I called for songs of lament and hope in suffering and found one! I hope this encourages you as it did me.

(Big thank you to Rev. Rich Shields for sending this to me this week.)
Lyrics:
We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things

‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long we’d have faith to believe

‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not our home
It’s not our home

‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
What if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise

photo © 2009 Justin See (coming back) | more info (via: Wylio)

Money in my bank account, boxes and bags packed to the max, giddy with the independence I was about to realize, I moved into my freshman college dorm room. (Never mind that it was a conservative Baptist college with more rules than my parents had – I was living “on my own” and that was all that mattered to me!)

I was never shy about raising my hand and asking questions. One morning a friend turned to me and asked “Do you have to ask a question every single class??? It draws attention to us!”

I just stared at her. “Yes. I’m paying for this. I’m going to get everything I can out of it.”

Calendar squares jammed with work shifts, classes, club meetings, and study groups. Double-booking activities. Sleeping a few hours a night for weeks on end.

It was energizing and exhilarating to make my own choices and do what I wanted to do.

But did I actually get everything I could out of it?

I can’t remember much. I have piles of notebooks full of information that I have forgotten. Names elude me. Of all the people I met, I have just a handful I keep in real regular contact with. I’ve forgotten everyone else’s names.

I forgot so much.

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Would you like to participate in Five Minute Friday? It’s simple.

1. Write for 5 minutes flat for pure unedited love of the written word.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. Pour on the encouragement for the five minuter who linked up before you.

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My blog is a candidate for Top 25 Faith Blogs. Will you stop by and vote for me today? (You can vote once a day through June 8, 2011 at 5pm PST.) My desire is to help others who are struggling with depression, special needs kids, doubt, and grief find hope and know that they are not alone. Your vote can help improve this blog’s visibility and thus help others find it. Thank you!

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