4 days: preparation.

My self-imposed decree of seclusion resulted in a day of cleaning, doing laundry, beginning to pack (shocking, I know!) and preparing for pre-field worship next week.

I love leading worship music and this opportunity is a great joy for me. It is something I really miss doing regularly, as I was able to do in high school. I always learn so much as I prepare my heart to worship the Lord and lead music for others. I remember some of the hard lessons I learned in high school about performance vs. worship. The Lord worked on my heart and helped me understand that it is worship when all I am thinking about is him. Preparation and musicality are important of course, but in those moments when the body of Christ comes together to sing his praises, my heart ought to be totally lost in the beauty, majesty and splendor of who Christ is.

I adore poetry and many worship songs are beautiful, poetic expressions of man's conversations with the Lord. How wonderful it is to worship him through poetry and music! I think it is a testament to the mystery of the Lord how often his word is written in poetic form. Poetry is not as straightforward as prose and is often better understood read aloud. The psalms are perfect examples of praise in the form of poetry - and music. 
"Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. As Psalm 63 says,
 I will praise you as long as I live, 
and in your name I will lift up my hands. 
My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; 
with singing lips my mouth will praise you." 

Let us glorify the Lord with singing lips! I leave you with the last stanza of "Jesus, Lover of My Soul" by Charles Wesley.

Plenteous grace with Thee is found,
Grace to cover all my sin;
Let the healing streams abound;
Make and keep me pure within.
Thou of life the fountain art,
Freely let me take of Thee;
Spring Thou up within my heart;
Rise through all eternity.