Marvelous Light

Monday are usually my least favorite day of the week. But not today.

I woke up at 7 AM and went on a run, drank some coffee, ate some french toast and was met by God all in the course of 4 hours. It was brilliant (a term the Irish use for everything).

This song pretty much sums up my morning:

Marvelous Light

I once was fatherless,

A stranger with no hope;

Your kindness wakened me,

Awakened me, from my sleep

Your love it beckons deeply,

A call to come and die.

By grace now I will come

And take this life, take your life.

Sin has lost it's power,

Death has lost it's sting.

From the grave you've risen

VICTORIOUSLY.

Into marvelous light I'm running,

Out of darkness, out of shame.

By the cross you are the truth, You are the life, you are the way.

My dead heart now is beating,

My deepest stains now clean.

Your breath fills up my lungs.

Now I'm free, now I'm free!

Lift my hands and spin around,

See the light that I have found.

Oh the marvelous light

Marvelous light

Lift my hands and spin

See the light within...

Callie and I ran our forest run today.

It was muddy, slippery and squishy. I almost fell down the little ravine at one point, attempting to stay on dry land, away from the muckiest part. Once we emerged from the trees, we made a sharp left and started up a drier path, up an abupt hill. The hill was straight up, and I tried my best to keep my eyes focused on the leaf covered path directly in front of me, rather than on the looming monster ahead. At points, I felt like I was barely moving, that I was in slow-motion, each step a difficulty. I finally reached the hill and turned around, hands on my hips, gasping for breath. And I was overcome by a magnificent work of art, brushstrokes that only God could paint. Beautiful in the most awesome sense. It was a foggy morning, and the fog had settled over the lake below and was cascading over the hills and valleys of the Irish countryside. The sun was sending rays streaming through the mist, the light was soft and soothing. I breathed it all in. Beauty is a curious thing, it takes our mind off of the pain. I think God created beauty to restore our hurting hearts, to remind us that the pain of this world will be nothing once our eyes fall on eternity.

"Beauty puts a face on God. When we gaze at nature, at a loved one, at a work of art, our soul immediately recognizes and is drawn to the face of God."

-Margaret Brownley

Callie caught up to me and stopped her running watch so she could take in the view. She spread her arms wide, threw her head back and said, unashamedly, "THANK YOU."

Into marvelous light I'm running, out of darkness, out of shame.