Tune my heart to sing Thy grace.

The close of the summer is always a bit sad - back to school, back to work, back to routine, back to whatever schedule keeps you busy. But this year I am looking forward to what the year has in store. I just got home from camp a few days ago and moved into my sister and brother-in-law's house and started looking for a job. My plans did not include camp this summer, but God sometimes works in mysterious ways. Initially I was anxious about being in the middle of nowhere when I should have been looking for work back at home, but God was teaching me to trust this summer. Many dads at camp were interested to hear what was next in my life and so many offered help and connections in my job hunt. It was immensely comforting to know that even though I was working in the middle of nowhere in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, there were dads from the Chicago area that were willing to help. Trust. I'm learning how to trust.

At the campfires this summer, we decided to make Come Thou Fount a regular song. First of all, what a beautiful song. The words are poetic and oftentimes, I think people are turned away from hymns because they do not understand the meaning. One reason I love hymns is because they are not so easily understood at first and there is more depth in the song and it takes greater concentration to understand what the writer was striving to express. "Tune my heart to sing thy grace." That prayer is not asking God to change one's situation or a longing for wants or needs, but a prayer to change me, adjust me, so that I can sing of your great grace right where I am for all that he has already provided. I love that. That became my prayer this summer and I was at peace - not worrying about what lies ahead, finally getting a glimpse of what it is like to trust and letting praise seep into my heart and soul.

Gretchen