Saturday in the park

No I am not in the park. I actually just thought of the song as I was attempting to think of a clever title for today's post. Isn't the rest of the line "waiting for the 4th of July" or something like that? Anyone who can either confirm or deny the validity of that is more than welcome to do so. I am just way too lazy to even consider Googling it or anything like that.

It has been a more than eventful Saturday to say the least. I went down to the local coffee shop (newly remodeled, I might add) to enjoy a cup of joe and continue reading the first installment of the Harry Potter series. I have indeed jumped on the proverbial bandwagon when it comes to that particular collection of novels and I have no intention of falling off until I find out who the half-blood prince is. (Please don't tell me if you have already found out.)

I called my mother for a good little while and also talked to my little brother Ben. He is very cool and told me about all of his past week's summertime exploits. Then it was off to a very low class book fair (Scholastic would never approve) where I picked up a full copy of Handel's Messiah and the music to the musical The Secret Garden.

My thoughts for today have centered around the topic of redemption. It's a pretty heavy duty thing to be considering, but it has just struck me in this last little while. In everything there is an element of redemption, and it brings me back to the lyrics of the SCC song "All Things New."

You make all things new / You redeem and You transform / You renew and You restore

In all things, no matter how tiring and terrible, unjust and unfair (let's be honest, this world is chock full of these kind of things), God is there to redeem, if we choose to allow him to do so. Isn't that the most precious and comforting thought that we could ever have on our hearts, that God is a god of love and of mercy? I simply cannot imagine depending on anything else.