Wholly Yours (Even in a Flood)

Even as I write this installment of my blog, parts of our past sit underwater and the damage assessments continue to rise faster than LeBron's stock in the free agent market. A friend sent me pictures of the Opryland Hotel on the east side of Nashville. The giant hotel (known for his delta area - complete with lazy river running through the ground floor) now looks like something from the Titanic.

This is a place where we have so many fond memories. It was one of our go to places whenever friends or family came to visit us during our nine year stay in Nashville. There were many strolls through the botanical gardens it housed insside. There was a wonderful night of romance as we celebrated a wedding anniversary there in southern style. There was even one incredible stay at the hotel (thanks to a church member with connections) when we lived like rock stars in one of the presidential rooms - complete with two floors and a beautiful view of that very same delta area of the hotel.

In such a time as this, we quickly discover how quickly the "stuff" we work so hard to accumulate can vanish. It's not the grand ballrooms that will withstand the swollen waters that rise from the rivers around us. Plain and simple, it is the relationships of our lives that ultimately matter. All those memories I have of the Opryland Hotel wouldn't mean all that much, if they weren't connected to someone I love more than words can really say.

That's what I was trying to get at with a simple chorus I wrote a number of years ago - Wholly Yours. I freely admit that I didn't spend months crafting every last word. Early one morning, I was playing guitar and singing thorugh a number of choruses in prayer as I often do, and then the thought of "wholly" belonging to Christ kept running through my mind. I was thinking about the verse that says "we love Him because He first loved us," (I John 4:19) and that led me to the book of Romans where Paul makes the same point as he states: "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

Compared to such a demonstration of love in the cross, my own "on again" and "off again" kind of love for God can be seen in its true perspective. The line at the end of the chorus that says: thoroughly, perfectly, entirely, wholly yours" isn't suggesting that I have that kind of love, but that God has totally initiated this relatationship and brought me into it by His grace.

Recording Notes: The song is kept simple on the CD. We have often done this during communion and when we do, we sing it a bit slower. But in this recording, Steve suggested that we pick up the tempo a bit and that made for the addition of the mandolin (which he played) and some nice fills by Ken on the electric. Joel's harmony really complimented my lead vocal and helped keep it a clean and simple prayer of thanksgiving.