Breath of Heaven

One of my favorite newer Christmas songs is Breath of Heaven.  I have loved it since the 1st moment I heard it.  Amy Grant sings the song originally and I have yet to hear it sung as well by anyone else.  She wrote the song in 1992 with Chris Eaton.  The lyrics and music are haunting to hear.
The song is written from Mary's point of view.  As the mother of Jesus, she knew what she was getting herself into.  The angel, Gabriel, told her exactly what was going to take place in Luke 1.
 
²⁸ The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” ²⁹ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰ But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. ³¹ You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

Mary was a young, Jewish girl at this time.  She was in a binding, committed relationship with a Jewish man.  She was a virgin despite what modern wisdom wants to say.  Girls of those days would have been stoned for what seems to be very common behavior in our times.  She would have been frightened and confused.  But, she trusted God that what He said would happen would come to pass.

I like to imagine her with Joseph walking or waddling, heavy with child, toward Bethlehem.  Or maybe riding a donkey.  They had to go to fulfill the census.  She had no choice and thus  she had plenty of time with her thoughts.  There was no Facebook or Twitter to ask for prayer.  There was an endless sky lit up with stars and a traveling companion.  I imagine that she prayed, "Breath of Heaven(Holy Spirit), hold me together.  Be forever near me, Breath of Heaven.  Lighten my darkness, pour over me your holiness for you are holy, Breath of Heaven.  Should You not have chosen someone wiser or older or more worthy of this plan?  Are You sure this is what You want?  Must I walk this path alone?  Be with me now.  Be with me now.  This load I bear is to great but I offer all I am for the mercy of Your plan.  Help me be strong.  Help me be.  Help me....."

Have you ever felt like this?  Like you are carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders?  Dealing with illness, joblessness, divorce, wayward children, aging parents, hopelessness, family problems, financial strain, etc?  Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, most likely felt that way, too.  Have you ever cried out to the Lord but in your distress didn't know what to say.....Help me be strong, help me be...help me.....  

Then, you are not alone.  We have all been there at 1 time another.  We are confused, lonely, sad, depressed, anxious, worn out, but not alone never alone.  Romans 8:26 says,
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.

God, Himself, in the form of the Holy Spirit lives in us and groans for us when we have no strength left to even speak.  Take comfort, My Dear One.  The Baby who lived in Mary left us a comforter when He ascended into Heaven. 

Breath of Heaven, thank You for leaving us and for going into Heaven to make our needs known in words that we cannot even express.  Help us to enjoy these weeks of Christmas!  They are a time for us to reflect on what You did and not we've done!  Thank You, Jesus!
Amen!

All scripture is from the NIV as read on Bible Gateway.com 

We Want to Know....

I am hooking up with Mamarazzi for We Want to Know Wednesday.  She and Crazy Mama have some questions to be answered.  I have some experience with these question so I thought I would add my 2 cents worth.  Here are the questions:

1. If you are sick in bed how do you entertain yourself? TV, books, sleep?
2. Do you share your medical drama with the world or keep it to yourself?
3. Do you pray, send healing thoughts & hugs or good vibes to friends when they are ill or sad?
4. If someone offers to bring in dinner to you or your family, do you let them?
5. If you could ask for any meal or treat when you were sick/sad/healing, what would it be? 


1. If you are sick in bed, how do you entertain yourself? TV, Books, sleep?

I have had a lot of experience with this.  I spent 118 days on bed rest with my last child.  81 of those I spent in the hospital.  I spent a lot of time reading, watching TV, sleeping, playing games on POGO.com.  I prayed a lot and wrote journal entries and then prayed some more.  As for TV, there was a writers' strike that year so there were no new shows.  I rewatched all of the Cosby Shows and fell in love with Mike Rowe on Dirty Jobs.  If you want to read a little more about my time in the hospital, then head over here .

2. Do you share your medical drama with the world or keep it to yourself?

I did share what was going on with me through a website called LotsaHelpingHands.  This is an amazing site that lets you keep people updated with what is going on with you and lets them sign up to help out with your needs.  Needs like food, transportation, prayer requests, childcare, etc.  My bed rest was before Facebook became popular so I this was all I had.  My friends sent my writings to their friends and who sent it to theirs.  We ended up getting letters from all over the world saying that they were praying for us.

3. Do you pray, send healing thoughts & hugs or good vibes to friends when they are ill or sad?

I am a firm believer in prayer.  I believe in God hearing those prayers and answering them!  I have seen miracles during my time on bed rest that the doctors couldn't explain medically.  I have prayed for others and seen the healing hand of God.  This study talks about prayer and healing.  But, God can't always be boxed in by science and studies.

4. If someone offers to bring in dinner to you and your family, do you let them? 

Absolutely, I live in the south and that is what we do.  Death, sickness, sadness, stress all call for food to be brought.  I had a hard time letting people help me at first but my husband explained to me that for some people acts of service is a love language for them.  To deny them the pleasure of helping you is to deny them the gift that God has given to them and thus to deny them a blessing.  We were so blessed by the 100s (yes, that number is accurate) of meals brought to us including Thankgiving and Christmas.  I like to take meals to people.  When I can, I do! 

5. If you could ask for any meal or treat when you are sick/sad/healing, what would it be?

My go to comfort food is mashed potatoes!  I love them!  KFC, Bojangles, or home made, I will eat them!  Bring them with gravy though or it is a deal breaker!

So how would you answer these questions?  Check out Mamarazzi's website for others who answered these questions and link up for yourself!    

Traditional Irish Prayer/Blessing

I wish you not a path devoid of clouds,
nor a life on a bed of roses,
not that you might never need regret,
nor that you shall never feel pain.
No, that is not my wish for you.
My wish for you is that you might be brave in times of trial
when others lay crosses upon your shoulders.
When mountains must be climbed
and chasms are to be crossed;
when hope scarce can shine through.
That every gift God gave you might grow along with you.
And let you give the gift of joy to all who care for you.
That you may always have a friend who is worth that name.
Who you can trust, and who helps you in times of sadness.
Who will defy the storms of daily life at your side.
One more wish I have for you:
That in every hour of joy and pain you may feel God close to you.
This is my wish for you and for all who care for you.
This is my hope for you, now and forever.

Found this on Prayers and Creeds   Quite possibly the best Irish blessing I have ever seen!  Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Thankfulness #1

I am thankful all year round but during November, our family takes extra special time to be vocal with our thanks for all the God has done.  So here are the things that I am thankful for this week:

#1 Michael doesn't need surgery on his torn ACL if he heals properly.

#2 He was seen by one of the best orthopaedic surgeons in WNC for free.  God is amazing cause the doctor called me personally.  I did not seek him out.

#3 My kids have really stepped up to the plate helping out this week.  They are such great kids.

#4 I have a job!  I like my job.  They were understanding when I needed my shift covered the other night.

#5 I have the best group of peeps known to mankind.  When this happened, they laid hands on my hubby and prayed over him.  Their children did the same thing.  When we needed childcare to go to the doctor, no one even hesitated.  They rearranged their schedules to accommodate ours.  When we needed crutches and a knee brace, no hesitation.  When I needed to cry in frustration and exhaustion, they listened without judgment.    

#6 The sounds of children crying out to the Lord and knowing that their hearts are earnest and pure in their prayers.

#7 My hubby is a fabulous guy!  I am glad that he is ok and that this injury is motivating him to want to be in better shape.  I have been praying for that and though this is not the way I would have wanted it answered, this is the way God chose to answer it.

For what are you thankful?  I can't wait to hear!  If you have written a post on it, leave a link so I can read it!  Blessings to you all!