Planted by streams

I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I have continued my faithfulness to you.

With weeping they shall come, and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back, I will make them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble, for I am a father to Israel,

The shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord,

Their life shall be like a watered garden,

I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.

from Jeremiah 31

This words come while I stand before a soapy sink, green rubber gloves up to my elbows. A vulgar altar. But God is not hampered by my commonness.

Reading a novel about WWII, my heart is heavy over the condition of man's hearts. The atrocities we can tolerate with relative ease. No political, pacifist rant from my dangerously uninformed mind. Just a heavy heart.

I read somewhere where one of these ultra-marathoners of the faith listened to the Bible while she drove. At the time I thought, Will I ever grow up to the point of listening to the Bible? Replacing music or, perish the thought, NPR podcasts with the spoken word of God? I can't see myself ever being that Christian. I'd probably have to paint scripture on the wall above our bed and place worship banners around the house too.

Here I am, at the sink, listening to Jeremiah, barely running the water so I don't obstruct the sound. 

Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. 

He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, 

and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, 

and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.

Jeremiah 17:7-8

source

It's water to a weary soul. No fear in trials, for the Lord provides. No anxiety in trouble, for the Lord brings fruit.

I told a friend today about our first year in Virginia, when our house in Tennessee wasn't even showing, when complicated pregnancy bills were piling up, when student loans were still due, and power bills were sky high from a limping AC unit. During a broke month, we were called home to see an ailing grandfather. Filling up with gas, I realized I was putting the month's grocery money in the car. In great anxiety, we arrived home to find a bouquet of gift cards, over $300, sitting in our living room. A gift from the youth ministry.

Our trust is the Lord.

P.S. I have scripture painted all over the girls' room, so I suppose I was already on track to be one of those Bible listeners. Still no worship banners.