There is a River

(That's my brother-in-law and two of my nieces perched at the top.  Not pictured: my own children who had just fallen into the water and sat, crying, in a wretched, soggy pile at the water's edge.)

The name of this blog ("There is a River") comes from Psalm 46:4: "There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells."

I didn't know what this blog would look like when I began writing it in May.  I think I sensed that it would not be topic-driven, and this still seems accurate to me today.  Instead, I would say that this blog is focused on a particular perspective rather than a particular subject.

This blog explores the perspective of a Jesus-following writer, reader, wife, and mother who is looking for hope and beauty wherever it can be found.

I like to think that my spiritual perspective is not an example of Christian pie-in-the-sky thinking but, rather, more like pie-right-here-and-now with the promise of so much more to come.

But, really, my perspective has little to do with pie and everything to do with water.

"There is a river" points us to a place, the place where God's glory dwells, but, even more importantly, it testifies to a presence that is not contained by the flood-gates of heaven.  This river washes us, it transforms us, and it quenches our thirst forever.  It is here and now as well as there and then.

It is "the fountain of life" (Psalm 36:9).  It is the man of sorrows who promises that whoever "believes in me will never be thirsty" (John 6:35).

I've been listening to the new album by Josh Garrels.  It is beautiful and wise (and free! Download your own copy here).  In the song "Farther Along," he sings, "go down into the river" and "let the flood wash me."

My hope is that "There is a River" (the blog) reads a lot like this song sounds.  Click through below to track # 3 and enjoy.