As the snow and ice are still melting from last week’s wintry blast the temperatures have risen to a spring-like 71 degrees today. We have a little saying in NWAR, “If you don’t like the weather here, just stick around a few days (or sometimes a week) and it will change. Funny, but often true. 😊

And here I am at my computer to share with you what is on my heart.

My oldest brother, Thomas (we call him Tommy), who lives in Texas is going through some serious health problems again. I say again because he has had several touches with death, mainly but not exclusive to his heart condition. As in previous times, he drove himself to the emergency room not sure that he would make it. Thank God he did!

Although, without knowing of Tommy’s emergency situation, I continually had him in my thoughts and knew I needed to call him. He didn’t answer so I decided if he didn’t call me soon I would contact my sister, Denise, who lives close to him. Thank the Lord I didn’t have to wait long. The next morning he called and I learned of his admission to the hospital the day when I had tried to contact him.

As he began recounting the experience I could tell it was intense. It got more intense when he told me that the doctors were at odds with each other and disagreed on their diagnosis. Without definitive answers, they were treating him independently of each other. This was frustrating for us and added much unnecessary stress for a heart patient. As we talked, it was even more upsetting for Thomas to recite the confusion and lack of care throughout the process.

I decided to redirect our conversation by reminding him of all the times the Lord pulled him through and that he could trust Him again no matter how critical it got. We reminisced over events that confirmed God’s trustworthiness. Some would say that is “Preaching to the choir” (an idiom that means to try to convince people who already agree with you). And I say they are correct, but we all need those reminders.  Remembering God’s trustworthiness through our reminiscent conversation helped us get our eyes focused on how big our God is, not how big our problems are. Yes, near-death experiences are big. But never bigger than our God!

I have two brothers. Both are talented musicians, but I will tell more about them in another blog.

So before my phone conversation with Tommy ended I took the opportunity to express my appreciation for my big brother’s talents and how much his music ministered to me. Soon after, I thought of the old song “The Anchor Holds”. Tommy was familiar with the song but couldn’t remember the words. As we made light of his forgetfulness we started joking with each other.  Then he laughingly sang a childhood rhyme “I’m a little teapot…tip me over and pour me out”. My reply was, “Brother they gave you too much Lasix (a  diuretic used to relieve excess fluid) and you are already “all poured out”. Lol! The laughter was good. Like medicine as the Lord says in PROVERBS 17:22 NKJV “A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries up the bones”.

Unfortunately, there were far more less-than-positive events to his hospital stay. But when I spoke with my brother again, he had released himself from the hospital! In my opinion, this was a drastic move, but understandable also. How does a stressful stay in a hospital help the heart to heal? So many concerned thoughts arose again.

But God reminded me of the “anchor” so I listened to it along with the story behind it.  “The Anchor Holds” by Lawrence Chewning. I forwarded the link to my brother believing he would find comfort and strength in it also. You can find it on YouTube if you would like to hear the whole story with the song. It is powerful!

I will tell the parts of Lawrence’s story and the verses that minister deeply to my heart.

In Lawrence’s story, he told of the year 1992. He called it a year of sorrows. Oddly enough 1992 was much the same for my family. There were many commonalities in our stories that year. It was a year of burnout, discouragement, and depression not understanding tragic loss. He went on to tell of his time emotionally broken at his piano where he wrote the lyrics to this song. He said it was a very lengthy song, 10 to 11 minutes long but it really did help him by writing this.

Several months later, through a certain course of events, he ran into an old friend, Ray Boltz. He told Ray of his and his wife’s extremely difficult year and shared what he had written. Ray later asked if he would mind if he recorded it. With Lawrence’s permission, Ray downscaled it, recorded it, and made it famous. Lawrence was understandably going through financial difficulties at that time. This song provided not only emotional healing but also financial provision. The Lord’s provision in so many ways! Now that my friends is what I call the Lord taking what the enemy meant for bad(destruction) and turning it into good. More than good, His best came from the storm. And there is no telling how many lives have been comforted, healed, and changed through his song!

Here are the verses I connected with the most…

I begin with the chorus…

1. The anchor holds though the ship is battered,
2. The anchor holds though the sails are torn,
3. I have fallen on my knees as I face the raging seas,
4. For the anchor holds in spite of the storm….

• I’ve had visions, I’ve had dreams, I’ve even held them in my hand
• But I never knew they would slip right through like they were only grains of sand …

Chorus again and then…

• I have been young but I’m older now and there has been beauty these eyes have seen.
• But it was in the night through the storms of my life
• Oh that’s where God proved His love to me

The chorus is meaningful because of the words I wrote in Sovereign Captain at the Helm…

“Sail on my shipmate in this raging storm

Where faith and strength become the norm

Our Sovereign Captain is at the helm

Storms won’t overtake, or you overwhelm”… Page 15 in “Inspire Me”.

“Sinking Sand” on the page just before it is full of the same theme.

“Surrender to Him, take His hand,

Stand on the Rock, you’re on dry land,

Saving Grace, His Promised Land, overcomers of our sinking sand!”

Lawrence’s words in lines 5&6 remind me of these verses in “Gain”…

“If I gave my all to Him, what would I gain?

If I laid it all before Him, what would remain?

Or suppose all was stripped away, instead of laying it down,

Could my faith remain with nothing else around?”

Many of my poems and narratives have commonalities in our storms/battlegrounds, as in my book and poem “Blue Skies, Butterflies and Battlegrounds”. I began the poem by naming some of the “beauty I have seen”. Then we move on to the battlegrounds…“You grip my hand, guide me through, the very one I’m desperate for.”  That sounds like an anchor to me! It continues through his verses 8 & 9 “Through the storms of my life Oh that’s where God proved His love to me”. Mine in the last verse, “Thankful through life’s battlegrounds, I’m homeward bound, beyond the sky so blue!”

Can you tell, my friends, how this song touched my heart? This certainly wasn’t just for my brother. That is how God works; the good for all!

And I truly hope He has used this to touch your heart to know there is nothing in our lives that the anchor won’t hold as He is gripping our hand. He won’t let go! Be encouraged by the words in this song, my poems, and our testimonies. As I wrote in “God in Our Seasons”…

“I will take time to share my seasons, to help others see,

And encourage them to take time with Thee.

For our time with our Maker makes our burdens light

If we choose the Giver of Time, in all our seasons of life!”

And for the most important truth of all:

Hebrews 6:19  NKJV “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil.”

Isaiah 41:10 NKJV “Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand”.

This is how we know He is the anchor and His grip is sure.

Until our time together again,

Reba