Hey, Beautiful Girl

So I ordered this CD for 2 little boys in my life- my cousin Luke and "nephew" Noah- and have in the meantime fallen in love with it. (I HAD to check it out before sending it on, right?) It's WONDERFUL!!!! I highly recommend it, if you have small children, or if you have children in your home on any sort of regular basis... or if you are intimidated by children and want to learn how to cuddle, romp and laugh with them! I suspected I'd love it, because one- Andrew Peterson's grasps the vast sweep of "redemptive history" (how God has worked in the world since the beginning). Two, he's a great songwriter, so I knew the lullabies would be solid and sweet, singable.Three, he "gets" little boys. His song "Little Boy Heart Alive" is still one of my all-time favorite songs because I love little boys, and he totally captures why in that song. And last of all, after reading On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness (Ryan & I read it out loud together and LOVE IT!!) I knew the CD would be fun! If you've ever listened to his song "Matthews Begats" about Jesus' geneology in Matthew 1, you know what I mean. I have not been disappointed. He's got a song about an action-packed game of tag ("Who's Got the Ball!?"), one with a hilarious twist ("Tractor, Tractor"), and a great one about getting a baby to burp ("Chicken Wiggle"--it starts out "Burp, burp, chicken wiggle! Don't spit up! Don't spit up!"), all sung with such a "straight face" and legitmately orchestrated that it's even funnier!! So, all in all, great CD. Go get it. On iTunes it's $9.99 for a download, which is the best deal I've found so far.

Quotes from the artists (which sort of tell you what the CD is like): "Parents won't want to stick a fork in their eye when they've heard it for the 10th time in a row." -- Randall Goodgame
"It's the first time I've been glad that my music can put people to sleep." -- Andrew Peterson

Surprisingly, the song on this CD that is currently on repeat, bringing tears to my eyes at times, has nothing to do with anything little-boy or fun. It's a lullaby sung by a father to his baby girl, starting off with the desperate lines "I've got you swaddled/and I've got your bottle/ and you're too loud to ignore./ Your mama is sleeping/ the angels are keeping/ so cry no more." That's all sweet, and so true to reality that it makes me smile. Then came the chorus,

"Hey! Beautiful girl! Daddy loves you!

He loves you!

Most beautiful girl in the whole wide world."

All of a sudden the Spirit whispered to my soul "that is how I sing over you." Michael Card says that he thinks God loves each of us "naively;" like a lover who knows the beloved is unique and precious; like He said of Job "there's no one like him!" We know from Zephaniah that "The Lord your God is in your midst, a Mighty One who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by his love; He will exult over you with loud singing." (Zeph 3:17). As I read the Bible, and especially since going through the book Because He Loves Me (Elyse Fitzpatrick), I have realized more and more that God loves me deeply. Why? Because I am in Jesus. Jesus, the Perfectly obedient Son. Jesus, the Beloved. The One of Whom the Father said, "this is my Beloved Son, with Whom I am well-pleased." (Mt. 17:5, Mk. 1:11, Lk. 3:22, 2 Pet. 1:17). I am in THAT Son! When God looks at me, He sees that Perfect Obedience, and He smiles-- wouldn't you!? Washed clean by Jesus' blood, swaddled in Jesus' righteousness, He holds me close and all He does is smile. A man asked me last week if I loved God, and my impromptu answer was to stammer "Yes! Yes! He loved me first!" He did. He pursued me with His love, and put me into the Beloved... because I got IN to His love quite apart from any merit of my own, I don't have to be afraid of ever falling OUT of it by any of my mis-doings. I am secure. To my Heavenly Father, I am always the "most beautiful girl in the world." Wow.

My throat is all lumped-up just thinking about it.

The God of the Universe smiles and sings me lullabies.

Knowing my self and my persistent, hard-to-kill sins as I do... and knowing that He knows it even more than I do, and that He hates sin more than I do because He is more perfect and completely apart from it (holy)... wow, that makes it even sweeter and more amazing.

Thinking of one of my sisters who is facing so much hurt from those who had sworn to love and protect her in this world, I suddenly wanted to send her this song; to remind her of Who loves her, and Who thinks she is the "most beautiful girl in the whole wide world," no matter what. Not because of anything she does or did or will do, but because she is in the Beloved. For all of you who are in Christ, this is how our Father sings over YOU!!!

"Hey, beautiful girl, Daddy loves you; He loves you- most beautiful girl in the whole wide world..."