Lord. It doesn't matter if it's on a blog or in church. So many people now attend church via the internet so why not worship? Enjoy the weekend!
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Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you found encouragement and joy from my posts. I would love to hear what you have to say! It is my responsibility to make sure all of the content is uplifting, respectful, and true. Any comments that are viewed as personal attacks, false accusations, and any use of profanity will not be tolerated. Thank you, and please leave a comment that I will be able to post so others can be encouraged through your words as well!

Proverbs 31:10-12, 25-31

Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. The heart of her husband safely trusts her; so he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life. Strength and honor are her clothing;she shall rejoice in time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness. She watches over the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: Many daughters have done well, but you excel them all. Charm is deceitful and beauty is fleeting but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates.

Titus 2:1-8

Speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine. That the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience; the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things -- that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands that the word of God may not be blasphemed. Likewise, exort young men to be sober-minded in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you.

What did you do today?

Today I was an explorer. I went on adventures to see the wonderful secrets of God's creation. I watched as the birds flew across the sky, listened as the wind blew through the trees, and felt the warmth of the sun upon my face. Today I was a chef preparing gourmet four-course meals the likes of which the finest restaurants have never seen. Today I was a teacher conducting experiments, revealing hidden truths, and watching the amazement of these lessons being learned for the first time. Today I was a student, a doctor, a friend, a performer. Today I was a MOM. And tomorrow I get to do it all over again!

My Hope For You

My hope for you, my fellow mommies, is that you will go throughout your day encouraged by successes, challenged by failures, and thankful for your experiences. That you will learn to thank God in the bad as well as the good, that you will use the powers of the Holy Spirit to become the best you can be, and that you will live your life according to the purpose you were given when you were created in the image of God Himself. May you find encouragement here so you can face the hardships of being a mom, a wife, and an imperfect person trying to live purposefully in an imperfect world, with grace.