Hymns Shape My Thinking

Admittedly,  I have a bit of an old soul. One of the ways that manifests itself is through my song preferences at church 🙂 I. Love. Hymns. I love the old melody lines-ragged with years of being clung to. I love the wordy lines that engage my heart and pop into my head later that week right when I need to hear truth. I love the harmonies that allow the congregation to make such a beautiful sound unto the Lord.

I’ve heard pastor’s say, “You don’t walk out of a church service quoting the points from the sermon-you walk out humming the songs that were sung”. His point being, make sure the truth in your song lyrics are rich enough to mediate on as you sing them later.

One such song for me is the hymn “Day By Day”. This hymn has been with me through quite a number of trials and had been my guide to truth. It’s reminded me OVER and OVER and OVER again to trust my Father’s wisdom and kind heart, to rest in the promises of the word, and to delight in his care for me. I need songs like that in my life 🙂

Day by day, and with each passing moment,
Strength I find to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment,
I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.
He, whose heart is kind beyond all measure,
Gives unto each day what He deems best,
Lovingly its part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest.

Every day the Lord Himself is near me,
With a special mercy for each hour;
All my cares He fain would bear and cheer me,
He whose name is Counsellor and Pow’r.
The protection of His child and treasure
Is a charge that on Himself He laid;
“As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,”
This the pledge to me He made.

Help me then, in every tribulation,
So to trust Thy promises, O Lord,
That I lose not faith’s sweet consolation,
Offered me within Thy holy Word.
Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,
E’er to take, as from a father’s hand,
One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,
Till with Christ the Lord I stand.

What are your heart’s “go to” songs or hymns?

 

Before You Go to Church-Do These 3 Things!

My thought for today is simply that prepping our hearts and minds for church is an important part of a Sunday morning routine.

You’re going to dress up, be greeted by strangers and friends, sing songs, pray, listen to a sermon, maybe take communion, and a few other things specific to your congregation. Sometimes we go into this beautiful opportunity tired, unengaged, irritated, or distracted. But WOW-Sunday morning church is so much more fulfilling and spirit-stirring when we take the time to think about what we are doing and why. 

#1-Remember that you sing to declare who God is. We often need to remember how BIG he is, or how KIND, or how POWERFUL. We need to sing to remind ourselves of truth about him and thusly our circumstances. Worship music also allows us to respond to his AMAZING characteristics by praising him and thanking him. Through song, we elevate him to where he should always be in our hearts & minds-supreme.

#2- Remember that you listen to the sermon to know God by his word. When you’re in love, you want to know every single detail about that person. You want to know what makes them laugh until they cry, what they are like when they are mad, what they were like as a kid, and anything else you can learn about them! Let’s pray for that sort of eagerness in knowing our Savior, King, and Good Father.

#3- Remember that when you talk to people at church-it’s not because it’s a social gathering or some kind of club where you’re just supposed to be nice-but because you’re a family. You are supposed to know each others victories and defeats. You’re supposed to do life together so that we can rally around in the good times and bad and point each other to Christ.

I am more quickly able to worship with true reverence, awe, and without distraction when I’ve already prepped my heart and mind to be thinking about WHO God is. I delight in and retain the message better when I’ve engaged my mind with the truth that knowing God is the greatest gift and privilege known to man, and I am receiving part of that gift this morning. I am able to engage with my church family with the proper motivation, mindset, and vulnerability when I see them as brothers and sisters that I am supposed to invest in and be loved by.

So before you set foot inside your church this morning–maybe in the van ride there, or over your breakfast cereal bowl–pray. Pray that God will help you in these three areas this morning–that he will give you a mind that understands him and a heart that loves him and his people. Oh, and feel free to let me know if it makes any sort of difference in your Sunday morn! 🙂

With Love,

Betty

 

 

Birthday Bloggggggin’

First of all-I just want to say thanks to everyone who is reading 🙂 I’m excited about this month of writing! My sister complains that my blog is “too serious” 😛 so I decided to start out the month on a lighthearted note (and then be intense for the rest.) (JK!) (But maybe I’m kind of serious…) So here goes!

There’s a running joke in my family that my mom doesn’t know my birthday.

Now, in her defense-I was adopted, so it’s not like she was THERE, but still. Come on Mom. 😉

My birthday is the last day of July-July 31st (just like Harry Potter’s!) and FOR THE LIFE OF HER she can never remember if there are 30 or 31 days in July. How many insurance documents, school papers, and random things during my childhood had the wrong birthday date of July 30th filled in? Juuuust enough to allow us to tease her about it for the rest of her life. (Love you, Mom :D)

 

We also are notorious for not being able to celebrate birthdays on the actual day. Or month sometimes. I’ve had a handful of August celebrations, a few September ones, and one October one. We are busy people, the Pompells.

One of the BEST things about birthday celebrations-of course-is the cake! Every year I ask for an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen-the fudgey cookie crumble crunchies middle is a manifestation of everything that is good in this life. Okay, that’s a bit much-but seriously it’s DELICIOUS and I love it. I only have it once a year, so it’s a special lil’ treat yo’ self moment.

Also, let’s take a pause and appreciate how true this post is:

Oh my word, I love it haha. But actually I still get money every year! My younger brother, David, gives everyone $25 for their birthday. Without fail. Last year I convinced him to give me $2 extra so it’d be one dollar for every year I had been alive, and some how it worked! I’ve told him I expect that for the rest of my life and he seems VERY adamant against it–like it was a one time deal/miracle. I don’t know…it seems like a special tradition to me. I’m going to remind him that this year he’ll need an extra $3…I’ll let you know how it goes 🙂

Here’s the take away for today’s ramblings by Betty: In James, the Bible says that “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change”. So when I enjoy the laughter of teasing my mom, the utter delight of the taste of ice-cream cake, or the sweet satisfaction of getting an extra three bucks from my little bro (fingers crossed)–how do I respond? Who do I thank? Our heart’s response for all the little & big joys in life should be praise (thank you God!) and worship (you’re AWESOME!!!). Our God-the Father of everything that is good in this world, who is constant, steadfast, immutable, and so incredibly kind- gives countless wonderful gifts to us. We so often forget to say thanks for his graciousness.

My mom engrained in me to write thank you notes after receiving gifts-it was rude not to! What gifts from God are you enjoying today that you haven’t thanked him for? I know many of you reading may be in a season of deep suffering, and it may be SO difficult to see anything with color in the midst of your very gray days.  I want to encouraged all of us to take some time today and thank God via prayer or journalling for good gifts in our lives-they are there-and I know He will forever cherish your little thank you note <3.

Headed to Passion

[Every year one of my Resolutions is to blog more–so here’s my valiant effort beginning!]

In just a few minutes I am going to pile into a van with a group of young adults from my church to head to Georgia for the Passion Conference. Now, I don’t know too much about the conference-I just know that I love to learn and I love to worship, so when they mentioned getting a group together, I said count me in! Bonuses: I love to travel, and I love the young adults at my church. It was kind of a no brainer.

Before I go (and as I go) I want to keep myself centered. I want to remind my heart that the point of me sitting a van for hours upon end between now and Wednesday night is to attend the Passion Conference well. I could go-and not do it well. I could go and be more interested in meeting/seeing the speakers, or more pre-occupied with making memories with my friends (not bad things) and miss God’s primary purpose for me going.

My purpose for going to this conference is for my heart and soul to be enamored with, in awe of, and delighted by the beauty, majesty, and glory of God. I want thoughts of his wondrousness to be on my mind as I listen to speakers, and on my heart with every song I sing. I want to start the year with a HUGE view of who God is–and a heart to match. 

I’m looking forward to worshipping God in a special way these next few days. I’m sure I’ll have some take aways, and I look forward to sharing them with you 🙂

Blessings!
Betty

Need a New Worship Song?

What’s that you say? You’d like a new song suggestion? Well sure! Here is one that was just (wonderfully) suggested to me! Give it  a listen! “By This We Know Love”

VERSE 1 
God of all Creation, Lord of heaven’s light 
Descended into evil’s darkest night 
Infinitely Holy, Your perfections know no end 
Selflessly You died my rightful death 

CHORUS 
By this we know love that He laid down His life 
God’s very own Son, came from Heaven to die 
Suspended He hung, as He shed His own blood 
What grace in His pardon, by thisWe know love 

VERSE 2 
Forsaken man of sorrows, hated by all men 
You willingly surrendered for my sin 
Scornfully derided, yet in silence stumbling on 
Bearing wrath for all that I’ve done wrong 


Credits: 
Words and music by Judah Groveman 
© 2009 Sovereign Grace Worship (ASCAP)