Last night on my way home, I began listening to Twila Paris’ CD – Beyond a Dream. I noted the lyrics of a particular song, Rescue the Prisoner, that really hit me, because I had just read Isaiah 61:1-3 again before I left work for the day:
“1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me,
Because the LORD has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
3 To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”
I love these verses. I find great inspiration in them. The words in the song that are tied to these verses and moved me to tears are:
We are called to be a light
That even blinded eyes can see
To break the chains
To bind the wounds
And to proclaim the captive free
What powerful words in both the Scripture and the song lyrics. It does not say anywhere that there will be no pain or suffering or sadness, but rather that the Lord can trade those things for healing, comfort, and joy…
I love the first part if Isaiah 61:1 - The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me - What a confident calling and fulfilling purpose...
Let this mantle fall on me...
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Rescue the Prisoner
Song Lyrics from Twila Paris' 1993 Album: Beyond A Dream
See the insolent man standing on the street - Hear the thundering sound of rebellious feet
Demanding rights Defending wrong - It can bring the righteous blood to boil
And we ask, “Oh Lord, how long? - Oh Lord, how long?”
This is not the enemy, flesh and blood have been deceived
When we move beyond the anger
We will see
Chorus:
We’ve got to rescue the prisoner
Rescue the prisoner
Prisoner of war
That’s what He came here for
Rescue the prisoner
Rescue the prisoner
In the beautiful land, hear the rivers cry - See the innocent ones learning well a lie:
“There is no right There is no wrong” - It can almost make your blood run cold
And we pray, “Lord, make us strong - Lord, make us strong”
This is not the enemy, Jesus died to make them free
Love will reach behind the danger
Come with me
Chorus
We are called to be a light
That even blinded eyes can see
To break the chains
To bind the wounds
And to proclaim the captive free
Chorus repeat
I will comment further on this tomorrow...
See the insolent man standing on the street - Hear the thundering sound of rebellious feet
Demanding rights Defending wrong - It can bring the righteous blood to boil
And we ask, “Oh Lord, how long? - Oh Lord, how long?”
This is not the enemy, flesh and blood have been deceived
When we move beyond the anger
We will see
Chorus:
We’ve got to rescue the prisoner
Rescue the prisoner
Prisoner of war
That’s what He came here for
Rescue the prisoner
Rescue the prisoner
In the beautiful land, hear the rivers cry - See the innocent ones learning well a lie:
“There is no right There is no wrong” - It can almost make your blood run cold
And we pray, “Lord, make us strong - Lord, make us strong”
This is not the enemy, Jesus died to make them free
Love will reach behind the danger
Come with me
Chorus
We are called to be a light
That even blinded eyes can see
To break the chains
To bind the wounds
And to proclaim the captive free
Chorus repeat
I will comment further on this tomorrow...
Monday, September 18, 2006
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Long time...
It's been too long since I've been here - too much going on.
Grandpa King:
My Grandpa King suffered a stroke/brain hemorrhage last Friday and was taken to the hospital. At first, they gave him only days to live and the situation was very serious. When my mom got there, he was alert and eating his lunch. Since then, he's been put on 3 medications to reduce his very high blood pressure, and has been moved to a Rehab facility, where they hope to help him regain use of his left leg. The most recent CT scan did not show any additional bleeding or problems, and the doctor, while remaining very serious, seemed to indicate there was more to hope for than just a few days. Mom & her 3 brothers, Alan, Greg, & Terry, have all been there. Mom plans to be back home this evening.
9/11:
I thought all day about blogging on the subject of 9/11. It is really a very touching, emotional day for me and one I will always memorialize. It's not something I can fully put into words, even 5 years later, and I had memories of 9/11/01 throughout the day. The first person I could get ahold of outside the MedPay office was Greg, via email. The phone lines were down and I remember how reassuring it felt to connect with him, even when I couldn't connect with my family yet. I cannot watch the film footage of the 2nd plane hitting the tower - every time I see it starting, I turn my head or close my eyes because that image alone kept me awake for most of the 3 next days. It was several weeks before I really felt like I could sleep.
I'm a little ambivalent about seeing the recent movies related to 9/11. On one hand, I'm fascinated by the people involved, and on the other hand, I'm entirely horrified to consider reliving their last moments with them... Even seeing or hearing the ideas for the memorials at Ground Zero, the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania are a little unsettling. I can't believe it's been 5 years already.
Claira:
She is such a funny little kid. During the worship service Sunday morning, Claira was singing and swinging her arms and clapping. She was raising her hands above her head and twisting at the waist - she was getting "in the Spirit" and enjoyed the music service very much. Other folks were clapping but few raised their hands, so we're not sure what to think about our Pentecostal daughter. She is moving right along now. She took about 6 wobbly, unsteady steps alone last night at Mama Taylor's house. We all cheered and clapped, and then she cheered and clapped. She is very reserved in some ways about trying new things - but she's getting braver and wanting to walk (with help) more and more, and has just started wanting to walk without much help this week.
My brother Dave is spending the night at our house - he has job training (in Columbus or Mansfield or somewhere around here), so it'll be a short, but fun visit. He's done this a couple of times before and we've enjoyed visiting with him.
I should go - need to eat my lunch and get back to work...
Grandpa King:
My Grandpa King suffered a stroke/brain hemorrhage last Friday and was taken to the hospital. At first, they gave him only days to live and the situation was very serious. When my mom got there, he was alert and eating his lunch. Since then, he's been put on 3 medications to reduce his very high blood pressure, and has been moved to a Rehab facility, where they hope to help him regain use of his left leg. The most recent CT scan did not show any additional bleeding or problems, and the doctor, while remaining very serious, seemed to indicate there was more to hope for than just a few days. Mom & her 3 brothers, Alan, Greg, & Terry, have all been there. Mom plans to be back home this evening.
9/11:
I thought all day about blogging on the subject of 9/11. It is really a very touching, emotional day for me and one I will always memorialize. It's not something I can fully put into words, even 5 years later, and I had memories of 9/11/01 throughout the day. The first person I could get ahold of outside the MedPay office was Greg, via email. The phone lines were down and I remember how reassuring it felt to connect with him, even when I couldn't connect with my family yet. I cannot watch the film footage of the 2nd plane hitting the tower - every time I see it starting, I turn my head or close my eyes because that image alone kept me awake for most of the 3 next days. It was several weeks before I really felt like I could sleep.
I'm a little ambivalent about seeing the recent movies related to 9/11. On one hand, I'm fascinated by the people involved, and on the other hand, I'm entirely horrified to consider reliving their last moments with them... Even seeing or hearing the ideas for the memorials at Ground Zero, the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania are a little unsettling. I can't believe it's been 5 years already.
Claira:
She is such a funny little kid. During the worship service Sunday morning, Claira was singing and swinging her arms and clapping. She was raising her hands above her head and twisting at the waist - she was getting "in the Spirit" and enjoyed the music service very much. Other folks were clapping but few raised their hands, so we're not sure what to think about our Pentecostal daughter. She is moving right along now. She took about 6 wobbly, unsteady steps alone last night at Mama Taylor's house. We all cheered and clapped, and then she cheered and clapped. She is very reserved in some ways about trying new things - but she's getting braver and wanting to walk (with help) more and more, and has just started wanting to walk without much help this week.
My brother Dave is spending the night at our house - he has job training (in Columbus or Mansfield or somewhere around here), so it'll be a short, but fun visit. He's done this a couple of times before and we've enjoyed visiting with him.
I should go - need to eat my lunch and get back to work...
Monday, September 04, 2006
Holiday Weekends
I love holiday weekends - an extra day off - it seems to make a world of difference in my week.
Saturday, 9/2, we had the King family reunion in Pioneer, OH. Mom hosted her dad & 3 brothers and all of the families - we were able to use a large room at the VFW in town and it was a really nice get together. I don't get to se my cousins, Charity & Faith Ann, very often, so it was really great to be able to visit with them and their families, and everybody else. My brothers & their families were there, although Dave got called out to a grass fire just as they were arriving at the party (He's on the volunteer fire department in Pioneer).
Grandpa King turned 81 9/3, so we had a "Happy Birthday" theme. It was pretty exciting for him. My uncles bought him a CD player and re-recorded albums from his days singing in a gospel quartet, The Galileans. He was beside himself and sang loud & proud while they played. When the birthday ice cream cake arrived, so did one of Grandpa's old Navy buddies. They served together on the USS Intrepid during WWII in the South Pacific. It was quite a birthday surprise and they were able to visit and catch up.
Today, we had family pictures taken. Greg & I haven't had formal pictures taken since our wedding and we've had no professional ones of Claira since her birth. I've been taking tons of pics with my digital camera and they always seemed okay. Well, we made up for that today. We'll be getting a Photo CD and I can post pics online for everybody. Claira was nearly perfect - she likes having her picture taken and she liked the photographer today - she was a little ham, and we even changed outfits and she was happy as she could be!!!
We're having a cookout at Joe & Thelma's today, with Kev & Janice and the kids, Johnny (Ed's son) and the 3 of us. Emma & Kyle were in the Huck Finn fishing derby today - they do this every year. The kids use cane poles and win prizes, etc. Emma caught a 18" catfish and Kyle caught a 19" catfish! We haven't all been together for a meal in months, and it's nice to be able to have the time to share today.
Saturday, 9/2, we had the King family reunion in Pioneer, OH. Mom hosted her dad & 3 brothers and all of the families - we were able to use a large room at the VFW in town and it was a really nice get together. I don't get to se my cousins, Charity & Faith Ann, very often, so it was really great to be able to visit with them and their families, and everybody else. My brothers & their families were there, although Dave got called out to a grass fire just as they were arriving at the party (He's on the volunteer fire department in Pioneer).
Grandpa King turned 81 9/3, so we had a "Happy Birthday" theme. It was pretty exciting for him. My uncles bought him a CD player and re-recorded albums from his days singing in a gospel quartet, The Galileans. He was beside himself and sang loud & proud while they played. When the birthday ice cream cake arrived, so did one of Grandpa's old Navy buddies. They served together on the USS Intrepid during WWII in the South Pacific. It was quite a birthday surprise and they were able to visit and catch up.
Today, we had family pictures taken. Greg & I haven't had formal pictures taken since our wedding and we've had no professional ones of Claira since her birth. I've been taking tons of pics with my digital camera and they always seemed okay. Well, we made up for that today. We'll be getting a Photo CD and I can post pics online for everybody. Claira was nearly perfect - she likes having her picture taken and she liked the photographer today - she was a little ham, and we even changed outfits and she was happy as she could be!!!
We're having a cookout at Joe & Thelma's today, with Kev & Janice and the kids, Johnny (Ed's son) and the 3 of us. Emma & Kyle were in the Huck Finn fishing derby today - they do this every year. The kids use cane poles and win prizes, etc. Emma caught a 18" catfish and Kyle caught a 19" catfish! We haven't all been together for a meal in months, and it's nice to be able to have the time to share today.
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