So obviously from my previous posts and from the name of my blog, I swim.  I also sing.  I love singing on the worship team at church (both my church at home and my church at school), to sing in the choir at church, and to sing special music.  I enjoy the opportunity to bring music to people, whatever their age, whatever their status of belief in God.  I don’t want the praise for myself – I sing for Christ, I sing to bring glory to Him who gave me this gift in the first place.  I sing to touch hearts.

I sang this morning, on worship team, and special music.  During second service, we were singing Before the Throne of God Above, and I was overcome by the sound of people singing out the name and the praise of God.  I stopped singing to just listen to the response of the congregation.  It was beautiful and powerful.

For special music, I sang the song listed as the title of this post, by Jeremy Camp.  It’s a powerful song about how one day there will be a place where all of the worries of this world will be washed away, and we’ll be where there are no more tears, no more pain, and no more suffering.  I chose this song because it’s a song of hope, a song that reminds us that this earth isn’t the end, and that even in all of the troubles and trials here, there’s something better coming.

The pastor of my church, Pastor Gary, knows that I have CF, and back at Thanksgiving, he asked me that if sometime I’d allow people to know.  He said that the words I sang or spoke would have so much more meaning if people knew a little bit about what God has done in my life.  I consented, and when I got up to sing this morning, I had no idea that he would make good on that word today.  Before I sang, he said, “In a minute you’re going to hear a young lady sing, with a beautiful voice, but there’s something she gave me permission to say a while ago that I’d like to share with you.  Kristen has cystic fibrosis, which if you know anything about it, it affects her lungs, which makes it even more incredible that she can sing.  So today as she shares, let this be a reminder that we should remember to pray for her and thank God for what He has done through her and in her life.  As we give of our tithes and offerings, she’s going to share the gift that God has given her.”  Now, this was completely unexpected, and probably isn’t the way I would have chosen to announce that I have a life-shortening disorder, but nevertheless, it was how God planned it.  I sang the song and could feel the words affecting me and I began to cry.  As tears escaped my eyes, I noticed that there were others in the congregation who were also emotionally affected.  I’d never felt the words as powerful as then, when God was speaking through me.  It’s not about me, it’s about what He does through me.  I’m so blessed to have a church who is willing to pray for me, to uplift me, and to accept me as I am.  There were so many people today who came to me after the service and thanked me for singing and for allowing God to do such great things through me.  There was one woman who was visiting the church for the first time, and she told me that she was so blessed by the song, and that even if she never saw me again, whenever she remembered, she would pray for me.  That means so much to me.

I was so blessed by something that I couldn’t control today – God had it all in His plan.  I cannot wait for the day when I can see Jesus face to face, but until that day, I will live for Him and bring glory to His name in any manner possible – in the pool, in song, or in any other way God sees fit.

~There will be a day~