Passion.

As I type, my husband is far away in Atlanta, Georgia- trying to wrap his mind around the fact that he gets to play his viola with the Charlie Hall band at Passion 2012 in front of 45,000 people at the Georgia Dome tomorrow.





Also as I type, far from the roar and lights, I have just tucked away our children in their beds for the evening- wiping goopy noses and administering breathing treatments and medicines out the wazoo for a certain sick little boy of mine who struggles with asthma and allergies and eczema. Oh, and as a bonus for this week- eye infections!





(He really is doing much better tonight than he was last night... poor sweet little Myer!)

I can't even explain the state of my heart tonight. It feels like it's about to burst through the walls of this quiet little home. I feel so blessed to be here caring for all these boys, and it feels good and right and pure. There really is nowhere else I'd rather be! Yet at the same time, I also feel tremendous excitement and joy and desire to be in Atlanta with my husband... getting to see his wildest dreams come true and experience the fruition of a lifetime of prayers on my part and his- his passion for playing music that glorifies God and encourages His bride, the church!

It feels like a very symbolic thing that is happening in our lives (for such a time as this!) and for a very specific reason. Where we stand right now, there are a lot of unknowns. We don't know where we'll be or what we'll be doing or what our lives will look like a year from now- as 2013 dawns bright and the confetti falls once again on soil all around this tired globe.

But we do know one thing.

It will be a new, grand adventure, and God will NEVER fail us.

He is faithful. He is faithful to let us see and taste a bit of our dreams in a season that has felt so thirsty for hope and substance... for answers you can grab onto and sink your teeth into. He is faithful to hear the cries of a simple housewife who longs to see her husband's oldest and deepest dreams come true. He is faithful to grow a boy straight into the heart of music and then give him an instrument he can cup underneath his chin and make sing. He is faithful to finish what He begins, and He is faithful to encourage all along the long and difficult way.




My husband is a painting contractor. Day in and day out he labors with his hands and brings his best and most honest work to the table for clients who may or may not appreciate all that he pours into them and their homes. His hands are rough and calloused and sometimes they bleed and he doesn't even realize the red is running down. But for as tough as his hands are, his heart... his heart is soft! His heart is tender! He longs for beautiful things and carries weighty giftings on humble and bowed down shoulders! And tonight... this week... this is a YES and an AMEN to that man who carries this family so gracefully through the muck and mire of this world! And my heart is just bursting with honor and pride in him, and gratitude and thanksgiving to the God he loves and serves so well.

I am overwhelmed. I am undone. I am here saying YES and AMEN as well. 2012 is going to be an amazing year.

"...I am God, and there is no other. I am God, and there is none like me, declaring end from beginning and from ancient times things not done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish my purpose!' I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass. I have purposed, and I will do it."

-Isaiah 46:9-10,11