Our folksong this term is "Simple Gifts," an old Shaker song that I've heard plenty of times before, but when we listened to this version of it I found my face wet with tears.
My children are used to this happening at random moments, but Finn still teased me for crying.
Why did I cry? Maybe it's the cello, which always gets me. Or perhaps it's Alison Krauss, whose voice I love (we danced to one of her songs as our "first dance" at our wedding reception nearly 18 years ago!).
But actually I think it's because I realized that my whole life could be summarized by these eight lines. My story, like most stories, is a little complex, and I would not have imagined twenty years ago that it would have led me here. But I did, in fact, come down to where I ought to be.
Through some truly undeserved and unearned grace I'm here in the valley of love and delight. Every single day I wake with immense gratitude for it.
And yes, our backyard valley is beautiful, but I'm talking metaphorically as well. I joke that I have stray dog syndrome: you know how the stray dog is so fearful, and then it's always the one most grateful when it finds a home?
It's like that. Every day.
"...you know how the stray dog is so fearful, and then it's always the one most grateful when it finds a home?
ReplyDeleteIt's like that. Every day."
I know just what you mean.
I listened to the song on YouTube. Beautiful.
I love these last two posts of yours. It's easy sometimes to forget that everybody has a story, and it makes me remember that I have one, too, and to be grateful for where God has brought me!
ReplyDeleteAlso--are you guys in the path of Irma??
ReplyDeleteThankfully, no! My stepmother was scheduled for surgery in Charleston on Monday but MUSC cancelled it. She and my dad are in their mountain house right now, clear of the storm. We are praying that all in Irma's path will be protected.
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