Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

Sunday, June 9, 2013, Collegedale, TN, 10:04 local time (EST)

Yesterday as we were flying home, I listened to Christian Berdahl sing some favorite hymns.  One of them was As Water to the Thirsty.  Several lines jumped out at me:

     As water to the thirsty, As beauty to the eyes,
     As strength that follows weakness, As truth instead of lies;
     As songtime and springtime and summertime to be,
     So is my Lord, my living Lord,
     So is my Lord to me.

     Like calm in place of clamor Like peace that follows pain,
     Like meeting after parting, Like sunshine after rain;
     Like moonlight and starlight and sunlight on the sea,
     So is my Lord, my living Lord,
     So is my Lord to me.

     As sleep that follows fever, As gold instead of grey,
     As freedom after bondage, As sunrise to the day;
     As home to the trav’ler and all he longs to see,
     So is my Lord, my living Lord,
     So is my Lord to me.

I’ve learned so much on this trip, and I’ll cherish the memories forever, but I really missed being at home with all the people I love.  I’m so glad that I had the opportunity to travel, but I’m ready to be home for a while.  The sweet peace of sleeping in my own bed last night was wonderful, and then I realized that it’s a dim reflection of what it’s like being with Jesus.

While we were in Scandinavia with the choir, we sang This Is My Song, a poem set to Finlandia by Jean Sibelius. I’ve been thinking of the words to it since I’ve been home, and I think it’s more appropriate for me to sing it here:

     This is my song, oh God of all the nations,
     a song of peace for lands afar and mine.
     This is my home, the country where my heart is;
     here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine;
     but other hearts in other lands are beating
     with hopes and dreams as true and high as mine

     My country's skies are bluer than the ocean,
     and sunlight beams on clover leaf and pine.
     But other lands have sunlight too and clover,
     and skies are everywhere as blue as mine.
     This is my song, thou God of all the nations;
     a song of peace for their land and for mine.

I’m home!