Fresh Mercy

Today's joy dare puzzled me. I had to record three gifts, as part of the daily dare for this year. But today's gifts were not easy to pin down. "Three things that strike you as fresh mercy." Fresh mercy? I thought about mercy a bit...Jesus showed mercy, but would that be considered "fresh" if it happened so long ago? What is fresh mercy? What in my life has been a gift of fresh mercy? I started thinking about what God has done for me recently. Ah.I had found my three gifts.
*An unexpected apology
*New convictions
*Strength to pick myself up again

I have to praise God right now; music has been the biggest blessing in my life! Music makes my heart race, brings tears, provokes a grin, and moves my soul! It gets me through the day. It is what I wake up for; God gave me passion for a reason! I get to glorify Him and be filled with joy doing so! This is how I know I'm on the right track right now. By bringing myself joy, I am honoring the gifts He gave me, and maybe I am bringing joy to others. I'm what is called a Christian Hedonist (for more on this, I highly recommend John Piper's excellent book "Desiring God." We forget that God WANTS us to be happy!), hence my happiness.

Today I have listened to quite a myriad of genres of music. Some including:
Adele- Set Fire to the Rain
Princess Bride Soundtrack- Storybook Love
Pirates of the Caribbean Soundtrack- The Black Pearl
Aladdin Soundtrack- Arabian Nights
Hall and Oats- You Make My Dreams Come True
Lucia Micarelli- To Love You More
Lindsey Stirling- Spontaneous Me
Meat Loaf- Bat Out Of Hell
Billy Joel- Uptown Girl

So you can see....music makes my world go round. And I couldn't be more grateful!!!

"If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord." -Romans 14:8

"I will break down your stubborn pride and make the sky above you like iron and the ground beneath you like bronze." - Leviticus 26:19