IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL....

Music....it stirs and moves the soul and emotions.  Just think about it...there are certain scores from movies that when you hear the first few chords, you immediately can see scenes from the movie. Who can forget the famous "Da-dum, da-dum....da-dum, da-dum, dadum!!!" of Jaws!?

From your past, are there not songs that you can hear today and immediately you are taken back to a certain place in time?  I can hear the music and words to "American Pie" from the 70's and suddenly I'm in an old VW bug cruising around Columbus MS with my college friends or hear "Jeremiah was a Bullfrog" and I'm at one of the few concerts I ever attended...3 Dog Night!

Music is powerful.  King Saul had David play the harp to sooth his tormented mind.  Spa music makes you relax and unwind.  Other music makes you want to tap your foot or dance.  Play Rocky Top and this Tennessee girl is going to clap and sing and cheer her VOLS!!

Today most of what I listen to is from the K-Love radio station, "positive and encouraging K-Love".  I started listening to this station probably 10 years ago or so when I was going through a really rough time.  My mind was being bombarded with fears and anxieties and I needed something to combat the troubling thoughts that Satan was filling my mind with.  I turned to this station and God has used it a million times since to encourage my heart, to lift me up when I am down and to comfort me when I am sad.

I could tell you story after story of songs that God has used in my life.  Yes, God definitely speaks to me in music!

One Sunday a couple of years ago, a new song was played in Church.  I didn't take to it immediately but soon I would find that to change as it began to speak volumes to me about God's love and unending comfort for me during a season that was particularly difficult.  My Mother's health was failing and being an only child I became the parent, a role I did not want but found myself in nonetheless.  Every time I heard this song it reminded me that God was a good, good Father and that He was taking care of me and Mother.  That is the song that I played on this blog yesterday.  It became the backdrop for my life during that season of heartache and loss, but it comforted me more than I can say.

A few Sundays ago, our worship team sang a song and I wept.  It is a powerful song.  It reminds us that no matter what is going on in our life, "thru it all, it is well".  Psalm 46:2 says "Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea" and Habbukkuk 17, 18 says "Though the fig tree does not bud and there is no fruit on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, YET I will triumph in the God of my salvation.  God is my Strength!"  Today I do not know where you are or what you are going through, but I hope that this song will speak to you as much as it did for me of the hope that we have in the Lord.  "Thru it all....it is well with my soul."

A word of thanks and recognition to Chris Copeland, our worship leader and Jenny Baker, lead soloist for a beautiful job.