Thanksgiving

The day before the birth and death of Talitha, Josh and I watched church from my hospital room. After a chaotic and dangerous number of hours, resting in the Word came as a welcome relief. That Sunday, our church sang a song we had not heard before, but has hence become especially dear to us.

O God Beyond All Praising

Verse 1 O God beyond all praising, we worship you today, and sing the love amazing that songs cannot repay. For we can only wonder at every gift you send, at blessings without number and mercies without end. We lift our hearts before you and wait upon your word. We honor and adore you, our great and mighty Lord.

Verse 2 The flower of earthly splendor in time must surely die. Its fragile bloom surrender to you the Lord most high; but hidden from all nature the eternal seed is sown - though small in mortal stature, to heaven's garden grown. For Christ the Man from heaven from death has set us free, and we through Him are given the final victory!

Verse 3 Then hear, O gracious Savior, accept the love we bring, that we who know your favor may serve you as our king. And whether our tomorrows be filled with good or ill, we’ll triumph through our sorrows and rise to bless you still. To marvel at your beauty and glory in your ways, and make a joyful duty our sacrifice of praise.

We just passed three months since we buried Talitha. And Thanksgiving felt a bit different this year. So many blessings: your prayers and support, the move from one loving community to another, a new wonderful body of believers who we now worship with... but there is grief mixed in with the rejoicing. This made us especially grateful for some dear friends from Michigan who came down and celebrated Thanksgiving with us. After a hearty Thanksgiving meal together, we sat down our our couch and chairs to sing and read. And like that day in the hospital, and many days since, we sang, "O God Beyond All Praising."

This has been a year of good and ill. The Disney expression we want true of our lives: "When all your dreams come true." But what about when your fears come true? How much we want this to even still be true of us, "We'll triumph through our sorrows and rise to bless You still! To marvel at Your beauty and glory in Your Ways, and make a joyful duty our sacrifice of praise."

(Below: Our dear Michigan friends)

Psalm 71:14-21

14 But I will hope continually
and will praise you yet more and more.
15 My mouth will tell of your righteous acts,
of your deeds of salvation all the day,
for their number is past my knowledge.
16 With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come;
I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.

17 O God, from my youth you have taught me,
and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.
18 So even to old age and gray hairs,
O God, do not forsake me,
until I proclaim your might to another generation,
your power to all those to come.
19 Your righteousness, O God,
reaches the high heavens.
You who have done great things,
O God, who is like you?
20 You who have made me see many troubles and calamities
will revive me again;
from the depths of the earth
you will bring me up again.
21 You will increase my greatness
and comfort me again.