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.
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.
