But Mercy

In honor of Easter weekend, this is a meditation on the MERCY of God that made the Easter story possible. My husband and I wrote this song for our Easter service this Sunday.

BUT MERCY

Verse 1:
Clothed in flesh the Father's hand
Reached down from heaven's throne
To take upon the guilt of man
A weight that was my own

Chorus:
But Mercy saved my soul
The sweetest sound I know
All saints rejoice
By heaven's choice
We have been made whole
Forever Christ will reign
And this my soul proclaim
Sin held me
But Mercy

Verse 2:
Humbly at the cross I bow
My Savior suffered there
A bloody crown upon His brow
Those thorns were mine to bear

(Chorus)

Hallelujah (x4)

Verse 3:
Come behold the Risen Lamb
The grave could hold him not
And in my place His Mercy stands
For death was all my lot

(Chorus)

Stronger Woman

The other day while driving I was scanning through radio stations when a line from a song I'd never heard before caught my attention. (Those of you who know me know it's the lyrics that make or break it for me). The song said, "From now on I'm gonna be the kind of woman I want my daughter to be."

Ooh, I thought, this oughta be a good one. So I stopped scanning, turned it up and prepared to be inspired. As a new mother, things like this really grab hold of me. So, you might ask, what kind of woman did the singer, who turned out to be Jewel, want her daughter to be? The chorus provided a resounding answer to that question:

I'm gonna love myself

More than anyone else
Believe in me
Even if someone can't see
The stronger woman in me

I'm gonna be my own best friend
Stick with me till the end
Won't lose myself again
never, no
Cause theres a stronger woman
a stronger woman in me

Wow. I was so shocked and appalled I nearly threw up. And I was angry. Angry at the lie being fed to women in my generation. Angry for the little girls who grow up with this model of strength. What a recipe for a miserable life.

To love your self more than anyone else? I'm not sure I've met many people who have to try very hard to do that. To be your own best friend? Comes pretty natural to most of us. To never lose yourself? So many are on a quest to "find themselves." The worst thing that could happen would be for them to succeed.

You see, I've found that what many call strength is in reality nothing more than masked weakness. It's human nature, and therefore easy, to love ourselves above all, to seek our own good at any cost. But what's hard, what requires real strength, is to sacrifice yourself for someone else, to lose your life in order to live for something greater than you.

I, too, desire to be the kind of woman I want my daughter to be, but I've chosen not to fall for the counterfeit strength my culture would offer me. I've found a truer strength, and it comes in giving everything I am in serving my God, my husband and my daughter. Instead of striving to "never lose myself", I've chosen to believe that "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it" (Matthew 10:39). This is real strength. This is real life.

Freshman of the Week

We digress from our regularly scheduled program to highlight the 3rd member of our sibling triune... our baby bro Chris. Way to go Creeber!


University of Kentucky
FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK

Chris Wade

6-0 * R-Fr. * SS * Lexington, Ky.

Week Stats: .417 (10-for-24), 9 R, 5 2B, 1 HR, 9 RBI, 2 BB, 0 SO

Notes: Freshman making starts in each of his first nine games at shortstop tallied a .417 (10-for-24) average, scoring nine runs, ripping five doubles, one homer, drawing two walks with no strikeouts, and driving in nine RBI … For the year, Wade has posted a .353 average (12-for-34), with an SEC-leading seven doubles, a homer and 14 RBI … Despite making his first collegiate plate appearances, Wade has yet to strikeout … Had a streak during the week with doubles in five-consecutive games … Currently riding a seven-game hit streak … In Tuesday’s win over Oakland, batted 2-for-4 with two runs, two RBI, a double, and his first-career homer … On Thursday, batted 1-for-3 with two runs, two RBI, a double and a walk … Friday, batted 2-for-4 with two runs, two RBI and a double … In Saturday’s game one, Wade batted 3-for-5 with two RBI and a double … In game two, Wade continued his streak of doubles, with a two-bagger in a 1-for-4 game, with two runs and a walk … In the w eeks finale, Wade batted 1-for-4 with a RBI, while making several stellar defensive plays deep in the six-hole behind the ground-ball forcing starter Greg Dombrowski.