I Miss God - Not all who wander are lost.

I was intrigued when I eyed this bumper sticker the other day. I've often heard the expression, but it resonated loudly with me this time.

A little research and digging as to where the phrase originated from:

All That Is Gold Does Not Glitter is a poem written by J. R. R. Tolkien for his fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. It alludes to an integral part of the plot. The poem reads:

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.[1]

I Miss God - Are you quiet or...

Last week I was randomly looking at the twitter home page and this popped up.

prodigaljohn "Are you quiet lately or am I loud?" (Question I ask God sometimes.)

Not sure if you're familiar with him but after digging around I discovered that he wrote the humorous "Stuff Christians Like" book and subsequent blog.

I've asked the question too. You?

I Miss God - Wandering for 40 years?

Every night before my daughter's bedtime we read a story from "The Beginner's Bible." Of course it's very simplified (and if I was completely honest... watered down) but I'm always amazed at how re-reading the stories I have come to know like the back of my hand still strike me in different ways.

Last night we were reading about the Israelites and how they wandered for 40 years. Man. That's crazy talk. I feel like I've been searching around for WAY too long all ready... I certainly hope I don't have 36 more years of this to go!

Even still, it was somewhat of an encouragement to me. We're not alone. We're not freaks of spirituality. We're human. We're on a journey. And I have faith that we'll get there at some point! Keep one foot in front of the other until then!

I Miss God... Prone to Wander

The words of the late Robert Robinson (1735-1790) rang true as someone played this beautiful melody on the guitar this weekend. I was singing to my baby girl and to be honest, by brain was on auto pilot until my heart heard the words my mouth was forming. "Let thy goodness like a fetter bind my wandering heart to Thee. Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love."

To be honest I STILL wrestle with the notion that I have gone anywhere. But one thing is certain- something has changed. find great comfort in knowing it's not just me who feels this.. it's you too. It's all the people still googling "I Miss God" and commenting on a post I made a couple years ago. It's all of humanity that has walked on before us.


Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing

1. Come, thou Fount of every blessing,
tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it,
mount of thy redeeming love.

2. Here I raise mine Ebenezer;
hither by thy help I'm come;
and I hope, by thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger,
interposed his precious blood.

3. O to grace how great a debtor
daily I'm constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here's my heart, O take and seal it,
seal it for thy courts above.