Till There Was You

I was recently driving my 14-year-old grandson to school when he asked: "What's your favorite song, Nana?" Without much thought, I said, “‘Till There Was You” and I proceeded to explain that song was Papa’s and my wedding song. He had his phone connected by Bluetooth and searched for it and up came the Beatle’s rendition. We listened to the whole song and, to my astonishment; he said: “I like that song!” I went on to tell him that we loved going to musical theater performances and that song was from “The Music Man”. I’m sure he was in a fog about that production, but I was pleased with his acceptance of my “oldie but goodie”.

During the tenderness of the Christmas season, I was having the sweetest of times with God one morning and I started singing that song, but this time I wasn’t singing it to my sweetheart but to God. And the words are so befitting to a relationship before Christ, and after falling in love with Him.

"There were bells on a hill, but I never heard them ringing!
No, I never heard them at all, till there was YOU!
There were birds in the sky, but I never saw them winging!
No, I never saw them at all, till there was YOU!
Then there was music and wonderful roses.
They tell me, in sweet fragrant meadows of dawn and dew.
There was love all around, but I never heard it singing.
No, I never heard it at all, till there was you.”

That’s how I feel about my Lord – who turned my sadness, gloom, despair into joy and gladness. He gave me purpose and hope. Now I see through rose-colored glasses of positivity and great expectation every day. My family and I went to see the new “Mary Poppins Returns” movie on Christmas Eve. Yes, we are that family that embraces “good feeling, happy ending” movies. Afterward, my granddaughter said, “I guess that’s what life on drugs is like!” We laughed, but my daughter, with her Godly insight, said, “That’s what perspective looks like. Most people escape their realities by drugs or other vices to have a utopic experience. But those of us in Christ with Holy Spirit living in us have those experiences because Holy Spirit enables us to have joy in the midst of fear; gladness instead of sadness; peace instead of turmoil; hope instead of hopelessness; love instead of hate; dancing instead of mourning.

Maybe you’d like to get off the doom and gloom track and get on board this “Joyful, joyful we adore You!” train, too! It sure makes for a gumdrop and roses and whiskers on kitten kind-of-day and life. Let me introduce you to the Conductor! He’s known as the Prince of Peace, the Solid Rock, the Great I Am! Once you get to know Him, you, too will be singing “There were bells on a hill and I never heard thing ringing – no I never heard them at all TILL THERE WAS YOU!

“You turned my mourning into dancing; You removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing Your praises and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks forever.” Psalm 30:11,12

Stir Up Your First Love

As the 50th Wedding Anniversary date (July 8th) of my Sweetheart and I nears, I seem to be "in a remembrance zone". Dear friends of mine, who are celebrating their 50th year, are doing so by rekindling the love they had 50 years ago by purposefully going on all kinds of romantic and fun adventures. They've cruised, traveled near and far, taken lots of date nights and every day they are celebrating those 50 years in special ways, all year long. I love that. That gives me pause for a moment. I think that's what we would be doing, too. I won't get to do that, but I sure can spend sweet time remembering the special times we had in our 44 years.

When we had little to afford us to travel, we made lots of memories camping out and fishing in lots of lakes. We had LOTS of date nights to a movie, a restaurant, a musical (we loved those – “The Music Man” was our favorite and our favorite song came from it “Til There Was You”). Then we travelled in a Winnibego across the U.S. when we were The Master's 4 Quartette. We had four conversion vans over the years and chalked up a lot of miles travelling across the U.S. and Canada (my Sweetheart's home). Both of us being Private Pilots, we travelled many miles in our Cessna 182 airplane. We travelled on commercial airplanes, making many trips to see our kids when they lived in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington. We travelled to many events and conferences, near and far away. We travelled many times to my Sweetheart's beloved Belize and Mexico where we regularly went to share God's love on missions trips. We travelled on a Gulfstream when our son took us on the ride of our life to New York City when his company became public. We were there when he rang the opening bell on Nasdaq. We enjoyed 15 cruises together, the last of which was our dream trip, 5 days in Rome and 12 days on a Meditteranean Cruise.

One of my fondest memories is the trip Ron won at an LPGA Golf Tournament. He putted a 50 foot hole in one stroke. A hole-in-one that awarded us with a trip, the next day, on a 747 with the LPGA women to Sweden for the Solheim Cup. Eight days and nights -- all expenses paid. We made the most of the moments when travelled by train to Denmark and the ferry and train to Berlin, Germany.

Not only did I enjoy "remembering" all those experiences for myself, but I wanted to share them with you to say: "DON'T let the wonders and wows of your todays past you by." Like us, you may not make it to your 50th year to celebrate the years. Make memories today. Make every day count for loving and sharing and rekindling that love that brought you together with your sweetheart in the first place. Get off the couch and go for a walk. Get up early to see the sun rise together. Holding hands, watch the sun set together. Light some candles. Stir up that FIRST LOVE that you shared. STOP and behold the beauty God gave you, before it's too late.

Then, spiritually, let's not move so speedily through life, that we fail to set aside the time needed to stop and behold the beauty of the Lord and to gaze upon the wonders that are found in Him alone. Let’s stir up that FIRST LOVE we encountered with Him.

Psalm 27:4 "One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, and BEHOLD THE BEAUTY of the LORD and to meditate in His temple."

Sweet and Romantic Love Songs

Day 4 in this Month of Love -- Sweet and Romantic Love Songs
When my then-boyfriend (later, my husband) and I were dating (young things that we were), we had a favorite "puppy love" song, Bobby Vee's "My Venus in Blue Jeans" -- LOL! As we continued dating, we crooned over "Hey Paula, I Wanna' Marry You" and then being avid musical theater fans, "our song" was The Music Man's "Till There Was You". My brother, with his exquisite baritone voice, sang it so beautifully at our wedding.

In later years, Kenny Rogers, with his wonderful vibrato voice, became our best-loved singer who put to lyrics and music what we felt about each other. We swooned over "Lady", "She Believes in Me", and our absolute favorite was "Through the Years".

Love songs enhance romance, and life changes so dramatically when romance comes into our lives. To love and be loved is life's sweetest treasure. But even more than earthly love, the most beloved relationship we could ever hope to experience is our relationship with God. That love changes dramatically when we discover the great romance we have with Him. God yearns to share a life of beauty, intimacy, and adventure with us. In Jeremiah 31:3, He says “I have loved you with an everlasting love”. This whole world was made for romance — the rivers and the meadows, the mountains and the beaches. Flowers, music, a kiss, a sunrise, a sunset, a touch. But we have a way of forgetting all that as we lose ourselves in work, stress, concern and worry.

“I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not share your affection with any other god!” Exodus 20:5. WOW! He is jealous for our romance. When we put so much of life's stuff ahead of Him, we are sharing our affection with other gods. He longs for us to be tender and inviting, intimate and alluring, fiercely devoted to Him. Oh yes, our God has a passionate, romantic heart for us.

There's no "earthly" love like His love. God is so intimately concerned about every detail of our life that He even numbered the hairs of our head. He knows our thoughts and our deepest desires. Oh, how He loves you and me. Shouldn’t we treasure our loving God in the same way?

God's love for us is immeasurable and unfathomable and it transcends our human understanding. He pleads to us "Please let me be your God, your everything, your reason for breathing." Knowing this love so deeply and profoundly, I must stop here in this post for today. It's time for romance. It's time for a love song to the lover of my soul:

Psalms 59:16: “I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress.”

Shhh! I hear Him singing a love song to me.....Zephaniah 3:17 "The LORD your God among you is powerful -- He will save and He will take joyful delight in you. In His love He will renew you with His love; He will celebrate with singing because of you".