Blessed.

Rachael Lampa and I are about the same age, yet our roads in life have been quite different. While I was still living the era of braces and junior high drama, she had been selected from a music festival to start a new record. Her “Live for You” album was the first cd I ever owned. Her voice was so captivating that I would play songs like “You Lift Me Up” or “Day of Freedom” and pretend it was me singing. (Yes, I know, not typical of junior high, but in my defense–it was always my dream to sing on stage with a lovely, breath-taking voice). 🙂

My favorite song on the album is her hit, “Blessed,” written by Cindy Morgan and Ginny Owens. Rachael sings with the organ sounding keyboards and the choir. Before you know it, I have tears in my eyes and goosebumps. Everytime.

I thought of this song as I read Psalms 139 the other morning. Here are verses 14, 17-18:

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works; my soul knows it very well.

Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in Your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with You.

God saw before I existed that I would walk this journey of living with NF2. He orchestrates blessings that give me strength to endure and persevere. He blessed me with a loving  and sacrificial family, caring friends, prayer warriors, and kind strangers who all in their own way give me a glimmer of hope on dark days. God did not thrust this on me and walk away. He promised to walk beside me to the end of my days. “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (1)

With Thanksgiving just a few days away, I am so thankful for all that God has given–even relatively stable health for the past ten years. It is so neat to remember where I was when I first started, and see the journey so far. Pretty special, even if that means that the physical things in life have been taken away. But I am still here. 🙂 “For the worst and all the best, I am blessed.” (2)

Happy Thanksgiving week everyone.

PS. I found this acoustic version of “Blessed”–I hope you enjoy listening to this very special song. The website listed after is the lyrics–(and her name is spelled wrong, LOL).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXjyuNBWujM

http://www.songlyrics.com/rachel-lampa/blessed-lyrics/

References

(1) Joshua 1:9, ESV

(2) Cindy Morgan and Ginny Owens. “Blessed.” From the album, Live For You, by Rachael Lampa. Word Music, 2000.