Here’s the background: This song is written by Steven Curtis Chapman, who is a Christian music artist.  He and his wife had three biological children when they felt God’s call to adopt a baby from China.  So they did- and then they adopted another baby from China- and another- totaling three adopted Chinese daughters.  They loved these girls as much as they loved their biological children and made a happy, loving home for them.

In a really horrible accident last May, one of their older (biological) sons was involved in a vehicular accident that led to the death of their youngest adopted daughter.  It was an awful time for them and, I believe, for anyone who has ever been ministered to through one of his songs.  I am sure that any parent who has ever lost a child can understand.

This song was written after they lost their daughter.

Heaven is the face of a little girl
With dark brown eyes
That disappear when she smiles.
Heaven is the place
Where she calls my name
Says, “Daddy please come play with me for awhile.”

Chorus:
God, I know, it’s all of this and so much more,
But God, You know, that this is what I’m aching for.
God, you know, I just can’t see beyond the door.
So right now…

Heaven is the sound of her breathing deep,
Lying on my chest, falling fast asleep while I sing.
And Heaven is the weight of her in my arms,
Being there to keep her safe from harm while she dreams

And God, I know, it’s all of this and so much more,
But God, You know, that this is what I’m longing for
God, you know, I just can’t see beyond the door.

Bridge:
But in my mind’s eye I can see a place
Where Your glory fills every empty space.
All the cancer is gone,
Every mouth is fed,
And there’s no one left in the orphans’ bed.
Every lonely heart finds their one true love,
And there’s no more goodbye,
And no more not enough,
And there’s no more enemy (no more).

Heaven is a sweet, maple syrup kiss
And a thousand other little things I miss with her gone.
Heaven is the place where she takes my hand
And leads me to You,
And we both run into Your arms.

Oh God, I know, it’s so much more than I can dream.
It’s far beyond anything I can conceive.
So God, You know, I’m trusting You until I see
Heaven in the face of my little girl,
Heaven in the face of my little girl.

But according to Dr. Internet, I definitely stressed my obliques!  My world has been VERY busy and part of me definitely wishes I could get away to visit one of the oceanfront myrtle beach resorts or any of the other myrtle beach resorts.  In fact, wherever I go, it doesn’t necessarily have to be among the beach resorts myrtle beach, but I would LOVE to get a spa day, and I would LOVE even more to go on an entire spa vacation- to one of those resorts in the Caribbean or the South Pacific, where you could spend the whole time getting massages and facials.  Ahhh that would be nice!

I definitely pulled a muscle in my abdomen this morning during my workout.  Except it is strange- it is more like I pulled my oblique muscles (both sides!) than the front or back of my abdomen.  It is painful but it’s not exactly like a really bad injury pain- more like really bad soreness.  The most painful part of it is that I can hardly move without feeling it and being aware of it!  I definitely need a break now- something like one of those outer banks vacations or a cruise or (my favorite) a tour in another country!

Now of course, Missouri is known for some pretty crazy weather.  We’ve had snowstorms as early as September or October, and as late as April.  We’ve also had sunny, 80 degree weather as late as October or as early as February.  We’ve had tornadoes, floods, windstorms, microbursts, fires, earthquakes, blizzards, heat waves- we have covered a VERY wide spectrum of natural disasters.

Having said that, this year the weather has been WEIRD.  In October, we came very, very, very close to freezing (32 degrees) many times, although we never really crossed that border.  I never left the house without a jacket.  Now it’s November, and the high temp has regularly been in the 70s.

In October, I turned off the ceiling fans and bundled up under a blanket.  Now it’s November, and warm enough that I’m a heartbeat away from installing Hansen Wholesale Ceiling Fans in every room.  At night I lay in bed, and it’s too warm to have the ceiling fan off, too cold to have it on.  What a world!

Lately I’ve been really trying to focus on my health- exercising, getting plenty of sleep, eating healthy, and so forth.  The past weekend has been pretty chaotic and not real good for me, health-wise- lots of fast food but not so much sleep.  On Saturday night, I didn’t get to bed until around 1:30 or 2 am, then on Sunday morning I had to get up at 6:30 am.  Then on Sunday night I didn’t get to bed until around 12:30 or 1 am.  But this morning (Monday), I SLEPT late.  I don’t think I got out of bed until 10 am.  So I really have no idea why I am so tired right now!  Must be an overflow of sleep deprivation!