No More Sorrow, No More Pain

This year I have been given hearing, gained a brother in law and lost a son. 2010 certainly was a year I will not forget anytime soon. And since we often find ourselves reflecting on the year we have just been given, I wanted to share some thoughts I had when I was preparing to sing at the Women's Dessert we had at our church. Carol LeBeau was the speaker and I was honored to be asked to sing. I felt like I was supposed to share something about the year and assumed it was supposed to be about Elijah but as I sat down to type my thoughts into words, I saw on the screen what it was God needed me to share that night.

So I am typing it out for you here. I am even inserting videos of the songs I sang (but you get to hear from the original artists.) There is a bit of the story I haven't shared with very many people at all and certainly not here on the blog. I said more than was written here, of course, I don't think I could ever actually stay on script. But this is the general idea and the message I think God had for me to share at the beginning of this month.

As you read, I pray that no matter what you gained or lost this year, you will find hope in the coming year. A Hope that can outlast any sort of "positive thoughts" you may thrust upon yourself. Because the Hope that comes from Jesus Christ is the Hope that lasts a lifetime.

Tonight we are going to be talking about Journeys, and we all are on one, of course. Right now, this very moment. You being here in this seat is part of your journey you are on. And at Christmastime, I pay attention to Mary. And the Journey God put her on. To carry and then mother and nurture a baby who was born to be a Savior



When Jesus came thousands of years ago, the promise of a Savior who would set people free was the promise of being rescued from the oppression the Jewish people were under.

For you and me, it means something different.

2 years ago, almost to the day I lost almost all hearing in my left ear. And the ability to hear and decipher words was replaced by only muddy tones and a loud, high pitched ringing that never goes away. As a singer and a mother, this rocked my world.

I visited doctors and had treatments done and finally had a surgery done that would allow a device to do my hearing for me.

Around the time that I recovered from the surgery to get the device, my husband and I found out we were pregnant with our fourth child.

Unfortunately, the pregnancy complicated my use of the new hearing device. I did my best to push on but one day I was very discouraged with my body and I carried that discouragement around with me.

I found myself on the way to rehearsal with our Worship Band, practicing a new song we were singing that Sunday. I got to the chorus and sang along, “I will rise when He calls my name, no more sorrow, no more pain…” and I broke down. Crying and driving and praying I didn’t drive myself right off the road, I heard a voice. It reminded me that all I had to do was make it through this life and that God had something amazing for me planned in heaven when I got there for all eternity. This life is a blink of an eye compared to what waits in heaven for those who believe.

I wanted to share that song with you tonight….



Jesus came not to deliver us from the oppression of a government, a king or a system. But He came to deliver us from the oppression of pain. Of sorrow. Of the anger and bitterness that comes so easily in this world.

3 months ago, the child I was carrying didn’t make it to this world. We lost him while he was only 16 weeks along in his growth. And even though I struggle daily with the pain and confusion and oppressing sadness that comes with losing someone I hadn’t even meant yet-but who I know would have been a wonderful addition to this world, I remember that, first of all, my son is in heaven, in a place where he knows no pain or sorrow or sadness. And, second, that Jesus came once as a baby, he walked this earth experiencing that pain and sadness that comes with being human and He did all that so that I could go live in eternity with Him.

No more sorrow no more pain.

Great Shot Kid, That Was One in a Million!

Grown ups are in the kitchen making dinner.

Girls at the table coloring.

Nate in the living room: Star Wars is on.

Sitting about a foot from the screen he is perfectly still. The mission to blow up the Death Star is being explained, plotted and prepared for.

Luke and his team get into position.

So does my son.

And as Luke's X-Wing fighter lowers to fire those oh-so-important shots, my son's x-wing is raised.

Back and forth, side to side, Nathan and Luke in perfect synchronization and then, using The Force of course, they make the shot that sets off a chain reaction resulting in the destruction of the Death Star.

If Queen Amidala had been alive, I think she would have been just as proud as I was.