how great thou art.

O Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder

Consider all the works thy hand hath made,

I see the stars, I hear the mighty thunder,

Thy power throughout the universe displayed;

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

When through the woods and forest glades I wander

and hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees;

when I look down from lofty mountain grandeur,

and hear the brook, and feel the gentle breeze;

And when I think that God his son not sparing,

Sent him to die - I scarce can take it in,

That on the cross my burden gladly bearing,

He bled and died to take away my sin.

When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation

And take me home- what joy shall fill my heart!

Then I shall bow in humble adoration

And there proclaim, my God, how great thou art!

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

"How Great Thou Art" translated by Stuart K. Hines

This, my friends, would be one of my favorite hymns. As a child of a music teacher that grew up in piano lessons and children's choir singing and playing hymns, they will always be my favorite of any kind of music.

As an art major I was taught to train my eye to recognize anything that is pleasing to the eye. I was taught to see shadows, light, shapes and form my own opinion of what was beautiful, inspiring, ugly or just outright amazing. I've been to museums, critiques, exhibitions and I've even had my own work judged. I've seen timeless masterpieces and modern art, sculptures, photographs, paintings, and drawings. I love art. I love everything about it.

But something I love more than art is nature. I love looking out my window and seeing trees and grass and I love hearing birds sing (just not at 2am, which they have been quite diligent about doing lately.) I love riding with the windows down, feeling the air and smelling the grass and honeysuckle. Recently I've enjoyed the beautiful weather and then the rain, wind and even the bad weather. Don't get me wrong, I love pretty weather, but my favorite day of the year is the last cool rainy day. Not the one where the humidity comes right after. The day when everything is still soaked and there's a tiny brisk breeze. And you have to be careful to catch it and realize it, because once it's gone, it's not coming back until fall. That's my favorite day. 

The one thing I love most about nature though, is that it's all beautiful. There's no debating it. There's no critiquing it. There's no excuses and there's no reasons why or why not. It's beautiful because God spoke and it came into existence. Every bit of it. The stars and the mighty thunder, the birds and mountains and breeze, it all represents the power of God. It shows his beauty and love. Who else could make a rain cloud appear from a blue sky to create a storm and then follow up with a colorful rainbow? It's all in his handiwork, his majesty, his love for us.

But that's not all that represents his love. His love is represented better with a cross and nails. It's better realized by promises made and promises fulfilled. It's the kind of love that's better seen through a sinless man giving his life for billions of sinful people. It's seen in the faces of the people who found the empty grave. And it's the love that will be in the embrace of the Savior when one day we will fall on our knees and rejoice with him in heaven. 

God's love is surrounding us all. It's in the nature. It's even in the talent God gave the artist to make the masterpiece. It's in relationships of families and friends. It's in the miracles of life, the expecting mother's baby, the premature newborn that is now a grown adult, the family persistently waiting for their adopted child. It's in the miracles of medicine. It's in the one's who give second chances. It's in the one's who gave the first chance.

 It's in the one who gave his life. It's love.

The nails didn't keep him on the cross, love did.  

Happy Easter and much love.