Music In My Head

OK, I hate it when life gets in the way of posting. Ever since I started this little blog earlier this month, it's as though some sort of dam has burst inside me, and memories and stories are just "dying" to flood onto this virtual paper. (Those of you who have been kind enough to share some of your own words and memories have only made this worse--LOL.)

Last week, my youngest son was telling me that he really is trying not to be so forgetful (something we've been working on), but that "there's just all this music in my head all the time." (For those of you who don't know him, he loves music. He plays piano and guitar and goes around writing songs all the time.)

I told him I understood completely--that the "music in my head" these days was just words instead of musical notes.

The "music in my head" on this busy morning are the words to a song we sang in church Sunday. I actually heard it again on the radio this morning driving back from school drop-offs. For those of you who asked me about the lyrics I mentioned in the last post, I hope you enjoy...and I pray that all of us will drink in deeply the truth of these words:

How deep the Father's love for us, how vast beyond all measure
That he should give his only son, to make a wretch his treasure
How great the pain of searing loss, the Father turned his face away
As wounds which mar the chosen one, bring many sons to glory

Behold the man upon a cross, my sin upon his shoulders
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice call out among the scoffers
It was my sin that held him there until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life; I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything: no gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ; his death and resurrection
Why should I gain from his reward? I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart: his wounds have paid my ransom
--written by Stuart Townend

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears,we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." (1 John 3:1-2 NIV)

In the words of John Eagan, "...The heart of it is this: to make the Lord and his immense love for you (the foundation) of your personal worth. Radically define yourself as one beloved by God. God's love for you and his choice of you constitute your worth. Accept that, and let it become the most important thing in your life."

In his book, "Abba's Child," Brennan Manning adds these words to Eagan's: "Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. This is the true self. Every other identity is an illusion (and an impostor)."

(FYI, for those of you who, like my youngest son, love music, you can't go wrong with anything written by Stuart Townend or Keith and Kristen Getty. God has truly gifted all three of them and called them to a ministry of "modern" hymn writing. My favorite song by the Gettys is "In Christ Alone".)