One More Day...

"I’m a sinner grace is still healing

I’m a story time is revealing

I’m all of these things

But mostly, I’m thankful

Yes I am

I’m a fighter caught in a struggle

A survivor rising above it

I’m all of these things

But mostly, I’m thankful

'Cause You gave me one more day

To say I love You

You have brought me all this way

To testify of grace

What more can I say

But Hallelujah

Thank You Jesus

When the night was closing in on me

Didn’t know if I’d see the morning

You held on to me

And Jesus, I’m grateful

Yeah

When my enemies turned up the fire

El Shaddai, You were right there beside me

You showed up for me

And Jesus, I’m grateful

I didn't ever see the sun

I thought I was done (Mm)

And I just wanna say thank You for one more day

One more day

One more day

One more day

You've been there the whole time

You've been there my whole life

Just wanna say You're everything to me, yeah

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound

That saved a broken wretch like me

I once was lost but now I'm found

Was bound but now my God

Gave me one more day"

Sons of Sunday

This morning as I sipped my first hot cup of heaven, music quietly playing, I sit in gratitude...

Some days I question my propensity to worry, to wonder, to fear the future and my part in it, yesterday was a red letter day for God pointing the way with big shiny fluorescent flashing lighted arrows.

Let me go back a week or two...

I was asked to attend a meeting with a Doctor of Pyschiatrity with too many letters after her name to count, a warm woman despite her learned acumen. This woman travels coast to coast to gather information regarding Domestic Violence in our fair country and the Justice System failing women across the board.

Imagine my surprise when it was only myself, the good Doctor and lastly the director of the Safe Home society in my town. Three quick hours later and a healthy regurgitation of facts, follies and apathy within the police force, outright laziness within the Crown Counsel office and corrupt behaviours lurking within Victim Services, I walked out with a new level of appreciation and respect for these two leading ladies.

Yesterday a follow up meeting with the Director resulted in a surprise I most certainly did not expect...being paid for my time, for information brought to the table in a case (the directors words) heads above others in grievance, injury and wrong doing. So much so it stood out and attracted notice.

I pray you hear my heart this morning, dear treasures, my friends.

This is not a bid for attention...this is a call to those in authority and power, to those who ask for these surveys, these expensive gatherings of information and proof of a justice system gone wrong, to DO something....to make changes across the board and across this great nation of ours.

This is a call to all lost ones, all survivors...there are those who are listening, and for those who are not we must stand and shout from the rooftops until change is effected.

This is an encouragement, a written testimony of the Grace of God...

He watches over each one, looking to the future and laying brick by brick to see our feet steady, our hearts healed, our spirits renewed.

There is nothing impossible...only at times improbable...

There is nothing out of reach...a stretch here, a shuffle there...hands and hearts reaching for more, for better...for kindness and compassion...

So much to say dear friends, the words fairly fly within this mind and heart, aching to be released...

We are worthy of more...we have been fashioned with love, created with grace and mercy...

Today I stand as witness to the goodness of a God who has never left me, nor forsaken me...

He has placed me within circles I never thought to stand in....and outside of circles I desperately wanted to be included in.

Lonely is the road to healing, to successive successes...

I have lost some closest to my heart and there are days it threatens to drag me under...waves exploding above and around, grasping with fingers of foam and seaweed...

Going under I survey a cold, blue world of false accusations, mistakes and wrongs...

Going under, against backdrops of every blue imaginable, I view moments of life gone before that suck all breath from burning lungs...

As I begin to sink, as I spin and take in each moving picture with agony, the Hand of God reaches in and under, pulling me from the depths...

Oh my friends...If I could just accurately put into words the depth, the magnitude of His Grace, you would never seek anything else...it has saved me countless times....countless.

The miracles I have witnessed, big and small, are beyond imagining.

The moments death has knocked down my door and reached in and wrapped skeletal fingers round my throat, too many to count...

He reached down and stopped the hands that wished for my demise, for my end.

That...that alone is miracle enough, and yet, God does not stop there. He orders my steps, sits with me in my darkest hours, holds me close when heart breaks...

My prayer for you this morning is to find just that...that place of home.

Regardless of who you worship, who and what you believe in; this is your foundation, your place of safety.

You are loved, ridiculously (again, thank you Toni)...

You are needed, infinitely...

Necessary...