There's a song that gets stuck in my head every time I have jury duty.
I feel the sudden need to point out that there are two kinds of people: those who get jury summons multiple times and those who never do. What kind of person am I? Well, this is my third summons so far. Moving on.
So this song gets stuck in my head and I can say that it is one of the very few songs that have changed my life. It's a fast paced ska tune from the 90s by the O.C. Supertones called...wait for it...Judy Duty.
How in the world can a ska song change your life? What in the world is ska? There will be a link at the bottom of this post if you want to hear it.
The song is all about unpleasant things that happened in one day. Not tragic things, but things like traffic and jury duty and forgetting your sister's birthday. But the chorus brings it around to say that every moment has been created by God and what He makes is good. That we don't always thank God for the difficult seasons even though we should find a reason to be thankful for everything.
My twins were born 3 months premature. Lynnae hadn't even had her second birthday and now we had three kids, two of which were in the NICU that was 70 miles from home for 79 days. Jim and I led a split life for those 79 days, half at home and half away from home. Lynnae was too little to understand even littler siblings so she stayed in Klamath the whole time with her grandparents. There were a lot of questions and legitimate concerns. A lot of moments of uncertainty and helplessness. One night within the first week of this adventure, I was up in the middle of the night alone. And I remembered this silly Jury Duty song. I sat there silently for a little while before I said out loud: "Thank you."
Upon this admission came a flood of emotion words cannot convey. All I can say is that it was the most powerful moment of worship between me and my Heavenly Father I have ever experienced. And it changed my life. In my weakest moment, when I could have been angry or confused, I purposed to be thankful.
It is a strange thing, to look at tough circumstances and thank God for them. No, I wasn't exactly thrilled that I got to meet my babies so early. The circumstances stunk, honestly. I left the hospital after giving birth and didn't take home any babies with me. What I was thankful for was His presence. He was aware of every detail when I was not. I knew He could have stopped my early labor, but since He didn't, I trusted in Him and was thankful that He was actively involved in this troubled time. I was thankful for the hundreds of people back home supporting us with prayers, financial gifts, and a loaned travel trailer we stayed in while we were away from home, along with a place that let us park it for free with full hookups.
I don't remember all that I said to my Father that night, but it was all with a heart full of thanks.
So every weekday this month as I contact the courthouse, I am reminded of this song, and reminded to be thankful.
To my Father.
For everything.
I feel the sudden need to point out that there are two kinds of people: those who get jury summons multiple times and those who never do. What kind of person am I? Well, this is my third summons so far. Moving on.
So this song gets stuck in my head and I can say that it is one of the very few songs that have changed my life. It's a fast paced ska tune from the 90s by the O.C. Supertones called...wait for it...Judy Duty.
How in the world can a ska song change your life? What in the world is ska? There will be a link at the bottom of this post if you want to hear it.
The song is all about unpleasant things that happened in one day. Not tragic things, but things like traffic and jury duty and forgetting your sister's birthday. But the chorus brings it around to say that every moment has been created by God and what He makes is good. That we don't always thank God for the difficult seasons even though we should find a reason to be thankful for everything.
My twins were born 3 months premature. Lynnae hadn't even had her second birthday and now we had three kids, two of which were in the NICU that was 70 miles from home for 79 days. Jim and I led a split life for those 79 days, half at home and half away from home. Lynnae was too little to understand even littler siblings so she stayed in Klamath the whole time with her grandparents. There were a lot of questions and legitimate concerns. A lot of moments of uncertainty and helplessness. One night within the first week of this adventure, I was up in the middle of the night alone. And I remembered this silly Jury Duty song. I sat there silently for a little while before I said out loud: "Thank you."
Upon this admission came a flood of emotion words cannot convey. All I can say is that it was the most powerful moment of worship between me and my Heavenly Father I have ever experienced. And it changed my life. In my weakest moment, when I could have been angry or confused, I purposed to be thankful.
It is a strange thing, to look at tough circumstances and thank God for them. No, I wasn't exactly thrilled that I got to meet my babies so early. The circumstances stunk, honestly. I left the hospital after giving birth and didn't take home any babies with me. What I was thankful for was His presence. He was aware of every detail when I was not. I knew He could have stopped my early labor, but since He didn't, I trusted in Him and was thankful that He was actively involved in this troubled time. I was thankful for the hundreds of people back home supporting us with prayers, financial gifts, and a loaned travel trailer we stayed in while we were away from home, along with a place that let us park it for free with full hookups.
I don't remember all that I said to my Father that night, but it was all with a heart full of thanks.
So every weekday this month as I contact the courthouse, I am reminded of this song, and reminded to be thankful.
To my Father.
For everything.