The God Who Moves Under the Ice

I went on a walk beside the creek today. We are in the midst of a deep, cold winter, and all about is covered with snow and ice and dead things. There is not a spark of green to be seen anywhere, the wind was blowing bitter and fierce, and even the sun was having a hard time shining. And there lay the river, buried in a coffin of ice so thick I had walked over it quite confidently not a month past. And then I heard a whispering, spluttering sound that sounded suspiciously like the sound of rushing water. My eyes roved over the snow-painted creek, and there, at the foot of a tiny fall, the ice broke, and the dark shadow of moving water could be glimpsed underneath.

It was a reminder to me that even in the deepest night of winter, when all seems irredeemably chilled and dead, God yet stirs the water. Some day He will melt the ice, the river will flow again, the grass will sprout green, and leaves will flourish on the bare branches of the trees. But until then, today is not wasted. Even though we can’t always see it, He is even now moving under the ice.

"He makes everything beautiful in its time."

The Second Half . . .

(So, just in case you haven’t read the previous post, this is a short explanation of the stories behind the songs that appear on my debut album, “Home.” We’ve done songs 1-4; starting now on 5 . . .)

5) "Sacrificed": I don’t actually remember much about writing this song, except that it was made on the guitar, which I just picked up playing a few years ago. The guitar was a surprise birthday present from some good friends in Oregon, and has since been used as a blessing to both me and others. It is this guitar that I took with me to Africa and used to find the notes for the two African songs. The song “Sacrificed” is a simple poem, almost a psalm, about what Jesus gave for my sake and for yours.

6) "Home": This is the song that inspired the title of the album, “Home,” and it is an attempt to describe the reality of what a relationship with the Savior can look like. That it is possible to enjoy His presence the way you enjoy the companionship of your best friend. I think oftentimes we get distracted by the fact that we can’t see or touch God, and so we feel like we can’t really know Him. “Home” is a rebuff against those feelings. It is the result of trying to follow the words, “Delight yourself in the Lord.”

7) “Hope and Wait”: This is the song I wrote a couple days after my cousin, Scott Burkitt, was killed in a car accident late last summer. His death came as a shock to all the family, but we have come to a deeper understanding of the God who does not make mistakes and is never off in His timing. This same God is the One who does not desert us in death but welcomes all who are truly His into the place He himself made for us, the place we were made for. As Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in Me. In My Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.” I dedicate this song to Scott’s family.

8) “Lullaby”: This is another song with a dedication. Over the last few years, several close friends and sisters of mine have gone through miscarriages. I have come to realize that this is actually quite a common thing, but that doesn’t lessen the pain of it. As a girl who would in all honesty rather hold a puppy than a baby, I can’t pretend to know the pain of a miscarriage. Life is so precious, and it’s almost impossible to understand why the innocent are taken away. But our lack of understanding does not diminish the God who comes wrapped in love, even in death. This song is dedicated to Melody, Kayla, and Katie.

9) "Shatter Me": I put this song last on the CD because it is a challenge, a sort of personal application, if you will. The song gives us a glimpse into the heart’s conflict in the midst of the daily-ness of living with all its surprises, hurts, and hopes set against the command of the Lord who calls us to follow Him anywhere He leads. So often, God wants to use the very daily-ness we struggle and whimper against to draw us closer to Him. He calls it obedience; we call it surrender. But His shattering, when we truly fall on our knees before Him and allow Him to do anything He wills with us, brings about the joyful life we all so desperately long for. We can’t have it unless we will obey.

A Look Behind the Music (as they say...)

First off, thanks, all who have commented on the songs. You do all this editing and staring at a computer screen, trying to get the songs where and how you want them to look. And then you hit “Save Changes” and wonder if anyone’s going to even bother looking at them anyway. In our new, silently technology-savvy world, it’s nice to know you’re out there!

I thought you might enjoy hearing at least a little bit about the reasons behind the songs themselves. I wanted to add this in the CD insert, but there wasn’t room - and then, of course, some of you don’t have the insert at all and are simply listening to the music via computer. So, here’s a bit about the first few songs . . .

1) “Just Like Always”: This is a song I wrote several years ago after I’d taken a lonely walk down a good, old-fashioned Nebraska country road. It ran straight ahead and straight behind (like most roads in Nebraska do), and I looked up to see home looming nearby and the sun setting in the west and cornfields stretching out left and right. And I thought how grand it was that I could walk alone down this road and yet not really be alone because of the One who said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” And so a song was born. (Note: The country twang came accidentally. I used to hate country music; I think I’ve more or less accepted it now, and even enjoy it sometimes.)

2) “Toliba Weka” (Translation: “Never Alone”): This and the fourth song are the reason this CD was made at all. Two summers ago, I took a trip to Africa with Music for Life (parent organization for the African Children’s Choir). During the second half of that trip, in Uganda, I wrote the words to this song to share with the children there. A good friend from Uganda then translated the words from English into Luganda, helped me with the pronunciation, and I set the words to music. I was blessed to be able to sing several times to the children there, at a school, an orphanage, and the Music for Life facilities. And, quite unexpectedly, on my return to the States, God gave me the privilege of singing three times more to various Ugandan groups touring this country. (For the story that perhaps best describes why I wrote this and the other African song, see “Day 12" in the September 2008 archives of this blog.)

The full translation of this song into English is as follows: Dear child, remember you are never alone//I wrote this song just for you/I want you to know/That you have a Creator in Heaven/Who loves you so much//God has your name written on His hand/God holds love for you in His heart.

3) “Faithful”: This is my personal favorite song on this CD, and the first one we recorded in studio. I actually didn’t know we were going to record it that day, but when I sat down at the piano to “play a little something,” we decided to break out the microphones and start recording! I don’t think I can rephrase the message of the song better than the lyrics themselves already do. It’s a very simple song, one I was inspired to write when I was plunking away at the piano keys one day, and it tells about the utter faithfulness of my God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

4) “Urukundo Niruhemuka” (Translation: “Love Never Fails”): Well, if you’ve read about the second song already, you have a good idea why I wrote this one as well. It’s more or less the same, except that this song was written during the first half of the Africa trip and is in Kinyarwanda, which is the language in Rwanda.

Full translation into English: I want to say to you/Beautiful child/That your Father in Heaven/Loves you very much/Every time you smile/Every tear you cry/Every dream/He sees and understands/He is wonderful/Your God made you just as you are/For a purpose/And His purpose is love//Remember, love never fails.