Seasons of life

I believe that God speaks to me..not like in the movies where Morgan Freeman (or George Burns) shows up in person as God. He is more subtle and, frankly, I am sure I miss some of the whisperings. My recent prayer to God was that He speak up, because I simply couldn’t hear Him.

Which brings us to today’s post. Yesterday two songs really hit me in the heart…and I think they both were God speaking louder to me.

In church we sang a beautiful piece, All Things New by Elaine Hagenberg. I’ve posted a link to a lovely version of it, if you’d care to listen. Or you can go onto Facebook to find my church (Roswell United Methodist Church) and you may find it there (I’m not on Facebook, so I can’t vouch for the exact path). Anyway, this is a pretty song based on a poem which is based on Revelations 21 about the seasons of life. The poem’s author is Frances Hagerval. I was sent down a rabbit hole and did find her full poem here.

Anyway, the kernel of the song/poem/scripture is the recognition that life contains bitter and sweet memories: moments of sadness and moments of joy BUT (or AND) Heaven is a place where pain and suffering does not exist. God is with you as you suffer AND is making your world new.

Springs of living water shall wash away each tear, He is making all things new.

Now our choir director didn’t know when she was selecting songs for this service months ago that I would be going through a tragedy, but God did. This song initially triggered tears in my eyes when I practiced it…but on this Sunday, as we sang in church, I felt love and at peace. I focused on God making all things new.

After church I got in my car to drive home, flipping through my Sirius channels, I landed on the 70s channel playing Helen Reddy’s You and Me against the world. What you don’t know, dear readers, is that this is the song I would sing to Mavis. I’m sure if you read through my posts about Mavis, you’ll see that I repeat that phrase often…because she was my family and it did feel like it was the two of us fighting the challenges that life threw at us.

I hadn’t heard that song in AGES. But here it was. God reaching out to tell me He heard me and knew I was grieving. And I heard a part of the lyrics I had forgotten about:

And when one of us is gone
And one of us is left to carry on
Then remembering will have to do
Our memories alone will get us through
Think about the days of me and you
You and me against the world

A gentle reminder from God to carry on.

And as I reflect, there was one more reminder He gave me. As I was leaving my sister’s house recently, ‘I will survive’ by Gloria Gaynor popped up on the radio. This song is rarely on the radio, so what a surprise! What you don’t know is that this song is what I heard back in 2014 when I was grappling with the death of my mother and the end of my marriage. I would call it my fight song. I needed to hear it to remind myself that I’ll get through.

 I will survive
As long as I know how to love, I know I’ll stay alive
I’ve got all my life to live
And all my love to give and
I will survive

And so on this rainy Monday, as life throws challenges at you, please know that you will get through what you’re going through. God is with you. He loves you. And in Heaven, all the pain and suffering goes away.

Here’s a portrait that a friend had made for me when she heard about Mavis’ passing.