Monday, May 10, 2010

Monday's Mourning Ministry - Breakfast Table ~Christ Rice




Merry Katherine and her older brother Rollin
at her 19th birthday dinner




Monday's Mourning Ministry


Breakfast Table


~Christ Rice




Today, I had a wonderful Mother's Day with my hubby Tommy, my two sons Rollin and Nathan, and Rollin's wife of two years now, Stephanie. After Rollin and Stephanie left a few hours ago, I was reminded of this song that Rollin picked out soon after Merry Katherine was killed... But first, some background so you can better understand the song's significance.



***



Rollin is Merry Katherine's older brother. As children, with him the oldest, and her the youngest and both having very strong personalities, there were a lot of clashes. Nathan was the middle child and being close to both of them, was usually their peacemaker. There were probably quite a few hurtful things that transpired between Rollin and Merry Katherine over the years, a few of which I know about from what they have shared.



But when Rollin started high school, he began going to the youth group of the same church in which his daddy had gone as a child/growing teen. As Rollin began to faithfully attend all aspects of the youth group, appropriately called "Journey," his faith took on a more personal and deeper note with His Lord. He seemed to be growing by leaps and bounds, surrounded with good friends who were growing in the Lord too, as they honestly challenged one another, growing as they were being discipled by one another as well as under some great youth leaders.



Rollin's brother and sister watched skeptically, not sure they could trust such a major change in his life, but they began to see a real difference in him day-in and day-out. Merry Katherine, meanwhile, was beginning to stretch her wings and try new things in her then middle-school years, but her brothers were faithful to talk to her about their concerns and prodded her to join them in their youth group as she was leaving middle school and entering high school. So she did join them her freshman year.




Rollin was so precious to take the songs that had ministered so much to his heart, and introduce those songs to Merry Katherine so that they might minister to her as well. They had a very similar taste in music of all the pop culture songs anyway, but these songs were songs that seemed to penetrate the heart and soul. The songs gradually pierced her in a way too that began drawing her heart ever closer to the Lord.


It was so sweet watching both this transformation in the two siblings that fought the most with one another, and the transformations in their hearts as God was getting ahold of them with His amazing life-transforming love.


(Nathan was also growing tremendously in the Lord in their same group.) Merry Katherine continued to struggle off and on with her sin nature, and the tug-of-war between God and Satan, but God's hold on her was real. Her heart was so tender toward Him, and she too began to grow and be discipled by her friends in the youth group and by her own amazing youth group leaders.



We would often hear her belting out the songs Rollin had been sharing with her as she would sing along with her loudly-playing stereo from her bedroom, or with headphones while mowing the grass, singing out above the noise...




***



So after her death, it really touched me when Rollin came to me a couple of weeks after her funeral with the following song that he found, saying that this was the song he felt he most wanted to share with Merry Katherine, expressing his heart's sentiments in the way that he typically did with her...through song.


The song just seems to capture their personalities and their adventuresome spirits along with their newfound (over those past six years) tenderness with one another, their hearts' desire for God, and their growing relationships with Him...









Breakfast Table

Chris Rice



Was it a million miles to Heaven,

Too far to hear my lonely song?

Or is it just my imagination...I hear you humming along

I only hold you in my dreams now

I wake up with cold and empty arms

Lord help me get through this long night without you

And soon as the morning comes...

Soon as the morning comes...



Save me a seat at the breakfast table

Save me a dance around the Milky Way

And save me a thousand years to whisper in your ears

All I've wanted to say

Save me a smile and an angel's feather

Save me a walk down the streets of gold

And maybe, we'll change our minds just like old times

And maybe we'll just fly away...

Or maybe we'll stay!



You lucky dog, you're in heaven before me...

You were my taste of Heaven here

Remember we loved to talk about it, we couldn't wait to get there

So you go on and find your way around now

But remember I'm here missing you...

Do me a favor and say 'Hey' to Jesus

And tell him I'm missing Him too

Tell him I'm missing Him too


Then save me a seat at the breakfast table

Save me a dance around the Milky Way

And save me a thousand years to whisper in your ears

All I've wanted to say

Save me a smile and an angel's feather

Save me a walk down the streets of gold

And maybe, we'll change our minds just like old times

And maybe we'll just fly away!


Save me a seat at the breakfast table

Save me a dance around The Milky Way

Save me a thousand years to whisper in your ears

All I've wanted to say

Save me a smile and an angel's feather

Save me a walk down the streets of Gold

Maybe we'll change our minds just like old times

Or maybe we'll just fly away...


Maybe we'll fly away...we'll fly away...

'Cause I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you!

Baby, let's fly away! We'll fly; we'll fly; we'll fly,

We'll have forever; we'll have forever and ever

yea yea yea yea yea yea yea yea yea yea yea yea yea

I can't wait to see you

I can't wait to hold you again

You were my taste of Heaven

We'll have forever...

I can't wait to see you

I can't wait to hold you!









song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NhAdDhWpxY

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