{"id":241,"date":"2018-11-26T15:23:59","date_gmt":"2018-11-26T19:23:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/?p=241"},"modified":"2024-08-23T10:17:46","modified_gmt":"2024-08-23T14:17:46","slug":"great-is-thy-faithfulness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/2018\/11\/26\/great-is-thy-faithfulness\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Is Thy Faithfulness"},"content":{"rendered":"

Both of my grandfathers had the same favorite hymn: \u201cGreat Is Thy Faithfulness.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Lately I\u2019ve been contemplating how remarkably fitting this little family factoid is. See, one of my favorite things about hymns is their endurance. When I sing hymns, I feel connected to the generations of the faithful who have come before me and will come after me. <\/span><\/p>\n

This particular hymn especially connects me to the faith legacy of my family. <\/span><\/p>\n

Because my faith, no matter how personal it seems to me, did not start with me. The story of my relationship with Christ started generations ago. It\u2019s the great faithfulness of the God my grandfathers trusted that has led that faith down to me.<\/span><\/p>\n

Great is Thy faithfulness<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>O God my Father<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>There is no shadow of turning with Thee<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>Thou changest not<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>Thy compassions they fail not<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>As Thou hast been<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>Thou forever will be<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

March 2009<\/span><\/h4>\n

My paternal grandpa, Wayne Weston, died this week. I\u2019m standing in church, feeling the sadness of losing him. I\u2019m not connecting much with what\u2019s happening, the songs that are being sung. My mind is churning- thinking of family members I need to pick up at the airport and the best shoes to wear to the funeral. Then, though it\u2019s not common in my church to sing hymns, we begin singing \u201cGreat Is Thy Faithfulness.\u201d The tears come in torrents. This was my grandpa\u2019s song! I practically feel God\u2019s arms wrapping around me as I stand there, singing & crying. My heart swells with thankfulness for the incredible faithfulness God showed to my grandfather throughout his lifetime, and for how my grandpa passed that faith legacy on. My grandpa may be gone, but that legacy of faithfulness is here with me.<\/span><\/p>\n

Great is Thy faithfulness<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>Great is Thy faithfulness<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>Morning by morning new mercies I see<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>And all I have needed Thy hand hath provided<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>Great is Thy faithfulness<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>Lord unto me<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

August 2017<\/span><\/h4>\n

Today we dedicate our second son, Caleb, to God at church. In a rare occurrence, my entire family is here with us – gathered from different states and different countries. As we praise God together, I get chills as I watch my 1-year-old niece raise her hands to Jesus. I\u2019m filled with profound gratitude and peace, standing here with every member of my family, a testament to how God\u2019s faithfulness has passed through generations. One of our church\u2019s terrific singers stands and sings \u201cGreat Is Thy Faithfulness\u201d and I smile at how appropriate it is for this moment.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is the faith I\u2019m committing my son into. I\u2019m standing in front of my church family, surrounded by my biological family and my friend-family, placing my son into this faithful cloud of witnesses. This is an \u201calter\u201d I build in my mind for my son\u2019s life – this moment recognizing our family faith that has come before and I trust will come for the next generations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>Join with all nature in manifold witness<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

September 2018<\/span><\/h4>\n

I\u2019m sitting in an ICU hospital room with my parents. Yesterday my dad suffered a stroke. At this point nothing is known about how he\u2019ll recover or what he may have permanently lost. We are all afraid, and I can see the discouragement and frustration in my dad\u2019s eyes – fears that he may never be the same. I look in my dad\u2019s eyes and tell him I see his discouragement & understand his pain, that though he can\u2019t communicate clearly, I still see him & know him. Through his tears he looks so grateful to be understood.<\/span><\/p>\n

I put a CD of hymns into my computer, and as \u201cGreat Is Thy Faithfulness\u201d plays, I glance at my dad. He rests with his head back, eyes closed, slight smile on his lips. It\u2019s the most at peace I\u2019ve seen him all day. Later this afternoon he will speak his first unprompted words to me & my mom: \u201cGod is good all the time. All the time God is good.\u201d <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

This is a new season in my family\u2019s life. Nothing this scary or tragic has ever touched my family before. But I have to believe that this season is no less a witness of God\u2019s greatness and faithfulness than all the pleasant seasons our family has enjoyed. Sitting lonely in the dark room as my dad sleeps, I can feel all the prayers that are being lifted up for my father from around the world. God\u2019s faithfulness remains.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

October 2018<\/span><\/h4>\n

My maternal grandpa, LeRoy Musselman, died this week at the age of 94. My mind keeps returning to Christmas 2013, the last time every one of my grandpa\u2019s descendents were all together, as we celebrated his upcoming 90th birthday. We all sat around my cousin\u2019s family room sharing stories and memories about grandpa – things we appreciated & loved about him. Grandpa & Grandma smiled and laughed and shared their own stories about dating and their early life together. 90 amazing, full, beautiful years of life! <\/span><\/p>\n

Now I sit at his funeral and hear, for the first time I can remember, how my grandpa\u2019s dad abandoned his family during the Great Depression. This surprises me because my grandpa was the exact opposite of that type of man – he was one of the most affectionate family men you could possibly imagine. I\u2019m struck by how God changed my grandpa\u2019s life; how God\u2019s faithfulness put my grandpa on a very different course than his own father had been on. God provided strength for my grandpa, from the Great Depression of his childhood to health decline in his 90s, and every day in between. And now that grandpa is gone, God gives me bright hope for when I will see grandpa again, receive one of his warm hugs, his bright smiles, and his tender kisses. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Another reason I love hymns is that they put into beautiful, poetic language the deep feelings of my heart which I am less than gifted at expressing\u2026 <\/span><\/p>\n

God\u2019s faithfulness is woven through the fabric of my life. I see glimpses of its greatness, sometimes in small moments and sometimes in big life events. As I consider the lives and legacies of both my grandfathers, God\u2019s great faithfulness is undeniable. My abiding hope is that my grandpas\u2019 faith legacies will continue on to my children, who won\u2019t know or remember their great-grandpas, but whose lives have been affected by their faith nonetheless.<\/span><\/p>\n

Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Both of my grandfathers had the same favorite hymn: \u201cGreat Is Thy Faithfulness.\u201d Lately I\u2019ve been contemplating how remarkably fitting this little family factoid is. See, one of my favorite things about hymns is their endurance. When I sing hymns, I feel connected to the generations of the faithful who have come before me and … Continue reading Great Is Thy Faithfulness<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faith","without-featured-image"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa85Nh-3T","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":248,"href":"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241\/revisions\/248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}