Somewhere over the rainbow,
skies are blue,
and the dreams that you dare to dream,
really do come true.
Someday I'll wish upon a star
and wake up where the clouds are far
behind me.
Where troubles met like lemon drops
away above the chimney tops
that's where you'll find me.
Somewhere over the rainbow,
bluebirds fly.
Birds fly over the rainbow.
Why, oh why can't I?
If happy little bluebirds fly
beyond the rainbow,
Why, oh why can't I?
I was driving to work one day when I was listening to this song, I smiled happily to the pleasant music and enchanting lyrics, when something happened. As I listened to a song about a land without trouble, my heart started to do funny things.
My eyes started to smart...like, what? I wanted to cry?
No, that couldn't be it, I mean it was a simple song. One I had heard many times over my years. It was a song of comfort, a lullaby sung over children. So why, did I sit there, 21 years old and feel like crying?
I couldn't understand it.
The way my eyes watered without permission, the way my heart hurt.
Oh, it did hurt. It longed for a place where troubles were equaled to something as pleasant as lemon drops that melt so quickly in your mouth.
I wrote the above thought, quite a bit ago. Dates are a little fuzzy, they always are for me. It's a trait I do not admire about myself.
And there these thoughts stayed, in a folder labeled 'drafts'. A horridly blessed folder where unfinished thoughts die an early death.
But today, it was redeemed.
Today is a day that reminds me why people move to Florida.
As I went for a walk on my break at work, I joyously sighed.
The sun is out. In one of those beautiful ways. It prompts thoughts of good, and cheer. It's the type of sunshine that makes you want to travel to a beach. And go, and simply be. With no thoughts, no worries. Just sit and read a book. Or perhaps lie down on a towel, close your eyes and enjoy. Listen to the waves, reminding you of Job 38:11 where the Lord declares "This far you may come, but no farther, and here your proud waves must stop!"
And being thankful to let go.
Mmmm, when I think of that moment, I think of that sensation. You know, the one where when you close your eyes, but the sun is so bright you see the light shine through your eyelids? Yes, that one.
That was the sun that was shining. The kind your face wants to look up and welcome.
And the birds, oh the birds were glorious. Singing of the majesty and beauty of their King. You wish you had a voice to sing along. You wished to know their song, to learn so you may join in with the praise and adoration.
Yes, walking outside today is a delight.
A delight that I didn't take for granted.
The kind of day that didn't let you take for granted. It demanded your attention and admiration.
I walked around slowly. Needing to savor each moment.
Then I got to the lake, with the fountain.
You see, I have a thing for water. I love the way it looks sad and gloomy and powerful when it's going to storm. I love the way it can be peaceful on a clear day. I love the way it cries with you on a rainy day. Yes, I have a thing for water. But, I'm getting away from what I'm trying to say.
Yes, the fountain.
The sun was shining, as aforementioned.
And there was a fountain on the water.
Together they formed a beautiful rainbow.
This rainbow took your breath away a little bit; it was the crescendo to the day outside. The great overture.
It made me want to stop and simply watch.
It hypnotized me. I fell completely under its spell.
Then a funny thing happened.
Not a funny, 'ha ha' sort of kind. But a funny that you can't place.
...my heart hurt within me. It ached, and pulled. It yearned and leapt within, for something I did not know. I do not have a name, answer or label to put to the feeling. The closest I am able to come to is- it was a yearning, a longing, a deep-seeded desire. It was something I did not understand, or could comprehend. And it made me sad.
In a beautiful sort of way.
And then the Lord whispered to me, the same thing he spoke to my heart all those weeks ago in the car listening to a song about rainbows. He gently whispered: "I have put eternity in their hearts..." (Ecc. 3:11)
I also like how C.S. Lewis put it:
“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”
There was my explanation. That’s what my heart was experiencing. The longing for another world. I desired Heaven, the indescribable home of my Lord Jesus. My heart has eternity in it. The insatiable desire and feeling that this is not home. And what a comfort it is not.
But I am wholly, and humbly thankful to my God that he has made this temporary home so beautiful. He didn’t have to you know. But He loves us, and He did.
We have colors, and dimensions, and birds, and music, and love, sunshine.
I have it. You have it.
This crazy thing in our hearts, that falls in love, that aches when we see something beautiful, cries when something touches us…yet all the while there’s that thing missing. Small enough that we’re not wallowing, but big enough that we definitely feel it, something is missing. In all the beauty of earth, we were created for God and His good pleasure.
To eternally worship in His presence, and praise His holy name.
And one day we will.
Hallelujah.
skies are blue,
and the dreams that you dare to dream,
really do come true.
Someday I'll wish upon a star
and wake up where the clouds are far
behind me.
Where troubles met like lemon drops
away above the chimney tops
that's where you'll find me.
Somewhere over the rainbow,
bluebirds fly.
Birds fly over the rainbow.
Why, oh why can't I?
If happy little bluebirds fly
beyond the rainbow,
Why, oh why can't I?
I was driving to work one day when I was listening to this song, I smiled happily to the pleasant music and enchanting lyrics, when something happened. As I listened to a song about a land without trouble, my heart started to do funny things.
My eyes started to smart...like, what? I wanted to cry?
No, that couldn't be it, I mean it was a simple song. One I had heard many times over my years. It was a song of comfort, a lullaby sung over children. So why, did I sit there, 21 years old and feel like crying?
I couldn't understand it.
The way my eyes watered without permission, the way my heart hurt.
Oh, it did hurt. It longed for a place where troubles were equaled to something as pleasant as lemon drops that melt so quickly in your mouth.
I wrote the above thought, quite a bit ago. Dates are a little fuzzy, they always are for me. It's a trait I do not admire about myself.
And there these thoughts stayed, in a folder labeled 'drafts'. A horridly blessed folder where unfinished thoughts die an early death.
But today, it was redeemed.
Today is a day that reminds me why people move to Florida.
As I went for a walk on my break at work, I joyously sighed.
The sun is out. In one of those beautiful ways. It prompts thoughts of good, and cheer. It's the type of sunshine that makes you want to travel to a beach. And go, and simply be. With no thoughts, no worries. Just sit and read a book. Or perhaps lie down on a towel, close your eyes and enjoy. Listen to the waves, reminding you of Job 38:11 where the Lord declares "This far you may come, but no farther, and here your proud waves must stop!"
And being thankful to let go.
Mmmm, when I think of that moment, I think of that sensation. You know, the one where when you close your eyes, but the sun is so bright you see the light shine through your eyelids? Yes, that one.
That was the sun that was shining. The kind your face wants to look up and welcome.
And the birds, oh the birds were glorious. Singing of the majesty and beauty of their King. You wish you had a voice to sing along. You wished to know their song, to learn so you may join in with the praise and adoration.
Yes, walking outside today is a delight.
A delight that I didn't take for granted.
The kind of day that didn't let you take for granted. It demanded your attention and admiration.
I walked around slowly. Needing to savor each moment.
Then I got to the lake, with the fountain.
You see, I have a thing for water. I love the way it looks sad and gloomy and powerful when it's going to storm. I love the way it can be peaceful on a clear day. I love the way it cries with you on a rainy day. Yes, I have a thing for water. But, I'm getting away from what I'm trying to say.
Yes, the fountain.
The sun was shining, as aforementioned.
And there was a fountain on the water.
Together they formed a beautiful rainbow.
This rainbow took your breath away a little bit; it was the crescendo to the day outside. The great overture.
It made me want to stop and simply watch.
It hypnotized me. I fell completely under its spell.
Then a funny thing happened.
Not a funny, 'ha ha' sort of kind. But a funny that you can't place.
...my heart hurt within me. It ached, and pulled. It yearned and leapt within, for something I did not know. I do not have a name, answer or label to put to the feeling. The closest I am able to come to is- it was a yearning, a longing, a deep-seeded desire. It was something I did not understand, or could comprehend. And it made me sad.
In a beautiful sort of way.
And then the Lord whispered to me, the same thing he spoke to my heart all those weeks ago in the car listening to a song about rainbows. He gently whispered: "I have put eternity in their hearts..." (Ecc. 3:11)
I also like how C.S. Lewis put it:
“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”
There was my explanation. That’s what my heart was experiencing. The longing for another world. I desired Heaven, the indescribable home of my Lord Jesus. My heart has eternity in it. The insatiable desire and feeling that this is not home. And what a comfort it is not.
But I am wholly, and humbly thankful to my God that he has made this temporary home so beautiful. He didn’t have to you know. But He loves us, and He did.
We have colors, and dimensions, and birds, and music, and love, sunshine.
I have it. You have it.
This crazy thing in our hearts, that falls in love, that aches when we see something beautiful, cries when something touches us…yet all the while there’s that thing missing. Small enough that we’re not wallowing, but big enough that we definitely feel it, something is missing. In all the beauty of earth, we were created for God and His good pleasure.
To eternally worship in His presence, and praise His holy name.
And one day we will.
Hallelujah.