Well, I’ve got so much to post about that I think I’ll be posting twice a month for a little while. This is what happens when you set songwriting goals for quarantine, and the Spirit shows up and you are like, “wow”.

​The Joy Effect is one of my old songs that I chose to rewrite.  It is from Psalm 126.  I originally wrote this song ten years ago in college, when studying the Psalms of ascents with a small group Bible study from church.  Feel free to check it out – it’s a short Psalm!  The second verse originally caught my attention.  It says, “Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy.  Then it was said among the nations, ‘The Lord has done great things for them.'”  I really liked this thought:  that our joy is not only contagious, but it is noticeably different than how the rest of the world operates.  When others see the Lord’s joy in us, they say, “Wow.  The Lord must have done this.”  I don’t know about you, but that is what I want people to say about me!

The song itself was kind of a mediocre, happy song without much depth until that thought in the bridge.  So, I knew I wanted it to be more than it was.  But, I also knew that I loved that thought and I’d like to see the bridge of the song survive.

So, here recently I was meditating on that Psalm and realizing that later, there is a lot of sorrow in this song about joy. “Restore our fortunes, Lord…those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy.  Those who go out weeping carrying seed to sow will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.”  God’s people were praising Him for their return to exile, but also recognizing that they had not all been able to return.  There was still much amiss – so much that the wanted to see set right.  Didn’t Jesus himself say, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.”  Those who long to see the world made right, because we recognize that it’s not there yet.  But, we can also have joy, seeing what God has already done, how He is bringing His kingdom, and what He will certainly still do.  

I think joy is so much more powerful when looking at it through the lens of sorrow…I think that is what I have learned from this Psalm.  That we serve a God who can bring about the impossible, even if it seems slow coming to us right now.  He is able to bring joy from really hard situations.  Nothing that we sow does He waste.  Here’s The Joy Effect!

The Joy Effect

To see a wasteland cured
To glimpse a gladness born
Inside a soul once filled with sorrow is not unlike a dream
For every tear that falls 
From those who toil long
Darkens earth that sprouts with song and greater things

It’s JOY, up from the soil just like the grain
That shows day by day little gain
Yet over time the miracle takes shape

This, this is evidence:
There’s hope in barren land
Redemption where we have wept
For where one seed dies, He multiplies the harvest

So we watch it grow
Spreading where its roots take hold
Just like a river sets its course to the sea
Can you keep a wildflower tame?
Back to life from winter’s gray
No, it cannot be contained, so set it free

It is flowing from the chosen: An unstoppable tide
Rushin’ down the mountainsides
‘Til every ridge and valley comes alive
As it spreads through the plains, overtaking everything
All peoples, all nations
You can hear them say,

This, this is evidence:
There’s hope in barren land
Redemption where we have wept
The One Seed died and raised to life this harvest
We, we are evidence:
There’s hope in barren land
Redemption where we have wept
For where one seed dies, He’ll raise to life a harvest again

Hey there!  Welcome to quarantine post #1.  Yes, if anyone reads this in the future…this is in the middle of the Corona Virus pandemic.  To anyone reading this in the present:  this is crazy!!!  But, just as crazy is the fact that God gave me this new song in a matter of a few days.  I had another song I was going to blog about, but this one couldn’t wait!

So, do you know the story of Jehoshaphat?  If not, you should probably go read 2 Chronicles 20!  It’s awesome!  A brief recap:  There is a king. His name is Jehoshaphat.  He isn’t perfect (but neither are any of us), but he does seek the Lord.  His tiny kingdom is going to be attacked by three separate armies combining as one huge force!  When Jehoshaphat finds out about this, he does the only thing he can:  seek the Lord.  They can’t fight, they’ll be decimated.  If they surrender, they’ll be captives, slaves, or worse.  They can’t run.  So, he gathers all of his people to his temple, and they fast and pray.  He says a bunch of really awesome stuff in his prayer, but ends with “God, we don’t have the power to face this army that is coming against us.  We don’t know what to do, but our eyes are on You.”

Then, a prophet gives Jehoshaphat God’s answer: they need to march out the following morning, but trust that God is going to win the battle for them.  They won’t have to do anything.  So, the next morning.  They go out to battle singing God’s praises!  A good friend of mine commented, “This may be the only battle in history won with singing!”  While they were marching out singing God’s praise, God mysteriously and miraculously has the armies turn on themselves and begin attacking each other.  By the time the Israelites get to the scene, everyone is dead.  The Lord had won a complete victory for them – they didn’t do anything.  

But, at the same time, they did do something:  they sought the Lord, they obeyed His command to march out, and they worshipped Him (even before the victory – which is SOOO cool!). 

This seemed like a very fitting song for the time of Corona virus pandemic.  I realize that some of us aren’t worried about death or dying…but some are.  And most of us are worried about certain family members.  There really is only one logical solution…we can’t run.  We can’t go out and fight it.  We turn to the Lord.  And we sing the song that our hearts need to hear.  It strengthens us and it gives Him praise.  He has not left us.  He goes before us.  

Jehoshaphat

Oh God, this seems unprecedented
To have a foe that fuels our fear right before the war begins
So we come into Your Presence
Oh God in Heaven, You hear us, cry out in our distress

We don’t know what to do
But our eyes are on You

Teach our hearts to sing this song:
The battle is not ours; The battle has been won!
Let it ring out as we march on
No matter what we face; Our faith is in our God!

Oh God, we seek You in earnest
It’s too late to run, and we cannot fight alone
But You have not left us defenseless
We stand upon the promise of deliverance foretold

Our resolve made strong in praises sung
Our hearts in tandem with our lungs
What beautiful, enduring Love
Whose victory is won

This was a most interesting songwriting experience.  I’ve heard melody lines in my head before that I have to figure out using my guitar, playing chords underneath and piecing notes and phrases together.  This is the first time that I’ve ever had to practice a guitar part I hear but can’t yet play.  So, this song has been months in the making…I just couldn’t play parts of it in order to finish it!

The first line that came to me was, “Here is where the chapter pauses.”  Hence, the title.  But, you may be wondering what it means.  This life is so unpredictable, but I think that because in our first world lifestyles, life can become routine, we begin to think it is predictable.  Even more so, I begin to think that I know how my life should go and what God should do for me.  How incorrect is this!  I’m hoping I’m getting less prideful as I get older, but I still think that I expect God’s blessings to me to come in certain forms.  Then, when life doesn’t quite look like I think it should, I’m thrown for a loop, and have to eat my humble pie again.  Now, nothing really crazy has happened this year.  But, as a 32 year old single person, I realize that I’ve been blessed with so many close friends, but walks of life bring certain friends in and out of the closeness of my circle.  This year, I realized that several of my close friends will be, most likely, or definitely, pulled in different directions.  What effect this will have on our friendship, I’m not sure.  I’m confident I will still remain close to all of them, it just may not look quite the same.  As I began to wrestle with this, it became clear that sometimes we sense a change in the tide.  Hopefully I’m not the only one who feels this.  So, this, in this song, is what I refer to as the “chapter pause.”  When you know that life will change, and you are unsure how to react to it.  Because it may be both joyful and sorrowful at the same time.  

However, as a good friend of mine and I discussed over a great meal at Christmastime, God is our only true and greatest fulfillment. The rest of life may be His blessings that can still give us great joy.  But, only He can satisfy us, and to give us anything but Himself to do so would be unloving, as he knows He is the Provider, Sustainer, and Lover of our souls. And I have the desire to trust Him as such, even though I’m often pulled in other directions.

So, this is my heart’s reflection on this.  And it is truly a ballad (which is pretty rare for me).  Enjoy!

Chapter Pauses

Sojourner that’s tempted to stay 
Resolve that’s inclined to break
Oh, that’d be me
This season warns of a change
I long for the warmth to remain
Yes, that’d be me
But am I willing to see differently?

Here
Here is where the chapter pauses
Here is where I can be honest
About the struggle that’s never far from me
It’s true
Your promises are already true
And every need I’ve found met in You
Still I withhold surrender
As if You were the lesser thing

A word catches me by surprise 
And I think my whole world will capsize
Oh, that’d be me
Haven’t grown out of naivety
That I can know where life leads
Yes, that’d be me
But can I concede willingly?
I’ll never be whole
I’ll never have all I want
Until all that I want is You
This is Your love
That won’t let me find myself
Until I am found in You

Bring me to surrender 
All that is now a lesser thing

Well, this song was a REALLY fun song to write.  If you haven’t read Hebrews 11, or haven’t read it recently, go take a break from this post and go read it.  Because I can’t quote the whole chapter on here.  I mean, I could but I don’t know if that is a great way to spend half this post.  But, it is so good!  And include 12:1-2 in your reading, because I personally think that they put the chapter break in the wrong spot.  So, read Hebrews 11:1-12:2.  

Did you read it?  Great!

I’ve always thought this passage was such an encouragement and have thought several times how cool it would be to write a song from it.  We made our way through Hebrews in a matter of 4 weeks. It was cool to read Hebrews 11-12 in context as Jesus is the fulfillment and culmination of all these heroes of the faith.  I had mentioned to a friend on Saturday morning my desire to write a song someday on this chapter.  Saturday night we found ourselves reading BSF’s notes on Hebrews 11-13.  In the middle of this, suddenly the line “Do you know the faith of Abel?” popped into my head, which some sort of melody.  I found myself telling my friend Kaitlyn, “I, um…, need a guitar,” and leaving the couch and heading to the music room.  About 15 minutes later I had found a key and a crazy melody for a verse/pre-chorus.  And I had one line.  So, who knew what was going to happen with that!

The next day, the first verse/pre-chorus simply dropped into my lap (thanks Holy Spirit!) as well as a melody for the chorus.  The first verse paired Enoch and Abel: two men who both found favor with God through their faith, but met very different ends.  We can also trust that God finds favor with us as we put our faith in Him, regardless of how in our lives it pans out.  The pre-chorus paired Noah and Abraham, who both had to wait a very long time to see what God had promised.  After that, it was very interesting as God (not audibly, sadly) said to me, “You do the same thing with the second verse and pre-chorus. You have a brain. You have the Scriptures.  Use them.”  So, that was pretty cool.

The chorus launches in to Romans 12, as all of these examples of faith point us to look to Christ, the fulfillment of every promise, and the greatest example of faithfulness.  “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witness, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of God.” What a culmination!  The words “author” and “perfecter” have been translated several different ways, but one translation I ran across really helped me think about what is happening in this passage.  It said, the “initiator” and “completer” of our faith.  Without the Lord, how can our faith begin?  We are so bent away from Him (Romans…”while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”).  And Through Jesus we are made perfect.  We are sanctified, justified.  As we can come to wholeness and completeness, so can our faith.  He does all of that.  Woo!!!

Then…the bridge.  I was in the spot of Hebrews 11 where is says: “What more can I say?  I don’t have time to tell of Gideon, Sampson, Barak, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets…etc.” and starts listing all the crazy things that people of faith did that they had no business doing.  But, the author also ends with those who are imprisoned, mistreated, killed, left destitute for their faith.  And that all of these surround us as examples of keeping their eyes on Jesus, as we can.  I already had 3 and a half minutes of song and hadn’t started a bridge.  But, out it came with all the words rushing really fast.  And, all the sudden, two weeks to the day, only feet from where I originally said, “Umm…I need a guitar,” a song was born.  It is among my faves.  Hope you like it!

Faith of Generations

Do you know the faith of Abel?
For whom God’s favor had a price
Have you heard the tale of Enoch?
Who walked with God and never died

Surely Noah’s life testifies that faith is not sight
As sure as Abram’s eyes beheld the starry sky
His children long to find the countryside that they are promised
So we leave behind all earthly ties and run

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus Christ
With all who stand beside us
He is the spark that ignites the faith of generations
The cross endured, its shame despised
Our faith completed as we strive
To fix our eyes

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
All blessed their sons in foreign lands
Then some 400 years later
The foretold exodus began

Surely Moses was no ordinary child of promise
As sure as Rahab’s trust was not in walls of stone
All of us reborn through the waters into the wilderness
For where our Savior calls, we’re given faith to go

What more can I say?  I don’t have the time to tell of every strength
Born of weakness; wish we could’ve seen it, as they conquered kingdoms
(and armies and giants and every fear) 
But not every story ends with the heros who pass through the flames and the 
Lion’s den; we, together with them, will gain resurrection
So, we hold to the same hope
And love with the same love
With all the faith of generations

Well, friends…I certainly do have a lot of songs in the hopper!  I just was in Nashville working on two different songs – that was a blast and they are going to be SWEET!  I am working on a Hebrews 11 song that I hope will be done next month, so I thought I’d make a double post for January!

I wrote a cute, sappy song (in my opinion) over Christmas break. On Christmas Eve, I found out that a dear friend of mine and her husband are expecting their first baby.  Now, this friend of mine listens to me all the time, which is super encouraging to me.  But, I thought about it…and I think this is the first baby that will listen to me in utero!  And, babies can hear!  Maybe not in their first trimester though…  But, as I started penning a song and a prayer for this little one, I realized it was becoming a song and would need a second verse.  

Another friend of mine has told me that her kids listen to me in the car.  She sent me a video in the fall of her two year old daughter singing “Eternity Echoes” at the top of her lungs even though she only knows every other syllable.  The video had the caption: “She’ll choose ‘Echoes’ over Christmas music anyway.”  What a privilege to write songs that kids want to listen to.  I aspire to write music that speaks truth.  Truth for me. Truth for you.  I never thought the next generation would be listening to it.  This song is my processing of that fact.  It’s all truth, some genuine serious, and some happy and sappy.  But, it’s all yours for the taking.

Baby Fan

​Yesterday I was told I have my first baby fan
A little apricot size human listening to all my jams
I don’t know if you can hear yet, but I’m sure that you can feel it when
Your momma drops the chain and we sing out as the remnant

You got me all thinking ‘bout what I say
And why I sing what I sing

It’s so you’ll know our God, His glory, and His grace
And that you’ll learn no tongue can do justice to His praise
May you hear His truth sung throughout your days
And may you come to seek His face

Better than a back up band are car seats filled with mini-fans
Who sing along more than their moms, perhaps, had planned
But eternity will echo within your heart that’s two years old
As you recite the syllables you’ll one day understand

You got me all thinking ‘bout what I say
But as you grow and as you change
My song will say the same

I’ve always had a special place in my heart for Acts 3, ever since I learned it in Bible quizzing. The verse “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give to you.  In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!” has stayed in my mind since I memorized it my senior year of high school.  Maybe because it has a ring to it.  Or maybe because there’s so much depth behind it…which I definitely discovered more of as I studied it this year in BSF.  The beggar wanted money.  He got so much more, through faith.

I started singing a few lines on the way home the Friday night that we studied Acts 2, because I knew Acts 3 was coming, and pretty soon a melody and some lyrics arrived.  The more I reflected on the story and the song, it really struck me that the beggar had similarities to a student that I mentor.  Everyone is longing for worth.  But, the worth that we crave to feel for ourselves is not the worth we need – we need His touch of healing and worth in our lives.  But, in order to find that, we have to respond to the call to walk, and get up in faith.  It became my prayer for this kid.  

The Gate Called Beautiful

Brought here everyday without the power to walk away
Or so you think, but dare to believe
You’ve set your gaze on the feet that will hesitate
Time to lift your eyes; Look at me

I have no silver or gold but I see your soul
Can’t give you the worth I know you’ve been dying to hold
All I have is yours, but it comes with the call
To get up and walk

See that beggar from long ago at the gate called beautiful
Sitting there with her head hung low at the back of the room
To have the faith of Peter and John is all I’m asking for
As we wait for the miracle to take root

I have no silver or gold but I see your soul
Can’t give you the worth I know you’ve been dying to hold
All I have is yours, but it comes with the call
To get up and walk

As soon as you walk, you’re gonna find you’re dancing
As soon as you dance, you can’t help but praise Him
Before long, you’re gonna find that you know Him
There’s no turning back, no turning back from the love of God

I have songs coming out of my ears, friends!!  I’ve written two songs, but I am so excited that I have to share the song I wrote most recently before the one earlier last month!  

Currently, I am studying the book of Acts in Bible Study Fellowship, and it has been awesome!  When we were studying Acts 10 – where Gentiles are welcomed in to God’s plan of salvation, my friend gave a talk on God’s mysteries, focusing on the mystery of the Church.  I was struck by her explanation of a Biblical mystery.  As she says, “It is not a question of ‘who done it?'”  A Biblical mystery is a truth that has always been, but God chooses to reveal at the appointed time.  One of these mysteries is the church.  God has always been about everyone, despite race, being welcomed into His plan of salvation.  We see this in Ruth and Rahab, and foretold by the prophets.  But, it isn’t until Cornelius that it becomes apparent that salvation is a free gift for all, and that God is building a community out of every people to be His chosen people, His bride the Church.  However, when studying Acts, why stop at that mystery?  

What about the mystery of God’s Spirit with us?  Up until the time of Pentecost, God’s Spirit did come down on some for a limited time.  By Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, He created the way for God to commune with us indefinitely by His Holy Spirit.  He could have stayed on earth as human flesh, but instead sent His Spirit to indwell every believer at all times!
Now, those are some mysteries!  The song itself has such an upbeat and hopeful tone with the lyrics: “Oh the gravity of this mystery come close! … We can be daughters, we can be sons!  No separation; we’ve been made one by the blood.”  
​
The other line that was belabored for some time was the last line of the bridge, “For Your mysteries never change, and yet just like Your mercies, they’re new everyday.”  Scripture tells us that His mercies are new every morning.  His gift of mercy never changes, but it is new, experienced afresh for every need in everyday.  I think that though a “big” reveal happened at Pentecost and Cornelius’s house in Acts 2 and 10, respectively, I think we can experience His mysteries afresh each day, as we desire to learn from and commune with the Spirit and create unity in the Church.
Also, some of the best imagery I’ve written is in this song!  To God be the glory!

Mystery Come Close
A stone rolled back; An age begins
The tomb laid bare had witnesses
They waited in Jerusalem 
For He had promised His Spirit

Gathered in one place, the shock wave hit
Each soul aflame and filled with breath
As His fiery Presence split and came to rest
No one exempt from His nearness

Oh the gravity of this mystery come close
Set into motion so long ago
Remaining hidden until now fully known:
We can be daughters; we can be sons
No separation from our God 
With us 

The ripple effect was widespread
Still they were amazed when it led to Cornelius
For it’s not by race, but by grace that we’re grafted in
And this was His plan from Abraham

Oh the gravity of this mystery come close
Set into motion so long ago
Remaining hidden until now fully known:
We can be daughters; we can be sons
No separation; We’ve been made one
By the blood                   
The dead are raised so that we know His power to save
All who call on His name
No distance too great; No chain that He cannot break
Come set ablaze Your purpose in us to reign 
For Your mysteries never change
And yet just like Your mercies
They’re new everyday

Just got to go to the studio and record my mom’s favorite song!!  It is a song that didn’t make the first album, but comes from an Old Testament verse, so it is going on the second album.  It comes from the verse Zephaniah 3:17 which says, “The Lord your God is with you.  He is mighty to save.  He will take great delight in you, in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but He will rejoice over you with singing.”  The phrase, “He will rejoice over you with singing” has always intrigued me.  Stephen Curtis Chapman once had a lyrics that said, “What does God’s voice sound like when He sings or when He’s angry?”  Five Iron Frenzy had a lyric that said, “He speaks His words like plain men sing.” So, what does His singing sound like?!?
There are probably arguments out there that say that this is figurative.  But, because singing is so important and is mentioned that we should praise Him by many psalms and by Paul in his letters, I’m convinced that God sings.  And we can be assured that if He does sing, it is the most beautiful sound we have ever heard.  The idea that we have not yet heard Him, but we will get to hear it – and this song is a longing for that day.  
Another fun tidbit about my songwriting journey that can be thrown in here…there is a line in this song that says: “Sometimes I think I hear it in the dead of night, but then I can’t remember in the morning light.”  I will somewhat frequently wake up with music running through my brain.  Sometimes, it is music that I’ve heard before, but others…it is music that I’m writing…or haven’t even thought about before.  The last several songs I’ve finished have had pieces come together at 11 PM or 3 AM.  And for those who know me, that shouldn’t happen.  One of my friends recently said, “I don’t know if you realize this…but you can’t really function past 10 PM.  So, the fact that you just came up with the entire bridge of a song at 11 PM shows that it is the Holy Spirit and not you.”  Good reminder.  And, what a comforting thought to think that our Savior rejoices over us with singing.

Find the Melody

I’ve been searching for the perfect melody
One that stills the wind and calms the raging seas
It speaks the blinding light
And breathes the life inside

Oh, I cannot imagine the songs You sing
Though I’ve heard it said You sing them over me
Awaken my soul to sing
The greatness of Your glory

Write the song in my heart
Let it speak of who You are
Only then I’ll truly sing
Lifeless words without You
I’m just one note without a tune
I’ll search my whole life long to find Your melody

Sometimes I think I hear it in the dead of night
But then I can’t remember in the morning light
Risen, I know You’re there
But hidden, I’m unaware

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Find the melody
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
​Sing over me

Welcome to the school year! And now, post homecoming week, I’m finally finding some time to sit down with my guitar.  I have been working since the end of the summer on re-writing one of my songs from college that had promise, but just wasn’t there yet.  Now, I think it is!
It is called The Unseen and comes from the passage in 2 Corinthians 4 where is says, “Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  Therefore, we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen.  For what is seen in temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”  This comes right after the famous passage about how we have this “all surpassing greatness” as treasure in jars of clay.  That we are pressed, but not crushed; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed, etc.  

When I wrote the song in college, it was about how we are wasting away on the outside, but being renewed day by day on the inside.  (Which is hilarious that I wrote a song about that in college, because I definitely wasn’t wasting away very much physically.  Now, at 31, I realize I’m still not really wasting away physically in comparison with what is to come).  But, also, the verses of the song focused on persecution. “I am not abandoned, but I’ve been persecuted.  Not destroyed, but I’ve been bruised and I’ve bled.”  Which, also, is just not true.  I wasn’t, and haven’t been persecuted.  I’ll just be honest.  And even though there are probably songs that could be written for the persecuted, at this point, I don’t think I am the one to write them.

But, I loved the bridge of the song, which talks about being renewed day by day, and I loved the beginning of the chorus, which says, “Don’t let me dictate my own fate.  I want to be what you create.  As this world berates treasures in jars of clay, I know I’m not the same.”  It often brought to mind a different Scripture, at the beginning of 1 Corinthians 1 “But the cross is foolishness to the world…God has used the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.”  The ideas that:  giving up of self is going to look crazy to the world, which is obsessed with self.  But, we know that the only way to save our lives is to lose them.  For He is achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs anything that we can achieve here.  And, let’s be honest…even though we don’t admit it…every self-glorification goal will have will all come to naught.  For real…we all die.  A good friend of mine put it nicely: “When we see our physical bodies wasting away and stripping us of our physicality, it greatly heightens our awareness that all we have is Him.”

So, I think with those thoughts, a better crafted version of the song has been finished.  Hope you enjoy!

The Unseen
I am wasting away…

When I was younger, I was living only for this life
Simply getting better at buying into lies
The cross is foolishness to those who think they live without it
But from birth we all begin our slow decay 

I can see destiny’s door
But I don’t think death’s worth living for

Don’t let me dictate my own fate
I want to be what You create
As this world berates treasures in jars of clay
I know I’m not the same
Unveil the mystery degree by degree
‘Til all that’s left of me is the unseen

So you can strip me of all my earthly glory
All the temporary self-autonomy
Everyday I lose a little flesh-fueled arrogance as
Your Spirit works the miracle in me

I’m out of my control
But I want to live for the eternal 

I am wasting away (x3)
On the outside (x4)
Made new day by day (x3)
On the inside (x4)
On the inside; On the inside, I’m not wasting away, away!!!

Nothing like the start of the school year crazy, but also being able to work on a song!  This is a song I wrote a long time ago, but a few of the lyrics I wanted to make more accessible to myself and potential listeners.  The heart of the song is about being the hands and feet of our Savior in His gospel movement.  Adopting a new way of life that cares for the poor, the underprivileged, and the outcast.  We often brush off the fact that world change begins inside of us, as we become new creations in Christ, and then it extends to the world outside.

In addition, it has one of the well known verses “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” from Romans embedded at its core.  Hope you like it!

Beautiful Hands and Feet
We are waiting for a time
When peace will reign again
In each of our hearts so fear cannot win

We are waiting for a time 
When hope fills every man
Because Arms of love can reach any distance
How beautiful those hands

They have so much need
O God, please use me
This world leaves them wanting
They are the least of these
Send me to bring relief
My deepest longing
Is to be Your hands and feet

We are waiting for a time
When truth and justice meet
No longer are there lives bound in slavery

We are waiting for a time 
When all will know their need
Of the Savior come for the broken to make them complete
How beautiful those feet 

How can they believe
In what they have not seen or heard?
How could they have heard 
Without your people proclaiming?
How could we ever proclaim
Unless we are blessed with your grace and sent? 
To teach and mend
With beautiful feet 
And beautiful hands