Better Words Than Mine

My heart feels so full on this Monday morning! Spring seems to have arrived after the long hard winter of my soul, and when I read on my friend Nicola's blog Which Name?,  that she would posting throughout April with song lyrics and photos that express her heart in better words than her own, I jumped at the chance to join her.

I have hardly known my own thoughts and feelings these past few winter months, like so many swirling snowflakes across a bleak sky. Suddenly in the last few days I have been blessed with the new inspirations and a renewed sense of joy and peace like the warm sun come to rest on me at last.

On Saturday night, Kev and I were given tickets to see Steven Curtis Chapman live in concert. Many of you may not know this artist,( I've been listening to his songs almost all my life),  but  you can become a fan anytime by checking him out here.

Heck yes, that's a banjo.

His music and his testimony are powerful and beautiful. We loved every bit of the show, and we were so excited when he perched on a stool, and pulled out his acoustic guitar to sing the song we chose as our first dance at our wedding almost 6 years ago.

He talked briefly before singing about how he wrote the song for his own bride of 27 years and how the words of this simple song now mean so much more than they did when he wrote them some 20 years ago. In his words, "I never knew what the promise of this song would mean, that our journey together would take us on amazing adventures and even the grave of our own beloved child". 

I looked over at Kev, and felt the weight of what is we are doing. We are building a home; a family; a life.

Already the journey has taken us in different directions than we thought and I can only take steps into the unknown everyday that often feel more like blind leaps into the darkness. All I know is that as we jump, we're holding hands, tighter than ever before.

I was blessed by the testimony and resilience of the Chapman family, I was inspired to live deliberately, faithfully and well and I was reminded why the partner I chose is the one I would still choose in a heartbeat.
So to start off a lyrical April, I'll give words to the song in my heart with the words of  our song:

I Will Be Here

Tomorrow morning if you wake up, and the sun does not appear,

I will be here.

If, in the dark, we lose sight of love, old my hand and have no fear, 

'cause I will be here.

I will be here when you feel like being quiet

When you need to speak your mind

I will listen

And I will be here

When the laughter turns to crying

Through the winning, losing and trying

We'll be together

I will be here

Tomorrow morning if you wake up, and the future is unclear

I will be here

Just as sure as seasons are made for change 

Our lifetimes are made for years

So I will be here

I will be here; you can cry on my shoulder

When the mirror tells us we're older

I will hold you and I will be here

To watch you grow in beauty 

and tell you all the things you are to me

I will be here

I will be true to the promise I have made

To you and to the One who gave you to me.

For just as sure as season as made for change, 

Our lifetimes are made for year

So I will be here

We'll be together

I will be here.

photo courtesy of our friend, Jared Mosher- 2008.