The Altar

When we started Gather 'Round, we had no idea that it would grow so big, nor so fast. Within our first year we literally had no more space in our house and were forced to move in order to accommodate our growth. Last year we moved into our new property, with a barn, home, and warehouse. Jonathan and I had a dream for this barn, to turn it into an altar to the Lord. To be a place of refuge, or worship. It was beautiful, filled with shiplap and custom bookshelves and brick walls. It housed all of our instruments, our recording equipment, computers, cameras, and every God book we own (Bibles, journals, and a full library of books). A few weeks ago we woke up to our kids screaming fire and we stood in the warmth of the glow watching our dreams and everything we had built over the past year go up in flames.

As I grieved the loss and wrestled with the why, I was filled with an overwhelming sense that before we demo-ed the building, we needed to worship from the ashes. God gave me this song, and it was our fight song. A prophetic act to rise up and say: "We are not defeated. The enemy has not won. Nothing can take our joy or deter us from walking where God says to walk."

Here is our imperfect, last minute, thrown together, first time we played and sang it together, song from the ashes. If you are in ashes of your own, give it to Him with open hands and then raise a Hallelujah my friends. THIS is how we fight our battles. You are not defeated. #worship #gatherroundhomeschool