This is a great song, and I have a new memory to go with it. A few weeks ago at preschool I played this song for the children in an effort to stretch my Bible lesson out while our lead teacher was at the store picking up food we had ordered for our Thanksgiving feast. We were learning about David in our Bible lesson, specifically his worship of God through words, music, and dance. I put this song on and told the kids it was perfect for Thanksgiving. Because it isn’t a fast song I said they could dance but needed to be gentle and peaceful and listen to the words so we could sing together. At first they sat and swayed, mostly just watching me as I sang the words, but as they started to pick up the lyrics my sweet little class began to stand up and hold hands with one another in groups of 3 or 4, walking in slow circles. A couple of the little girls got experimental with “ballerina” moves. By the end of the song they were all singing, walking around, holding hands with friends, some lifting their hands or jumping. Once the song had ended we all said, “Thank you, God!” It was a precious moment to see them respond to the Word in a way that made sense to them without specific instruction from me.

The entire chapter of 1 Chronicles 16 is a description of what happened after David brought the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant back to Jerusalem. Verse 8 is the beginning of a song David appointed the Levites to sing as they were ministering before the Ark. The entire song is 28 verses long and worth a read.

With Thanksgiving over, Advent in full swing, and Christmas around the corner, I’m thinking of how I can tie them all together. I have a visual reminder of the things I am thankful for which I have placed in a visible spot, an art journal I am using to record my journey through the She Reads Truth Advent devotionals, and I can see reminders of Christmas everywhere– within my own home and beyond. I like to see Thanksgiving as a time to put the brakes on the quickening pace of life that we start to feel as “the holiday season” approaches. It’s a time to put the focus on what matters most, which for me is the fact that God is the source of everything– not just everything I have, but my life, every person, the earth, and the connections between it all. He is the source of true life– salvation through Christ– and that is where I want my focus to be as Christmas approaches.

This year I’m feeling the pull to be more intentional and thoughtful as Christmas approaches. I know this motivation is from the Spirit, of course, but I’m wondering if my little verse of the week project (also motivated by the Spirit) played a role in tuning my heart toward intentional contemplation. Anyway, with much prayer and after many times of failure, I am finally waking up earlier to have a time of reading and prayer at the beginning of my day. It’s been maybe a year since I’ve done this. And after a few times it wasn’t so difficult anymore; I am now actually excited to get up, read the day’s devotional, and create something artistic from it. It is my hope to continue this early-morning routine into the new year, but whatever happens with that, I’m glad I can have these early morning moments in the days leading up to Christmas.

Speaking of the new year, I have been thinking of how I will structure my blog posts in 2016. The verse of the week definitely helped me create content regularly, but I don’t know if I want to do it again next year. I do know that if I don’t have a plan I will probably only post every few months, but I don’t like that– I need to write and share more frequently than that. I am pretty sure I will share the verse of the month I memorize with my high schoolers at church, but I’d like to continue to post at least once a week. So if you have any ideas, please tell me!

Finally, here is a lovely image I found for this week’s passage.

this image is from duoparadigms.com; if you download it, please download it from their page by clicking on the image to go to their site.