Running and Ruminating #2…
March 6, 2010
My run today was pushed back from a morning run to an afternoon run because there was a lot of work to get done before I could head out. I grabbed my cold weather running clothes, hat, sunglasses (more today for blocking the wind), garmin running watch/gps device, and some inspiring tunes on my iphone and headed out the door. After being cozy inside my house I was surprised to see/feel that it was very windy, cold and rainy. With a smirk on my face I began my run. I love days like this. It is different and poses a different challenge to my run. Days like this bring me out of my daze and drop me right into the moment, the cold rainy exhilarating moment. I know that if I can run on a day like today then I can run on any day. I don’t want to be the type of runner who is always looking for an excuse to not run. I want an excuse to run because I know that each day I am out there is a day that my body is getting better in shape. My heart is getting stronger. My lungs are getting more efficient and will make each time that I sing that much easier. My brain is getting clearer as I sort through all the thoughts floating around and cluttering it. I had 3 miles to run and I was super excited to do it. I couldn’t help but think of the verses in James 1:2-4 that say “Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.” I need to remember the joy that running this cold rainy day brought me on those days that I am being pummeled by the spiritual storms that come my way and know that if I can run headlong into those days with those storms then I can run the race of this life on any day.
Deliverer…
March 6, 2010
This week I had the opportunity to co-host 2 worship nights at Saddleback Church. Both nights were attended by people who came ready to worship and sing out. It is always a huge blessing to lead a night of worship where all that is needed is to start a song and the people sing it out on their own. They didn’t need to be coaxed or cajoled into worshipping, they came ready. It was with this in mind that I had a chance to teach them a new song called Deliverer. Vicky Beeching and I sat in my living room and wrote this song for her new cd that will be coming out on April 6th. Even as I listened to Vicky record a video of herself singing the song to send to her record label, Integrity, I knew that this song had something special. This song had what I needed to say as a worshipper and what I think the church as a whole needs to sing out and say to the Lord. My husband, Jonny MacIntosh, produced Vicky’s cd and gathered a group of people together to sing the “gang” vocals on the bridge of this song. A few of the members in the gang were the lovely guys from the band Leeland. It was fantastic when it got to the bridge of this song to sing out and worship with these guys knowing that each person there was worshipping as we recorded. We were crying out “Your blood is enough to break every chain! Your blood is enough to break every chain! Your blood is enough to break every chain!” We believed it then as we sang it and now that I am able to lead it during a worship set I sing it with that same belief. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is healing.
Here is a video of me leading Deliverer at Saddleback:
