Laura Story - "Blessings"

We've recently been studying this idea of crying out to God in our Life Journey Group at Lawndale, and I came across this song on the radio today that blessed my heart and pretty much sums up what we've been discussing. I hope it touches you today too. :)

We pray for blessings, we pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering

All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops?
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near?

What if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise?

We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough

And all the while You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near?

And what if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us, when darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near?

What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst
This world can’t satisfy?

And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise?

It All Ends...or Does It?

I woke up Friday morning with some strange symptoms: blurry, puffy eyes from crying; sleep deprivation; smiling satisfaction; and bittersweet longing. I didn't need a doctor to tell me what was wrong. My diagnosis was a Harry Potter hangover.

Hundreds of thousands of eager fans like me ran to the theaters late Thursday night for the midnight showing of the second part of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and I have to say it did not disappoint. It was definitely the most intense Potter movie; my heart started beating like crazy from the beginning all the way to the epilogue. It runs the gamut of human emotion with perfect moments of love, fear, anger, acceptance, comedy, and sacrifice, and in the end (spoiler alert) love wins.

It was Dumbledore who said throughout the series that Voldemort would only be defeated by love, and love did defeat him when Harry sacrificially laid down his own life for his friends and the entire wizarding world. Sound familiar? :) Harry comes back to life to finish off Moldy Voldy and rightfully claims the Elder Wand as his own. Then in an effort to prevent anyone from attempting to wield its power for ill gain again, Harry snaps the wand in half and tosses it off the bridge. After his long journey, Harry now knows that selfish ambition and a drive for power only corrupt one into an ugly, barely human creature and that selfless love is where true happiness lies.

I'll go into more detail on the spiritual side of Deathly Hallows when I finally get around to it for the finding God in HP discussion, which at this pace may be 10 years haha. The great and wonderful thing about these books and movies is that there is always more to learn and always more to see. Is this the end? Technically, yes. Realistically? Oh, no. So look for the finding God in Harry Potter discussions to start up again soon(ish) here. I'm planning on re-reading the entire series with notebook in hand to really delve into how God makes Himself known in this series (with or without the author's intent). And I pray that all the millions of people seeing the movie over the next few weeks will open their hearts to this message of sacrificial love and let it point them to our Savior.

Thanks for the thrilling ride, Harry. I just got off the rollercoaster, and I'm already ready for another go. I mean that philosophically of course, but if anyone wants to fly me to Orlando, I'm okay with that too. :)