show me where you brought me from

Happy Monday, friends! Over the weekend, Blake and I went to Bartlesville, OK to stay with his parents. Their church, Dewey Church of Christ, was celebrating their 60th anniversary. What a neat event that was! We had 2 very good potlucks. (And NO ONE can do a potluck dinner the way DCOC can!) We heard lots of stories, met new people, sang lots of songs, and had a fun time.

On Saturday evening during the song service we sang, "Remind Me, Dear Lord". (Click HERE if you want to hear that song.) I have to be honest, that's never been one of my favorites, and I'm not sure that I had ever heard that song before we went to South Yukon. Usually when I hear it I think, "oh my, this song sounds like it should be in an old Western Movie from the 60's!"(Now there was also a group of men who performed this song for us, and I thought it was real sweet, and I enjoyed that very much... but I'm talking about actually singing the song as a congregation.)

But God allowed me to hear it differently this time. I can't say it's my favorite song or anything, but I did actually think about the words. It's mostly the chorus that I really like:

"Roll back the curtain of memory now and then.
Show me where you brought me from
And where I could have been
Remember, I'm human
And humans forget
So remind me, remind me, dear Lord"

Now, having grown up in a Christian family, and having such steady Christian roots, I can't say that I have much of a past to be "reminded of". I do however remember those rebellious teen years that many find themselves in. Even though, I never did anything just awful, I do remember those horrible feelings of insecurity and the constant need to be impressing people. It's a horrible burden to hold. It's a burden that can easily lead to sin as well. It's also a burden that many people carry into adulthood. I've watched people I know carry it into their adult lives.

But God has lifted me from that. Yes, I still feel insecure at times, and I can't say I never want to impress. But those feelings don't control me the way they used to. Of course, some of that was lifted when I met Blake, and even more of it was lifted after we were married. However, that was still a work of God. The Lord has also worked in my life to help me find peace and joy. Those two fruits of the Spirit are so important!

So when I hear those lyrics, "Remind me... show me where you brought me from", I think of that insecure girl I used to be. And I am so thankful that I've allowed God's grace to inhabit every part of me! I'm so glad that the Lord has stirred my heart in ways that have been life-altering.

It's so hard to imagine how life would be if instead of growing closer to God in the last 5 years, I grew further away. I'm so thankful that God's helped me to strengthen my faith, and really make it my own. I was telling someone the other day that I feel like I'm at a place in my life where I have all the good from the "old me" without any of the bad. It's very empowering when you are aware of God working in your life.

So hearing that song over the weekend helped me remember where I was, and realize where I am now. Glory to God for seeing me to this point! And I've got hope that He will continue to see me through my journey on Earth. Our God is an awesome God.

I've also got some thought on how to strengthen our faith and get closer to God. I'm going to save that for my next post though! For now, I want to focus on how thankful I am for new ground God has brought me to!