"In the middle of the fire"

There is no shortage of blog topics.  For instance, we have entered the Christmas season; which, to amend the song lyric, is "the most bittersweet season of all" for the Bauer family.  I miss my dad most of all during this season.  But that’s a blog for another day.  Speaking of blogs, unbelievably, in January we will be celebrating 10 years of blogs!  I’m still pondering just what I will do to commemorate this milestone, so stay tuned.

Thirdly, I could also talk about how, thanks to the coronavirus insanity, the Denver Broncos essentially played a football with no quarterback yesterday.  It took me some time to try to wrap my head around the particulars of that crazy situation.  And yes, it played out just as you would expect: the New Orleans Saints routed the Broncos 31-3.

Somebody is saying, “So after all of this, what is your blog topic for today?”  I actually wanted to return to the topic I brought up last time: the notion of thankfulness even in the midst of the pandemonium that is 2020.  Let me clarify something I should have made clearer: 2020 has been an extremely difficult year for me as well.  No, I haven’t caught covid-19, but I’ve still had to deal with my own angst, fears, disappointments, and illnesses. 

In fact, to be transparent with you, I was recently worn out with everything I’ve had to contend with for these days and months.  I listened to Rebecca St. James’ new song “In the Middle of the Fire” several times.  I needed the truth of the song to fortify me.  The chorus says, “In the middle of the fire, I will trust You, Father.  In the middle of the fire, You are standing with us.  In the midst of my darkest hour, Holy Spirit, come show Your power.  In the middle of the fire, You are faithful, Jesus.”  The infusion of hope from this song's affirmation prompted me to compose this blog today.

To conclude, a great line from another Rebecca St. James song came to mind.  In a song called “A Cradle Prayer” from her Christmas album from decades ago now.  She says, “Trials may come, and friends they may go, what really matters is You, my Lord.”  I needed the reminder that real hope isn’t found in clear blue skies, or calm waters; it’s found in God alone!  Maybe you needed that reminder too.      

Kevin