Out of the mouth of babes...

You know those days when all you want to do is, oh I don't know, get dressed? Brush your teeth? Eat? Lofty goals I know. But amidst crying, whining, poop, floors so crunchy I wonder how the mice haven,t found us yet, disciplining, tripping over you name it, sometimes it seems like quite a feat to do these simple things not only for myself (and let's face it, sometimes they don't all get done everyday) but also for my children.

Yet it is into these snowy, sleeting spring days that God meets us. Not in some amazing, extraordinary life lesson, necessarily, but in that still small voice. The whisper. The moment (and I mean fleeting moment that you have to grab onto for dear life sometimes) of peace he brings into your life so that you can say with unmistakable confidence "Yes, he does care for me!"

Today that still little whisper came in the form of a song. Often, as it turns out, the songs I find myself humming and singing are praise songs I learned when I was a child. You would think I would remember and sing all the new songs from worship team we've been learning, all the amazing songs I learned in choirs in college that we spent hours pouring over, or humming the latest great hit from the radio. While these songs DO pop into my head quite often, they don't knock nearly as much as the hymns and little 'kids praise' songs I learned over 20 years ago. The super simple words, or the super simple melodies with deep words I didn't understand at the time, but now can glean great words of encouragement from...

So here is the song I find myself singing this afternoon. 

Praise, my soul, the King of heaven, 

To his feet your tribute bring; 

ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,

Who, like me, his praise should sing? 

Alleluia, alleluia! Praise the everlasting King.

Fatherlike, he tends and spares us; 

well our feeble frame he knows; 

in his hands he gently bears us,

rescues us from all our foes. 

Alleluia, alleluia! Widely as his mercy goes!

Angels, help us to adore him;

You behold him face to face; 

Sun and moon bow dow before him,

dwellers all in time and space.

Alleluia, alleluia! Praise with us the God of grace!

Henry Lyte, 1834

So here's to teaching my children songs about Jesus starting NOW, so that when they are older these words will not depart from them. For "From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger." Ps 8:2 I don't think any of us will ever fully understand the power of praise!
Andree' Seu, a writer for WORLD magazine, puts it this way: "This is heaven's secret weapon- a child's worship. Those of least account in the world (have the power to) hamstring principalities and powers with a song, ...God is 'enthroned on the praises of Israel' (Ps.22). His presence with joyful rule in your life awaits your decision to speak out words of thanks and worship - on your bed, in your car in the shower, against your foul mood..."

So with whatever your day holds, may your thoughts be drawn to words of praise, uplifting your spirit and bringing a smile to your countenance.