Hymns. Where do I start?
this collection has been such a blessing for me to create. I've been researching them, learning the story behind who, when and why they were written, singing them, my husband will come up to see what I've been working on and he's been signing them -
insert loud deep voice . . It is welllllllll with my soulllll
my 6 yo daughter has been sounding out and reading them - i need to record that - sweetest this ever!
I love them all - most were written several hundred years ago and the truth in the lyrics is timeless and unchanging. here's a little bit more about some of them . . .
here's my heart - my favorite line from Come Thou Fount
In Christ Alone - really the one that started this whole collection. I love this newer hymn
Amazing Grace - designed as single prints or as a set of 2.
my all time favorite. The first 2 lines are beautiful . . . Amazing Grace How Sweet the Sound
but its the last 2 lines where the story is for me . .
how precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed.
I need to back up now and tell you about the hour I first believed. December 5, 1997 we were married 41/2 years with a 5 month old baby. Both my husband and I had grown up in church but as we got to be older teenagers with jobs and drivers licenses! we had slowly stopped going. We were very good Creasters though (church on Christmas and Easter for sure) but didn't see the importance the rest of the year. We were extremely busy having parties. We both knew that something was missing but didn't know what exactly to do about it. So we decided it must be the weather. Surely warm sunny weather would make us happy. We sold everything we owned and made plans to head west to San Diego with half baked plans to start a photography studio once we arrived.
We had lots of goodbye parties. But one of them was different than the rest. Our friends Jeff and Michelle came over for dinner and said wow we are going to miss you and we are real excited for you and all but we just can't let you leave without sharing this with you. Poured out the love of Christ with the gospel and right then and there holding hands around our little kitchen table we turned away from our old ways and asked Jesus into our hearts. That was the moment we knew that no matter what that everything was going to be ok. That's all we knew.
How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed.
that was also the moment we knew that the timing was off for our move. Both of us were too scared to say anything to each other. It was all planned out. The house was sold. The moving truck was in the driveway. We didn't know what to do. So we went. the rest of the story is quite loooong but since it wasn't the right time for us to be there, it's no surprise that things didn't go as planned. We moved back to Michigan 3 months later. We have been blessed ever since. There have been some rocky patches, and some huge storms of course, but my husband started an extremely successful photography studio (which we later sold) but I still think he's the best that ever was:) that led him into his current printing business wwww.colorincprolab.com. God's got some other things working behind the scenes right now - including us being in of all places - Southern California for this semester (more on that later when I tell you about my word of the year- I know it. I can feel it. I don't know what though and that's ok.
I think on that hour I first believed quite often. God never fails to bring a smile to my face or a tear to my eye - usually both at the same time. That is why you will see me with streaky mascara and a big smile whenever I hear this song- just in case you were wondering.
What about you? do you think about the hour you first believed? I would love to hear your story.
