Sweet Sound In His Ear, From Our Saturday Street Market, Use For Old China, Spiritual Sunday

It was very rainy here in the Pacific Northwest, so rainy that a graveyard tour got cancelled. Not that I was attending that today...but I was our weekly street market. It's about the end of the season, but there was an artisan booth there that caught my attention for several reasons, including a thought for Spiritual Sundays.

I hope you can see what these are...Chyme Thyme, a local artisan business has taken abandoned, flawed and orphan plates, bowls and saucers and added beads, embellishments and pieces of colorful glass to turn them into wind chimes to delight the senses.


How like our Lord to take us, and the broken, damaged and seemingly useless things in our lives and turn them into instruments of praise to His glory as Ephesians keeps repeating.


My life scripture is II Corinthians 4:

2 Corinthians 4:7-12

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

 ⁷ But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; ⁸ we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; ⁹persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; ¹⁰ always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. ¹¹ For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. ¹²So death works in us, but life in you.

2 Corinthians 4:7-12

The Message (MSG)

 ^7-12If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That's to prevent anyone from confusing God's incomparable power with us. As it is, there's not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we're not much to look at. We've been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we're not demoralized; we're not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we've been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn't left our side; we've been thrown down, but we haven't broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives! Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus' sake, which makes Jesus' life all the more evident in us. While we're going through the worst, you're getting in on the best!

Now I can't tell you that I am not thrilled to have this as my life's verse (I would have preferred something sweeter) that I believe is more meaningful to me than any other, and that I believe the Holy Spirit specifically gave to me, but it certainly has proven true through 35 years as a Christian. And it is as meaningful to me today as we are going through some very difficult times personally, as it has been through many other crises.


The colorful recycled china wind chimes spoke to me about being a sweet sound of praise in the winds of adversity instead of a moaning groan. I unearthed a funny wooden heart shaped plaque while cleaning out a closet yesterday with the great sentiment Thou Shalt Not Whine! Amen to that!


Be a sweet sounding instrument of praise today and every day, regardless of the winds that blow through our lives...soft or harsh...because we know Who holds everything in the palm of His hand. And I want to be the sweet sound of praise in His ear!