Breath of Fresh Air
I had my own church service tonight since I was stuck here. I participated from 6:30 to 7:30 to keep time with my Echo Church brothers and sisters only a few miles away. I was with you guys in spirit!
It was a nice time. I contemplated the importance of being able to breathe in and out without pain. I recalled when I first heard Steve teach about God's name "Yahweh." We don't know the exact vowels from the Hebrew (we just guess at A and E) because they weren't written. What we do know is that it was supposed to be pronounced as a breathing in and a breathing out. "Yah" breathes in; "weh" breathes out. Try it. Every breath has God's name on it.
I guess that was my "sermon time" in my service tonight. (Good thing I've heard many a sermon by Steve so that something sticks in the memory! :) I love my preacher!) I then listened to some worship tunes on my new iPod Nano that I've yet to blog about but that was given to me by my wonderful husband at just the right time for my hospital visit. It was so uplifting. (I even took a praise walk, jamming down the hall and did a little dance when no one was looking! I felt God surrounding me.)
I also found the Passion Hymns collection and heard new words for the first time. Such as "Take My Life." The song describes different parts of the body and how to offer up those parts for God's use. I decided to add lungs as an addendum to the song tonight. I figure God gave me these breaths in my lungs. He has me right here, right now for a purpose. And each moment in life is there for a purpose. So I should be at peace, no matter the type of moment. If I am tempted to be frustrated in a moment or impatient to move on to the next moment, I hope I remember tonight's worship service and recall that each breath is here for a purpose, and I can choose to use it for God's glory or not.
And it looks like He's got a few more breaths in store for me. Breaths that I can use. Breaths that may take hard work to get through, but breaths that can empower my hands to reach out and my ears to listen and my feet to go and my eyes to see and my mouth to say words that need to be said.
My breaths are with me at work when things seem mundane or even stressful. But my breaths are empowering me to do that work for a reason.
My breaths are with me so I can take notice of strangers or friends who have needs. My breaths can be used to shine out God's love to them, if I remember to use those breaths for that purpose.
My breaths are with me as a mom who is fixing food and changing diapers and picking up toys. And those things may seem unending. But my breaths are there for me to raise Kaelyn for a reason. They are also there to smell the top of her little freshly washed hair before she falls asleep at night.
My breaths are with me as a wife even when I am impatient with my husband because he may not notice where to find things in the house. And as a minister's wife -- when I may need to use my breaths to be patient when others need Steve's time, to clean my house so that we can have people over, to encourage Steve if he is having a rough day. But my breaths are also there to allow me to stand by his side and hold his hand and see the church that God has built and know that I get to be a part of it!
My breaths are not just for me but for every person God has placed in my life, in my path, in my moments.
My breaths are for God -- created by Him, loaned to me, designed to praise Him.
Yah - weh.
It was a nice time. I contemplated the importance of being able to breathe in and out without pain. I recalled when I first heard Steve teach about God's name "Yahweh." We don't know the exact vowels from the Hebrew (we just guess at A and E) because they weren't written. What we do know is that it was supposed to be pronounced as a breathing in and a breathing out. "Yah" breathes in; "weh" breathes out. Try it. Every breath has God's name on it.
I guess that was my "sermon time" in my service tonight. (Good thing I've heard many a sermon by Steve so that something sticks in the memory! :) I love my preacher!) I then listened to some worship tunes on my new iPod Nano that I've yet to blog about but that was given to me by my wonderful husband at just the right time for my hospital visit. It was so uplifting. (I even took a praise walk, jamming down the hall and did a little dance when no one was looking! I felt God surrounding me.)
I also found the Passion Hymns collection and heard new words for the first time. Such as "Take My Life." The song describes different parts of the body and how to offer up those parts for God's use. I decided to add lungs as an addendum to the song tonight. I figure God gave me these breaths in my lungs. He has me right here, right now for a purpose. And each moment in life is there for a purpose. So I should be at peace, no matter the type of moment. If I am tempted to be frustrated in a moment or impatient to move on to the next moment, I hope I remember tonight's worship service and recall that each breath is here for a purpose, and I can choose to use it for God's glory or not.
And it looks like He's got a few more breaths in store for me. Breaths that I can use. Breaths that may take hard work to get through, but breaths that can empower my hands to reach out and my ears to listen and my feet to go and my eyes to see and my mouth to say words that need to be said.
My breaths are with me at work when things seem mundane or even stressful. But my breaths are empowering me to do that work for a reason.
My breaths are with me so I can take notice of strangers or friends who have needs. My breaths can be used to shine out God's love to them, if I remember to use those breaths for that purpose.
My breaths are with me as a mom who is fixing food and changing diapers and picking up toys. And those things may seem unending. But my breaths are there for me to raise Kaelyn for a reason. They are also there to smell the top of her little freshly washed hair before she falls asleep at night.
My breaths are with me as a wife even when I am impatient with my husband because he may not notice where to find things in the house. And as a minister's wife -- when I may need to use my breaths to be patient when others need Steve's time, to clean my house so that we can have people over, to encourage Steve if he is having a rough day. But my breaths are also there to allow me to stand by his side and hold his hand and see the church that God has built and know that I get to be a part of it!
My breaths are not just for me but for every person God has placed in my life, in my path, in my moments.
My breaths are for God -- created by Him, loaned to me, designed to praise Him.
Yah - weh.