moments of grace

gratitude journal . week #10

all of my gratitude this week is just going to boil down to this:

 going to Angel Stadium in Anaheim today for the Harvest America Crusade

 seeing one of my favorite Christian bands, MercyMe, perform live in concert.

they played two of my VERY favorite songs...

'I Can Only Imagine' and my current 'theme song', 'Where the Hurt and the Healer Collide'

my heart is SO ministered to by the words in that song, 

and to sing them out loud with other people was an experience in deep healing for me.

this photo shows HALF of the stadium, 

and the WHOLE thing (not the backfield bleachers, but everything else) was filled to capacity.

that's about 20 to 30 THOUSAND people!

and when almost all of them raised their voices to sing....  it was really awesome to be surrounded by it.

'Surrounded by His Glory', indeed!

 i just had a feeling that i needed to go to this.

i've been saved, a born-again Christian, since i was in first grade.

i didn't need salvation like the kind you get when you walk forward during the invitation.

but i needed to be reminded that Jesus Saves  

when you are sad or hurt or angry or drowning or scared. 

that's when Jesus reaches out and saves us.

He hauls us outta' the waves of chaos and into the boat of safety, and takes us to the shore of peace.

today, in the caring hands of God, i landed on the shore again.

i was able to move past some of the final things that have been holding me back, able to forgive and let go, 

able to pray for the people who hurt me so very very deeply, able to heal.... 

something that almost one year ago, i could only imagine. 

if you want to know more about what Harvest America Crusade is,

please visit Harvest.org.