His eye is upon the sparrow.

Great and wondrous God, Creator of all there is,

            I praise your wondrous holy name,

            For You hold me in your hands.

You created the universe and all that is in it,

            Yet you are mindful of me,

            For You hold me in your hands.

You are always with me even when others desert me,

            You protect me and keep me,

            For You hold me in your hands.

Mold me and make me into the person you would have me be,

            Create in me a new heart,

            For You hold me in your hands.

You brought me into this desert place where I had not planned to be,

            You gave evidence that this was where I am supposed to be,

            For You hold me in your hands.

Forgive me when I worry or when I complain about where I am,

            Help me to trust your way,

            For You hold me in your hands.

You have given me more than I could ever need or dream of,

            You have blessed me beyond measure,

            For You hold me in your hands.

I know you will never leave me nor forsake me throughout my life,

            You will always be with me.

            For You hold me in your hands.

Great and wondrous God, Creator of all there is,

            I praise your wondrous holy name,

            For You hold me in your hands. -Charles Miller, 2018

I am sometimes a little distracted each morning, as I sit in front of my window of golden Erbil dust. Tiny sparrows prance up and down across the myriad tangle of wire and dead branches and bicycle inner tubes. And they splash in the swamp cooler spatters. It is perfectly clear that they have not a care in the world because their bird brains completely grasp the Heavenly Father holds them in His hands.

I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free,
For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

And this morning, I am ever aware of the Creator of the Universe and all that is in it, unbound by time, unbound by place, He is mindful of me, for He holds me in his hands.

Charly from Southside Pres sent me some psalms today, written in response to our months of studying Psalms together. Which is a bit ironic, really, because the team spent all morning and afternoon yesterday discussing and parsing and scaffolding summative action tasks: What are the possible ways of assessing students’ understanding of the central idea? What evidence, including student-initiated actions, will we look for?

Here it is, the student-initiated action: I praise Your wonderous holy name, repeated less I forget, and dancing outside my window in case I don’t know what it looks like, the exemplar.

And His grand goodness poured into my lap yesterday, as we took a taxi cab up the winding roads to the mountain town of Shaqlawa, at the base of Wso Rahman, a sacred place for Christians and Muslims. And our perfect hostess Kaitlyn explained how Arabic has no problem combining random consonants into blends, such as “ws” in Wso Rhaman, but three consonant blends such as “spl” in “splat” are nearly impossible for them to pronounce. And then we tromped straight up decomposed granite (my favorite) cliffs to the caves where hermits lived in 500 BC and villagers would bring food up to a slightly larger cave and they would break bread and worship together once a week.

And then we walked down, down into the town that is famous for freshly made sweets from figs and grapes and milk and apples and walnuts and maybe pine trees too, and we tasted almost each one before heading over to watch the France Argentina soccer game in a coffee and hookah bar. It was perfectly clear that the men with perfectly sharp haircuts had actually never had women join them in the open-aired patio, but Westerners are blanketed in the excuse of ignorance and all offered gracious hospitality, a core Middle Eastern value.

And Kaitlyn and I picked out our very own fire-roasted fish and carried up an armload of naan and assorted vegetables and it looked like enough food for a dozen folk, but the four of us ate every single last charred skin and fish fat morsel. Yep, the best thing I have ever eaten, which is a huge proclamation because I have eaten amazing stuff.

And He brought me into this desert place where I had not planned to be, this desert place where again and again I am reminded of His glorious power and plan for His people, who He holds in His hands.

And He has given me more than I could ever need or dream of; He has blessed me beyond measure.

And though I know not where the path may leave, I know He will never leave me nor forsake me throughout my life,

            He will always be with me.

Let not your heart be troubled,” His tender word I hear,

And resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears;

Though by the path He leadeth, but one step I may see;

His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;

His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.