Oh, come behold the works of God, the nations at His feet
He breaks the bow and bends the spear
And tells the wars to cease

Oh, mighty One of Israel, You are on our side
We walk by faith in God who burns the chariots with fire

Lord of Hosts, You’re with us
With us in the fire
With us as a shelter
With us in the storm
You will lead us
Through the fiercest battle
Oh, where else would we go
But with the Lord of Hosts

Oh, God of Jacob, fierce and great
You lift Your voice to speak
The earth, it bows
And all the mountains move into the sea

Oh Lord, You know the hearts of men
And still you let them live
Oh God, who makes the mountains melt
Come wrestle us and win
Oh God, who makes the mountains melt
Come wrestle us and win

Lord of Hosts, You’re with us
With us in the fire
With us as a shelter
With us in the storm
You will lead us
Through the fiercest battle
Oh, where else would we go
But with the Lord of Hosts

Though oceans roar, You are the Lord of all
The One who calms the wind and waves and makes my heart be still
Though the earth gives way, the mountains move into the sea
The nations rage, I know my God is in control

Though oceans roar, You are the Lord of all
The One who calms the wind and waves and makes my heart be still
Though the earth gives way, the mountains move into the sea
The nations rage, I know my God is in control

Lord of Hosts, You’re with us
With us in the fire
With us as a shelter
With us in the storm
You will lead us
Through the fiercest battle
Oh, where else would we go
But with the Lord of Hosts

You are with us
(With us in the fire) (Fire)
(With us as a shelter)
With us in the storm
(You will lead us)
Through the fiercest battle
(Oh, where else could we go)
But with the Lord of Hosts

The love of the Father, Son, and Spirit

Drives me to surrender to the Lord’s will.

Oh, for Grace to guard against resentment,

To bring me Home

In the palm of His Hand.

Twenty four miles of down and back up

Across your Canyon, your work of art. 

— Your wrath poured out by Flood, 

Wrecking the world you created. 

When the tsunamis stopped and sediment settled, 

This scar, this Canyon carved, beauty through your grace. 

Cold mornings and hot coffee and breakfast, 

Fresh water from the creek.  

— Your provision for us. 

Nourishment for each step, manna and drink 

Through the grace of your care. 

A side trip to Ribbon Falls to find streams 

Coming out of the rock, flowing in greens and yellow. 

— Your love of beauty. 

Displayed in an unassuming little side canyon. 

You care about the details and you love to 

Share them with your children. Are there other details we don’t see? 

The Box: cold, quiet but not silent, place of narrow walls,

Trail where weed and cactus cling to life. 

— Your Son, laid upon him the fullness of your wrath. 

The cold, hard reality of our sin, our finite flesh, 

Our feeble stares up the canyon wall, 

Staggering at your power and the weight of punishment — 

And future glory. 

Devil’s corkscrew demanding every breath and 

Strength to conquer; but the steep valley – it did not keep us. 

— Your protection and strength. 

You do not grow weary, but we do; especially in 

This life where devil and dust choke us. 

But you carry us up and out and beyond, the 

Shepherd and Overseer of our souls. 

Communion at sunset at Plateau point, overlooking the blue river below. 

Stars beaming as we walk back to our camp. 

— Your Body and Blood, shed for us. Giving us vast heavens of 

Glory and river of Life, when all we deserved was your wrath. 

The stars herald this exchange of the Righteous for the unrighteous. 

The fellowship of fellow hikers as we ascend to 

The Rim, step by step, looking back at how far we’ve come. 

— Your saints brought into Eternity by Your Hand. 

Taken up into Glory, in sibling fellowship, 

When our journey is done, we will look back at the trials and 

Trails and Steeps and Colors and Rim and River 

And see that you never left us on this hard and beautiful journey, and 

Your Grace has brought us Home. 

The new year should come with freshness and innocence. Instead, I bring to it too much of the previous year and all its failings. My failings. My selfishness, people pleasing, insecurities.

One more Christmas ruined. Marriages that struggle and aren’t mine, but nonetheless break my heart. Brokenness in the world that seems too much to bear.

“He continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly” (I Peter 2:23).

I must continually entrust my brokenness to the Father who judges justly. And entrust the brokenness of others to him, too. I cannot carry this weight or fix what is broken. This new year demands that I give it up to him.

Entrust: “assigns the responsibility for doing something to someone; put something into someone’s care or protection.”

Entrust to him who judges justly.

Entrust to the Just Judge, the Father, the Shepherd and Overseer of my soul (I Peter 2:25).

Entrust.

I have a hard time letting plants succumb to winter’s icy grip. It feels like letting something I’m responsible for just die.

The beauty of Summer growth and the warmth of Fall lost to the cold and death of Winter.

But seasons are from Him, and I must trust Him with them. I must submit to them and cheerfully accept what they bring, seeing their purpose.

I am so very thankful for this little grey fox.

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ. Eph 4:15

Speaking equates to doing, not just speaking. Speaking is too narrow a translation from the original language. TNTC p 130-131

“Speaking the truth with the wholeness of our lives.” Lisa McGary

We are flowers of the field who bloom and die and are forgotten. And yet He came to the earth to die for us that we might spend eternity with him.

Such a beautiful paradox.

Between seasons, unsettled, not ready. Oh for grace to trust and submit.

I climbed my first “14er” this past Saturday. Although there were throngs of people on the trail and I was not alone, I was climbing solo, as in no other friends or family were with me. I had the resources and the equipment to successfully complete the hike, and I had the agency to decide to go. I had the luxury of being up in the mountains and the open schedule to accommodate the outing. But I also had the luxury of living in a land and time where, as a single woman, I could decide for myself to go for the hike and could safely do so, even aside from the inherent but unlikely risks of climbing a 14er.

My heart breaks for my fellow women in Afghanistan today. Climbing a 14er in the absolutely gorgeous country of southwestern Colorado is the farthest from their minds as they flee for safety and shelter. My heart breaks that their very gender will be (or has been) the source of terror and trauma. My heart breaks that they a submerging into survival and may never know the personal agency that I so easy take for granted.

Oh Lord, come quickly. We need you to make all things right again and wipe every tear from our eyes.