Stop to Talk

Me, O Lord, You call to me?
Come near to You to talk with You?
Not now, but later; I'm busy now.
Oh, not quite yet; I'll get there soon.
One more thing, Lord, then we'll talk.
Oh, I'm so tired; I better sleep.
A new day's coming with lots to do,
And that day passes with stress throughout.
Another comes but with no peace.
The joy is gone, but life keeps going.
If only I'd stop, just stop to rest,
Rest in my Lord where I'll find strength,
Where I'll find joy and peace anew.
So when He calls; it's time to stop.
The world will wait, but I should not.
I should seek Him all day long,
Throughout the chaos, while work is done,
Talk with Him as I do my tasks,
Do all for Him, His glory to show,
And stop, sometimes, just stop to talk.

Home to Heaven

Home to heaven,
Home to Jesus,
Home to freedom
From this flesh.

Praise God for life,
Both long and short.
Praise God for life,
Birth and rebirth.

God, who makes
Not one mistake.
God, who’s children
He makes whole.

Mourn, we will
For earthly loss.
Rejoice, we will
For heavenly gain.

Thanks be to God
For Matt’s sweet life.
Thanks be to God
For lives Matt touched.

Baby Matt Closer to Heaven

Check his blog for an update on Baby Matt http://prayformatt.blogspot.com/.

He is getting so close to seeing Jesus. Praise God for his short life that has and will have more good impact on this world than many who live what the world might call a "full life." When Matt passes, he will have lived a "full life," not measured in years, but measured by Jesus, a life that glorified the Father, that shared the gospel. Matt will soon meet Jesus, and someday I believe he will meet the people that met Jesus because of his story. Praise God for Matt. Praise God that we might live for His glory. Praise God for Matt's early family and friends. Oh Lord, surround them with Your love, comfort, and peace as they have surrounded Matt these past few months.

I look forward to the day when I will praise Jesus with Matt. Oh, He is so close to truly praising Jesus, right there, face to face! When he passes, may many mourn the loss of this sweet soul, but may we not forget to celebrate his passing into Glory and long to see Jesus ourselves. Oh, he will soon behold His glory!

Baby Matt and God's Grace

As I prayed for Baby Matt last night and the wonderful family who brought him in to be their son, I thought about adoption, about God’s adoption of us. I love how the Lord gives us pictures so that we might better understand His grace. He is good. He is so good!

Baby Matt was not the baby everyone was fighting over to take home. He was not the baby that would make any mother so proud as he accomplished milestone after milestone. He was not the baby that would make his father beam as he babbled, “dada.” No, he was broken. He came into this world broken. He doesn’t know he’s broken, but it is sadly true. He is dying and short of a miracle, he will die at a very young age. This wonderful family brought him into their home even though he was broken. They have other children, alive and well, able to smile and laugh, able to say, “Mama, Daddy, I love you,“ able to look up to their parents, to want to grow up to be like them. They brought Matt into their home simply to love, not for anything they would receive in return, just because they chose to love him in spite of his condition.

So how does that relate to you and me? Well, we are Matt. We came into this world broken. We didn’t know we were broken, but it is sadly true. Our situation was not good because we were born with a sinful nature. Our desire was to please ourselves, not our creator and God. We didn’t even know Him. We couldn’t even call His name. We surely couldn’t love Him. We had nothing in us to make God want us. He is God. He has angels to shout His praises, to tell of His glory. If He commands even the rocks can cry out to Him. He doesn’t need us, broken creatures that we are. Yet, He chose us, not because He had to but because He wanted to chose us. He brought us into His family as children, not for anything we could offer Him (He is God and needs nothing.), just because He chose to love us in spite of our condition. Grace.

So what’s different? What is different is that when God adopted us as His children, He wiped away our disease. He removed our dead hearts of stone and replaced them with hearts of flesh, able to love Him. Now we can call His name, “Father, Daddy.” Now we can bring Him praise. Now we can live our lives every day to honor Him with obedience, devotion, and love.

I thank God for Matt’s earthly family who is living for God. They are showing us their devotion to a Father who took them in when they were broken. They are showing what it is like trying to be like Daddy.

I am sad that I can write about Matt as broken and not society’s wanted baby. I am sad that his situation is what it is, but I am so glad that we serve a God who is mighty to heal, if not here on earth, then completely one day in heaven. Praise be to God who does not make mistakes!