Making Room
Monday, September 15, 2008
A nudging from the Holy Ghost--a whisper from the Divine--is easy to miss. Or in my case, dismiss. Just before the move to our new house, I felt God speaking to me through the passages in Matthew about new and old wineskins. I sensed him saying, "Cheri, I'm going to answer your prayers, and smooth the way for you in regards to external circumstances. But, now we embark on the more difficult journey of changing you."
Change is hard. And I really hoped I had heard God wrong. But as Rich and I continue to settle into our new house, receive and celebrate blessings, we are also experiencing major upheaval in our patterns of parenting, in our understanding of ourselves, and our marriage relationship. It is simultaneous hard work and great joy.
We are delighted and surprised by renewal that can only come from God. After enduring such a dry season, dappled with bouts of depression, I am literally swimming in JOY. And together, we are doing our best to make room for New Wine in our lives.
As a result of the changes we're experiencing, we have also started attending a new church. We are grieving the loss of a church family that saw us through some of the most difficult "lows" of our life. But, again, we listen for Whispers to tell us which way to go. And we sense we are being led to a fresh well to deal with some of our new thirsts.
The first week in our new church home, we listened to a guest musician by the name of Staci Frenes. (She is friends with singer/songwriter Carol Zimmerman--one of my favorite artists who has partnered with me on a couple of speaking gigs.) Anyway, Staci was there with her new C.D. Meteor Shower. Her song "Making Room" gripped Rich to the core. He bought it. And after playing it over and over and over again, I'm struck by how the lyrics describe our lives on so many levels. We are literally going about the business of settling into a new home, "creating a new space" to live in, and yet something of the same is happening on emotional and spiritual planes too.
It makes me realize that God's love seizes and savors every opportunity to move us toward wholeness / holiness.
Making Room
clearing out the cobwebs
sorting through the dusty boxes
removing all the clutter from inside these halls
opening the locked rooms
making way for you to walk through
quieting the chaos crashing through these walls
a few things can remain
but most if it's gotta go
i'm making room letting in the light
i'm making room for the wind to dance through
for the music for the laughter
for the breath of life to happen
its long overdue i'm making room for you.
frames of faded pictures
have hung around too long like fixtures
reminding me of who i was those vain empty years
time for saying good-bye
i got no place in my life
for those tired worn out useless souvenirs
a few things can remain
but most if it's gotta go
chorus
this all belongs to you
you're welcome here anytime
it's your home
I don't want to walk these halls alone
so i'm making room
for the beauty for the passion
for the soul that you've awakened
for the music for the laughter
for the breath of life to happen
Change is hard. And I really hoped I had heard God wrong. But as Rich and I continue to settle into our new house, receive and celebrate blessings, we are also experiencing major upheaval in our patterns of parenting, in our understanding of ourselves, and our marriage relationship. It is simultaneous hard work and great joy.
We are delighted and surprised by renewal that can only come from God. After enduring such a dry season, dappled with bouts of depression, I am literally swimming in JOY. And together, we are doing our best to make room for New Wine in our lives.
As a result of the changes we're experiencing, we have also started attending a new church. We are grieving the loss of a church family that saw us through some of the most difficult "lows" of our life. But, again, we listen for Whispers to tell us which way to go. And we sense we are being led to a fresh well to deal with some of our new thirsts.
The first week in our new church home, we listened to a guest musician by the name of Staci Frenes. (She is friends with singer/songwriter Carol Zimmerman--one of my favorite artists who has partnered with me on a couple of speaking gigs.) Anyway, Staci was there with her new C.D. Meteor Shower. Her song "Making Room" gripped Rich to the core. He bought it. And after playing it over and over and over again, I'm struck by how the lyrics describe our lives on so many levels. We are literally going about the business of settling into a new home, "creating a new space" to live in, and yet something of the same is happening on emotional and spiritual planes too.
It makes me realize that God's love seizes and savors every opportunity to move us toward wholeness / holiness.
Making Room
clearing out the cobwebs
sorting through the dusty boxes
removing all the clutter from inside these halls
opening the locked rooms
making way for you to walk through
quieting the chaos crashing through these walls
a few things can remain
but most if it's gotta go
i'm making room letting in the light
i'm making room for the wind to dance through
for the music for the laughter
for the breath of life to happen
its long overdue i'm making room for you.
frames of faded pictures
have hung around too long like fixtures
reminding me of who i was those vain empty years
time for saying good-bye
i got no place in my life
for those tired worn out useless souvenirs
a few things can remain
but most if it's gotta go
chorus
this all belongs to you
you're welcome here anytime
it's your home
I don't want to walk these halls alone
so i'm making room
for the beauty for the passion
for the soul that you've awakened
for the music for the laughter
for the breath of life to happen
