Hymn of the Week: All Your Works Are Good

All Your Works Are Good (Psalm 104) by Sandra McCracken

Here is a modern hymn for y'all:

All Your Works Are Good
Written by Sandra McCracken, Jill Phillips and Julie Lee

The moon it marks the seasons The sun knows when to go down The ocean holds its creatures The river knows its bounds
The birds, the trees, the cattle And all things great and small We find our place in creation Your hand sustains it all
Chorus
All your works are good
All your works are good
From everlasting, to everlasting All your works are good

He makes the clouds his chariot He wraps himself in light
He stretches out the heavens, like a tent across the sky
He knows our every burden When darkness veils our eyes He comes with spring returning, Bringing death to life (Chorus)
As we labor until evening There’s a message on the wind Be still and know your maker Be satisfied in Him (Chorus) 

© 2015 Drink Your Tea (ASCAP) / Sill House Road Music (SESAC) / The Gullahorns Music (ASCAP)

Feminine Identity Rooted in Creation and Submission to the Creator

"God created"

"And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters."

"Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made."

"And the LORD God formed man"

"She shall be called Woman,

Because she was taken out of Man."

-Excerpts from Genesis 1 and 2

"Let Israel rejoice in their Maker"

-Psalm 149:2

"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse"

-Romans 1:20

Mother and son, November 2002

Who am I?  Am I am man? Am I a woman?  May I choose who I am and what I will become?  Aside from the simple fact that my body parts are different from a man's; my voice is different, my hair line is different (my dad and husband's hairlines had already receded by my age), I became pregnant six times with four pregnancies resulting in a live child born from my womb, and my thinking is different; I am a woman because I was created separately and distinctly.  

I am a creature, not the Creator, because I was created.  I am made not the Maker.  I can understand and know God, even His eternal power and Godhead (he is three persons in one true, living God) because He has clearly shown us His attributes.  God is true.  Everything He says He does.  God is powerful. By the word of the LORD the heavens and earth were created.  God is good.  Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father. God is just.  Every evil thing will not go unpunished.  

God is mercy.  God loved this created world so much that He sent His only begotten Son of God, that whoever believes in the Son will have eternal life and will not face the wrath of a just God.  His Son took the wrath reserved for me and you when He died on the cross.  By God's grace, we can know Him through faith in the Son.  The just shall live by faith. We must submit to the Creator and His creation order to be truly free.  We are not free by pretending and living in denial of His creation, but by resting in His authority and sovereign rule in our lives as the Maker.

When I was a young teenager, I was tall and lanky with a long neck.  I wanted to shrink so that I did not stand out.  When I grew up, I became ashamed of my person.  Why did I have this personality that is serious, thoughtful, artistic, and unpopular?  I questioned my creature.  I doubted the Creator.  It was only in looking to the Son, did I realize the freedom in submission to His creation.  God gave me the grace and power to rejoice in my Maker.

Young man….

Young woman…

You are fearfully and wonderfully made….

Do not hide from your manhood or womanhood….

Rejoice in who you are and whose you are…

You are created…

God is the Creator…

Submit to Him…

Rest in Him.

Legos and Eyeglasses

NEW GLASSES!

I am sorry, Amy, you are doomed to myopia like the rest of us.  It is only a matter of time.  Enjoy your freedom from glasses while you have it!

Our third child picked up her first pair of glasses today.  She is in fourth grade and was living with a completely near-sighted left eye for who knows how long!  We all picked up new glasses this week, too, except the youngest, of course.

The children's Christmas Vacation has been a very fulfilling experience of lego-building and other forms of creativity and expression.  My oldest prepared supper tonight with a bit of help from Mom.  We also had a bright, sunny day today with a high of about 8 degrees Fahrenheit.  I truly enjoy Minnesota Winters for the sheer fact that the bitter cold weather brings with it plenty of sunshine.  I would take that over 33 degrees and overcast plus fog like we had in Eastern Europe any day.

A full rainbow appeared in the sky during the sunrise this morning. This is looking out past our neighbor's house towards the west. Peter John noticed it out the window just as we were about to eat breakfast, and we all made our way out into the chilly morning to praise God for it. The kids snapped the photographs.