Great is Thy Faithfulness (and a giveaway!)

This past February at our Hope Mommies Retreat, we were so blessed to have Sandra McCracken lead our evening worship sets. She said something profound that I had never considered before: the hymn writers of old wrote what they knew to be true; not what they were currently experiencing. They would pen a poem of God’s faithfulness, commanding their hearts to have a forward looking aspect and depend upon God’s character — in a word, they sung hope. They were not wishful thinkers, or ignorant of great pain and loss. They fully recognized the brokenness of a fallen world and the gravity of sin. But they set their hope on God, and commanded their hearts to listen, sing, obey, and worship– especially in the midst of great trials. Consider this hymn:

 

It’s quite possible that the writer, Thomas Chisholm, had bad days. That he had days without cheer; without feeling God’s guidance; without strength to face a new day. He was not immune to death, illness, or grief. But he wrote a hymn that commanded his heart to anchor itself not to his own circumstances, but to the unchanging greatness of God who is full of mercy and love.

This Sunday is Mother’s Day. And I cannot help but think of how many precious moms around the world — in my city, and in my church — will be struggling to just get through this Sunday. They had dreamt of handmade, messy Mother’s Day cards and sticky kisses and photographs and dandelion bouquets. For them, Mother’s Day is one more holiday that poignantly reminds them that their sweet baby is in Heaven, and that their title of “Mom” is not as it should be. They need the reminder of God’s great faithfulness— to them. To their story. God will be faithful, to their family.

All of us need a reminder of God’s great faithfulness.

So we’ve teamed up with Lindsay from Lindsay Letters to provide a special giveaway for everyone who has supported Hope Mommies and has been involved with us through the years! Lindsay’s craft for beautifully depicting God’s word through her calligraphy is amazing, and she has donated THREE 8×10 prints of “Great is Thy Faithfulness” to Hope Mommies for a Mother’s Day Giveaway!

The contest is open til 12pm on Mother’s Day, (this Sunday, 5/11/2011). Don’t miss an opportunity to get this beautiful reminder of God’s tenderness toward us!

And to all my sweet Hope Mom friends, know that I am praying for you this weekend.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Images courtesy of Lindsay Letters, www.lindsayletters.com

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