Strength for the Journey

She was singing her own song to the Lord. The words had been in her for years, assuaging soul aches and haunting her in the night seasons...

"Sing,oh to the Savior now...for His redeeming grace...Sing, oh to the Savior now...His grace is just a prayer away..."

The minor keys rose out of her and pushed their way out into the air as sound waves into the atmosphere. She felt the heaviness lift and a renewed hope begin to glow from her eyes as she heard the Spirit of the Lord whisper a gentle word of encouragement to her heart. Ella was home again. The fruition of grace settled in and left behind a thorn of anxiety that the pit would become her residence once more.

Today was a good day. The memory of the past and a natural bent for the drifts of melancholy were with her still, yet the words of her savior were right there alongside her as well. Moments could be savored and strength could be drawn from the awareness of the Lord's presence through her days. The daily goal was to reach for the sword more than for the fishing pole. In her mind, even the fishing pole brought up verses of verdant truth instead of the stench of dead fish. This was a sign of the Lord's faithfulness. His healing touch had done something wonderful.

Ella was in the grocery store today, checking out customers and chatting with them as they were waiting for the printer to produce their receipt. It was noticeably slow in it's delivery of receipts. She joked that someone had either prayed for patience when making the machine; or the purchaser of the printers had decided to invest in the economy model over the more efficient choice. This garnered her a laugh or two and relaxed the customers into a more amenable state of mind. Grocery shopping brought out a crabby streak in some customers that erupted and was soothed over by showing grace and eating crow when necessary...

Her heart was working on her next post for the blog she wrote. She was a writer. She had rediscovered a raison d'etre and a steam vent all in one. The Lord was using what He gave her for His glory. There was nothing better to be chosen over this.

"Thank You for shopping with us. Have a great one, Ma'am!"

The customer looked back and gave her their familiar smile and a gentle response. Prayer was enveloping that customer as she left the checkout area and followed her to her car. Ella knew that this was where she needed to be for the moment.

Today had turned out well...and her love for the Lord grew...