Miraculous

Sometimes songs come from such a deep, personal place that it becomes difficult to explain them without feeling like you're reading a journal entry to complete strangers. Miraculous is a song like that.

Without going into too much detail (maybe someday I'll be brave enough to tell the whole, full story behind each part of this song), I wrote Miraculous about three different experiences/people in my life.

The second verse lyric is about my step-mom. (note: calling her my step-mom still feels so, so weird. she's more like a friend. she's Violet's 'Gran' and my close friend, Cynthia. that feels better.) She's a pretty incredible person. She wanted a baby for years; she watched all of her siblings marry and have kids, and she became the beloved aunt. She got married and spent years trying, unsuccessfully, to have children of her own. Knowing how badly I wanted Violet all through my twenties, I cannot even imagine the turmoil and hurt and ache that would accompany twenty plus years of pining for a baby. Being a member of the church and listening to weekly lessons on the joys of motherhood, the sacred calling of womanhood and motherhood, etc...would have driven me away from the gospel, I think...or at least have made attending church every week a challenge. Attending church every week when I was single and almost 30 was difficult enough as it was. See? Am I being too honest?

Talking to Cynthia about the heartache of that lengthy trial in her life, I've come to understand that she WASN'T always patient and understanding and 100% full of faith during those years - and that's ok. She struggled and cried and had dark moments. For. Years. She felt angry, she felt confused, she felt disappointment over and over again...*but* that's where the miraculous part comes in. Over the years of hurt and heartbreak, her faith and constant choice to turn to Christ for perspective and comfort changed her heart. Instead of staying in those dark, bitter, frustrated places (which would have been easy to do, I think), her heart was changed as she came to Christ.

"And yet with time, the same heart learns to let go and believe.
It sure sounds like a miracle to me."

Here are the lyrics to Miraculous:

I've never seen an ocean part
Or a mountain moved by prayer
I've never seen sun burn through night
Or an angel standing there
Some may say miracles of faith
Have gone and passed away
But I know there are miracles today

Yes, He moves in us
He is changing us
The way He works in our hearts is
Miraculous

A dream, a life well lived and yet
The sought for blessings pause
The heartbreak, fear and doubt ensue
With understated cause
And yet with time that same heart learns
To let go and believe
It sure sounds like a miracle to me

The one enraged who chooses to forgive
The one who's lost their will chooses to live
Of all the Father's miracles from greatest to the small
The changing, broken heart is most miraculous of all.

A heart betrayed, a broken soul
The ache of shattered lives
Transform that soul til it becomes
Patient, kind and wise
As incredible and unlikely as
A man who parts the sea
It sure feels like a miracle to me.

The kinds of miracles we experience and see most often in our day and age, I believe, are miracles of the heart. We experience growth and change that would be impossible without God and Jesus Christ. He takes our weakness and turns them into strengths. He takes broken promises and shattered lives and abuse and darkness and offers light, peace, forgiveness and freedom.

"As incredible and unlikely as a man who parts the sea,
It sure sounds like a miracle to me."

xo.