This past week I experienced Christ presence in unique and amazing ways as we celebrated with family my granddaughter‘s birthdays, and the art show of my oldest daughter Maggie. Many of the words I listed above describe my week.

The morning after we arrived Evelyn had an art party for her fourth birthday with fifteen little girls. Maggie had planned a precious party for her. They painted canvases with their initials, had lots of art themed treats, made crowns and played games. I was so proud of my daughter and the wonderful, creative party she had planned and worked so hard to give her little girl. I saw wonder in their eyes as  imaginations took off and they created their masterpieces.

​When they had finished all the food, games, art and presents the parents weren’t coming for 45 more minutes! So Auntie M. (my daughter Mary Elizabeth) came to the rescue and entertained them with her gift of contagious joy and love for children. She was like the pied piper as they followed her every move dancing and singing until the parents showed up. Everyone had so much fun! Especially little Evelyn.

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During our week there we also suffered some trials along with the joys and celebrations of life.
The next day, in the middle of the night on the day Mary Elizabeth was to fly back to New York City she became violently ill. By late afternoon we took her to urgent care and they sent us immediately to the hospital. She had lost all body fluids, her heart rate and fever were dangerously high with intense abdominal pain. They were drawing lots of blood, giving her meds and fluids through an IV and feared she possibly had appendicitis. Scans were ordered and we held on to the promises of the Healer, the Comforter, the Prince of Peace. We held on to Jesus and He held on to us.
And we waited…and we prayed, and we surrendered to His plan.

Hours later, all the tests came back that she had a severe gastric intestinal virus…no appendicitis, not septic as they had suspected, no need for surgery and they were not sure if it was viral or bacterial. We finally arrived back home after midnight with medications to try and calm her body down and keep down fluids. The family went into nursing mode. She was set up, basically under quarantine, in the attic room where Audrey and Evelyn were sleeping and the girls moved downstairs with us. Six of us in two small bedrooms. But family sacrifices and rises to meet the need because that’s what love does. And we prayed, and family and friends prayed. It was so hard to watch her suffer in so much pain, eating almost nothing for days and barely able to move.
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It was a long, exhausting week with Maggie's art show coming in the middle of it all on Thursday night. Fortunately, Mary Elizabeth was well enough on the day of the art show so that we were able to attend and see her beautiful work. I remember my little girl painting as a small child, as a teenager, and then going off to college to study art. Such promise, such a beautiful gift. And we were so grateful that we could be there to celebrate with her and share in the beauty she had captured on canvas. Her aunts and uncles came to share in the joy, too! What a blessing to get to experience your children’s dreams coming true. ​

The next morning, Saturday, we started the long drive home and arrived back into Baton Rouge about 8 pm. On our way in we picked up our favorite Lebanese salad, unloaded the car and ate a bite before I went upstairs to take a long, hot bath. We unlocked the doors to our home, unloaded the car and immediately the routine of our lives took over. My precious Ken went to the piano to prepare to lead worship for Sunday’s service the next morning. Weary after the long drive, his heart is always faithful to serve and bring excellence in music with life giving words of truth. I sang along upstairs praising the Father for his traveling mercies, for his love and faithfulness in our lives and our family stories.
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I heard him singing the beautiful old hymn “I Love to Tell the Story.”
 I love to tell the story, Because I know 'tis true. It satisfies my longings as nothing else can do. I love to tell the story, ‘twill be my theme in glory, to tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love.”

I remember singing that hymn with my mom and sister at the piano growing up and in church. I thought of my Meemaw playing those old hymns for me as we gathered around her piano. I learned Words of life and faith in the lyrics that we sang together as a family throughout the generations. 

Then Ken moved into the beautiful chorus - “Hosanna in the Highest” 
The words of the last verse - I see a generation, rising up to take their place, with selfless faith ...
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​Family gathered together last week and shared love
      and the faith passed down through the generations has risen up. 

And I thought of my mom - how she would have loved these celebrations if she could have been there.
And my father- in heaven almost 30 years now- a man of few words, but he would have loved seeing his grand daughters and the great grandchildren he never knew. I had a vision from my childhood of him watching his daughters sing around the piano as I listened to Ken sing and play.

​The “Hosanna” song continued...

There it was!  A giant sign hanging above their heads, staring me right in the face, as they sang anthems of fun, encouragement, and praise to God!  It wasn't until during the Baton Rouge Homeschool Choir Concert that I took full notice of it!  

That's me conducting!

I had just spent the day before working hard in the sanctuary setting up the staging, sound equipment, instruments, and spent time on my knees making sure that every cable was gaff taped to the floor so no one would trip.  I was flying solo with only a couple of young boys to help with the heavy lifting.  My husband, Brian had to attend a family funeral and felt really bad to leave me to deal with this huge, demanding task alone.

​But, death is a respecter of no one!

It was on his side of the family and I confidently told him I could handle the set up!  I do it all the time for school.  The boys and I worked together and time was ticking!  The dress rehearsal was in a few hours and wouldn't you know it...where was the "Y" that I needed to connect two choir microphones into one input???!!!! I only had 4 channels and needed 5 (that's why I needed the Y) [Perhaps I should call it an adaptor for you non-techie types] it began to seem that everything was beginning to go badly. The countdown was on and I still needed to take the boys home to get dressed for the rehearsal and then pull myself together, shower, fix my hair and make myself presentable....calm....cool....and collected!  OH NO!  I forgot the plants to put in front of the stage to cover up the messy tape and cords!  After spending over an hour problem solving, running back to the storage building, and deciding to use the bigger soundboard (which I do not know how to run), and finally making a phone call and locating my "Y"... which had to be driven to me because it was borrowed and not returned, we finally finished the set up!  After much trial and error, I actually DID figure out the soundboard and got some pretty good sound.  Whew!  "Don't touch a thing," I demanded to the boys!

As it turns out, I didn't have time to take them home so I took them home with me.  Their mom would bring what they needed to get changed at the church.  I had 10 minutes to swing into Albertson's and pick up a few ferns!  We raced to the church.  You know, as the director, you've got to be there ahead of everyone else for MANY reasons!  Unlocking. Double-checking to make sure you're prepared. Greet and instruct.  Air conditioner set to reasonable temperature. Yada, yada, yada...

Sound like a whirlwind?  Sound stressful to you?  Imagine if it WERE you!  Yes, it was a whirlwind and yes, it was stressful!  But then again, that's pretty much the way every production goes for me. As a matter of fact, life in general is typically one rat race after another.  You know it's true for you too!  We are all racing around, running the roads and if you live in BR, the traffic is enough to raise your blood pressure!  The demands of life call our name using a giant megaphone...through our job, care for our parents or children, group text messages, a disgruntled employee or boss, urgent emails, and wrong numbers in the middle of the night!  It's a raging river of continuous pressure and volume that will surely cause you to sink beneath the quick rush and knock the breath out of you!  

​Interestingly, we need to be reminded to breathe!  Take that deep, reach to the toes inhale, and release it with all the tension that now resides in your shoulders, neck and lower back!  Enough of reliving that moment!  Let's move on.
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I've had to be reminded time and time again to breathe!  It's one simple task which is actually an involuntary bodily function.  Yet, I find myself holding my breath.  Even the last two weeks as I've struggled with many things, I catch myself reminding myself to breathe!  Take everything that comes my way, one moment at a time.  And I take that enormous inhale.   It's a lesson that I keep having to re-learn! I'm sure you can relate.  You know, the same ole, same ole...Slow down!  Don't overcommit. Rest. Try to focus on the one thing and do it well.  Live in the moment, not multitasking your way through life and running yourself down.  I know!  I'm the queen of it!  Silly that we have to be reminded to do such basic life skills!  Quite honestly, It's embarrassing. 

​Back to the sign above their heads...
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So this week, (ok, lately) I've been craving for new.  A new purpose.  A new passion.  A new way of living.  A new way of fashioning my days.  New people in my life.  New depths of relating with special friends and relationships in my life.  New plans.  New goals.  New challenges.  New adventures.  New habits.  I've even cooked new recipes!  The mundane is not for me!  I've felt like I've needed a RENEWAL on everything.  So I take it up with the Lord.  Then I'm reminded of Ann Voskamp's book and stories of The Broken Way. Yep! I've been dried up and broken just like the crushed wheat.  But out of broken comes new! It's hard to conclude that you are broken.  But when you realize that miracles happen in the breaking, you can carry on in hope.

So I take full notice of that giant sign!  And then my kids sing, Stayed on Jesus.  It's a choir anthem that my college friend wrote and I love the simple reminder to wake up each morning with your mind stayed on Jesus.  You know, morning brings a NEW day!  When we keep our focus on Jesus, doesn't it make life more simplistic?  Organized? Happy?!  

Here's another quote from The Broken Way and the scripture it quotes is one of my favorites:

I want to share with you the glorious music that once again helped to renew my soul. I'm so proud of my kids.  And God used them and that crazy big sign to draw me unto Himself!

We are happy once again to have Margaret Kemp share with us her inspirational insights.  During these great temperatures and beautiful colors, the beauty that spring plants exhibit seems to make everyone want to do a little gardening!  The nurseries are full of beautiful plants and long lines of people waiting to share in the beautifying of their yards.  I just hope that if you are one of these "master gardeners," you don't forget one of your most precious tools in maintaining the garden of your heart!  You will enjoy Margaret's story - read it outside if you can!  Enjoy the beauty, grab a cup of coffee, and rest yourself of all worries.  Please welcome Margaret to Monday Musings! 

I remember another glorious season of new beginnings when I first learned to delight in the Lord. I was a freshman in college, a new Christian exploring the riches of Scripture for the first time. Verses seemed to burst off the page as if they were written just for me. My newfound faith grew as I witnessed God answering even my most trivial prayers.
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But it didn’t take long for the weeds of worry to choke out my joy. My roommates were moving into their sorority houses. (How could they leave me?) My history professor didn’t think I deserved an A in his course. (Imagine that!) I received an unexpected summons to the office of the Dean of Women. (Never a good omen!) My heart became like the thorny soil in Jesus’ parable.

I forgot that the God of the Universe-- whospokeand splattered a gazillion stars across the universe—who put on a human body to save me—who keeps track of tiny details like the number of hairs on my head— is for me.
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As a new Christian, I had to learn that when we worry, we’re not trusting God. 

First, I’ve got to recognize worry when it first appears. I’ve got to capture every unsettling thought and examine it. If I’m dealing with a problem, I may wonderwhat the future holds. I may give that problem a great deal of thought as I workon a solution. But when nervousness, anxiety, and pessimism begin to creep in, it’s an indication that, instead of wonderingand working ona solution, I’m worrying.
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Then, I’ve got to go back to Philippians 4:6-7: praying about my problems, thanking God in advance for what He will do, then trusting Him for the solutions.
 
But the battle with worry doesn’t end with Philippians 4:6-7. Philippians 4:8 tells us that after we pray about our problems, we’ve got to stop thinking about what’s wrong,and dwell on what’s right.

God has brought me through some scary situations. 

You’d think I’d have learned to rest in Him, but worry still creeps in, threatening to take root and preventing me from delighting in the Lord. Recently, I found myself fretting over travel arrangements for an upcoming conference. I had to remind myself that God had been a “very present help” in major crises in the past, and He can certainly handle todays little difficulties.

Maybe you’re like me, discouraged because you still fight the same old battle with worry. Remember that, like weeds, worries will continue to sprout up. There’s no permanent fix. The trick is to remove them as soon as we notice them. 

Here are some “garden tools” I use when worries creep in:
S – Supplication (asking God for what I need)
P – Prayer (talking to Him about my troubles)
A – Appreciation (for what He’s done and what He’s going to do)
D -Dependence on Him (to take care of me today as He has done in the past)
E – Exchanging worry for worship (thinking about what’s right instead of what’s wrong)
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What worries do you need to bring to the Lord? 
                           How has God delivered you in the past?
                                              What are the true and right and pure and lovely things you need to meditate on today? 
 If we want to delight in the garden with the Lord, we’ve got to keep up with the yard work. 

In Him,
​Margaret Kemp

​These two little words carry a lot of meaning!  I’ve been thinking about this sentence for well over two weeks.  I just didn’t realize the impact they would play in my life after the Restore retreat the weekend of March 10. 
 
It was exactly 7 days almost down to the hour when it hit me.  A throbbing headache and aching body began to take me down.  That night I slept under 4 blankets, shaking with all muscles tensed, and wondering what was going on with my body.  I contributed the headache and tense muscles to exhaustion, as I had been going nonstop for quite some time with job demands and responsibilities.  I’m notorious for pushing my limits.  I thought I just needed rest.  The next morning I awakened with a high fever of 102.  There was no way I could go to work and teach my kindergarteners music. I couldn’t lift my head so I made the call that I wasn’t going to school.  I know the importance of keeping hydrated, so I drank.  It seemed like I was sipping every 10 minutes!  I was so thirsty.  I remember thinking of the two words that Jesus spoke while on the cross. I thirst.  Then I recalled how it intrigued me to think about it after the retreat and that I wanted to write a blog about it.  I was beginning to experience thirst in a way that meant more to me than just being physically thirsty.  God began to get my attention.

As I lie there on the sofa, trying hard to rest, I began to think about the things that extract all the juice or energy from me.  What is it that drains me and causes me to thirst?  I began to make a mental list of the ways I felt thirsty. 
I thirst for peace in my job.
I thirst for direction in my life.
I thirst for living life abundantly.
I thirst for rest and energy.
I thirst for impacting the world for the cause of Christ.
I thirst for fulfillment.
I thirst for laughter and fun.
I thirst for being the person I used to be, full of life, healthy, strong, and tenderhearted.
I thirst for a passionate heart…spiritual passion.  I just spoke about this on the retreat.  Now is seems my soul is weary and drained and a passion for my first love has moved down the list.
I thirst for wisdom.
I thirst for creativity.
I thirst for heaven.

As I look over my list, I am shocked at what has been revealed.  How can it be that I am a follower of Christ, drank of the living water, and still have such thirst? 

The high fever absorbed my capacity to think clearly.  My sleep was often interrupted with dreams of the words “I THIRST” floating around in my brain as a caption or the title of a movie on a marquee.  I thirsted for a break from my over imaginative mind.  My body needed hydration.  I thirsted for drink to sustain me.  The illness had me isolated.  I thirsted for fellowship.  I was limp and didn’t want to do or think anything.  Yet I craved contact with others.  
 
My very high fever broke on day 6.  I had been to the doctor and had lab work and a chest X-ray mid week.  I thirsted for wellness!  I thirsted for normality.  I thirsted for a breath without coughing!  I thirsted for control over my body.  I thirsted for relief.  The infection was strong.  In my weakened state, my soul cried out, “Oh God, why must I thirst?”  
The battle between knowing my weaknesses, limits, and failures fought strong against my heart that truly knows God’s love, concern, and affections for me. 
 
“I am teaching you,” He seemed to speak.  
 
Quite honestly, I’m never too happy when He chooses to teach me in such a way that breaks my strong will or doesn’t fit into my schedule.  But I am once again reminded of His words in John, “Apart from me you can do nothing!

I just read a letter from Anne Graham Lotz (March 12, 2018) online.  After the death of her father, Billy Graham, she spent the next two weeks in a whirlwind surrounding his funeral and the events in the White House Rotunda as his body was laid in honor.  She spent countless hours standing and pouring out of herself into the lives of others.
 
“To say I was beyond exhaustion physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, would not come close to describing my state of being. But the Lord knew I was poised to plunge into frantic activity in order to catch up on two weeks of work that had been paused.  He knew that while I needed rest…quiet…isolation…I wouldn’t take it unless I was forced to take it.  So Sunday afternoon I became ill.  I assumed it was just total exhaustion, or the effects of the icy wind under the funeral tent, but later in the week I was diagnosed with the worst strain of the flu. For the past eight days I have been forced to lie down.  To do nothing but rest.  By myself. I know the Lord who is my Shepherd is the One who has made me lie down.”
 
“I also know, after I have rested a while and recuperated from this illness, that there is one thing I will do:  Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 3:14)”  ~Anne Graham Lotz

​I found her words comforting, for I too am poised to plunge into frantic activity to catch up on what has been lost.  What was it that was so important for me to learn that God had to put me down?  What did He want to teach me?  And why now?

​Then came the confrontation with the soldiers.  The betrayal of a friend.  A weary body now being tossed, pushed, and pulled as they traveled back to town. There was long periods of standing… then came the scourging, mockery, trial, betrayal of the crowd, the nakedness, the walk with the heavy cross, the nails…the gaze into the eyes of a hating crowd, soldiers, and heartbroken mother and brother.  And if that wasn’t enough, He was placed between two thieves…misjudged by all, and He still gave of Himself when He spoke the words of comfort to the one thief.  
 
As Jesus hung there and cried out because of thirst, He was fulfilling scripture.  The weight of sin was placed upon Him and the Father turned His face away.  Jesus thirsted!  Fellowship was broken.  All that Jesus had known was now changed forever.  His love for all of humanity flowed deep.  The thirst that He experienced was two fold, physical and spiritual.  He cried aloud, I thirst!  Letting us know what was taking place.  Then He cried, It is finished. 

I love this teaching from John Piper on the fifth saying of Jesus on the cross and had to share!

I have heard it said that Jesus experienced everything we go through in life.  As I have pondered these two words the last couple of weeks, I am once againin awestruck wonder of His love for me.  HE thirsted for ME.
 
I look back over my list of ways that I have thirsted and I’m still astonished that I would have such thoughts!  But don’t we all?  Can we honestly say that we don’t thirst or long for more of Jesus?  Jesus gave His all!  It is more of US that He desires.  We have been given all we need when we trusted Christ as Savior.  Maybe we haven’t tapped into the spring that flows. I love what John Piper says about thirst as He also found himself in a place thirsty for God.  He and I shared the same question. How is it that we drink of living water and still thirst?  These are the words that God revealed to him during his cry for a quenching of spiritual thirst.  I found it quite helpful as I sought answers to my own questions on the matter.

This morning I am finding my thirst quenched for I have tapped into the well.  The thirst I experience is only temporal and a part of the rhythm of life. Long ago my soul thirsted for eternal water. I drank of that living water and now have an eternal spring from which to be refreshed and restored.  It is my belief that God chose to put me down to fully understand and experience His words on the cross and that Re-storing comes from a period of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual exhaustion.

"He restores my soul!" Ps. 23:2

Restored by Jesus' Thirst,
​Sherry

Resources:
 https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/monday-morning-meditation-on-thirst
http://sermonsonsevenwords.blogspot.com/2012/03/i-thirst-sermon-by-john-piper-desiring.html
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