day nine

"Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens,
Your faithfulness to the skies.
Your righteousness is like the highest mountains,
Your justice like the great deep.
You, Lord, preserve both people and animals.
how priceless is Your unfailing love, O God!
people take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.
they feast on the abundance of Your house;
You give them drink from Your river of delights.
for with You is the fountain of life;
in Your light we see light."


~ psalm 36:5-9, new international version


when i was a little girl the church i grew up in had a strong sign language ministry.  we would learn bits of the language and then learn songs and share them in the worship.  the first song i remember learning was "i love You, Lord".  every time i hear that song in church i think of being a little girl and feeling so much pride in learning the signs to this, such a simple song.

it's amazing how a song can take you back in time.  i hear a lyric or a chord progression and i travel back to a particular moment in my history, instantly.  for example...

awesome God sends me to the summer of 1997.  heather and i are at youth annual conference and some crazy worship leader is making us sing the stupid chorus 85 times.

the eagles' hotel california sends me to the summer of 1999.  chandra and i are waking up yet another morning with our hair all tied up in knots as we test different hair curling techniques.

eddie vedder's better man and lifehouse's everything send me to 2002.  i'm lying in bed staring at the ceiling talking with kelly in the next bed as we drift off to another night's sleep.

ja rule and jennifer lopez's ain't it funny sends me to 2003.  i'm dancing like a fool at theta chi. or theta xi. or chi phi. or formal. or...

ashlee simpson's pieces of me sends me to the summer of 2004.  i'm unpacking my room at 12 marion street, gearing up for my senior year of college.

nelly and tim mcgraw's over and over again sends me to the summer of 2005.  kara and i have just moved to charlotte and monica is driving us around, introducing us to the city.

songs are essential in worship for me.  i can't worship without music. i think it's because there isn't anything on this earth that brings out more emotion in me than a thoughtful lyric and a haunting harmony.  it's only natural then, that when i read tonight's scripture i immediately heard mac powell singing 'your love oh lord'.

even though the song is simple, i love You Lord will always be a worship song that is close to my heart.  it was one of the first songs I remember learning to sing (as well as sign).  tonight, i'll let the lyric be my prayer:

i love You, Lord
and i lift my voice
to worship You
oh, my soul rejoice!
take joy my King
in what You hear
let it be a sweet, sweet sound in Your ear