Is it well?

Summer has transitioned into September and our house is a flurry of figuring out new routines and developing the capacity to handle a full fledged Kindergarten schedule. In order to celebrate all of the finished homework making it into the backpack at a decent hour, my daughter, Lorelai and I decided to have a late afternoon tea party. It was the first time we had sat down together without a checklist in a while, and the rest was much needed. However, Lorelai  took our happy rest to the next level when she locked eyes with me across the table and started singing “When peace like a river attendeth my way…” and we both continued singing “It is Well” with all of our hearts over our tea cups. Despite a tired three-year old in my lap and a one year old begging to “eat, eat,” joy consumed the already happy moment and enveloped us both as we worshiped together,  THEN she stopped and told me that she did not think that the lyrics were right. Only my firstborn would find a way to correct a hymn. She went on to explain that the song kept saying “it is well with MY soul” and that “a song that is all about me cannot make things well.”  She said “it should be it is well with my and His soul” because “it can only be well if He is there.” What a powerful statement. What a truth! I told her that she is absolutely right and that the song is implying that it is well because He is there. (I also got to teach the word implying- hurray for teaching moments!) We discussed that the opposite is also true, that things cannot be well if He is not there and that when we have periods in our day of frustration and fits and fury (it is not always a tea party!) that we should stop and invite Him into those moments. Because in those moments something needs to be fixed and healed, and if He is there, it is well. We both became inspired by this idea and brainstormed how to make His presence felt when we need it the most. So, today, the worrying parts of my heart that wonder if things are well at school are settled, and my dread for the after school sleepy meltdown is not as strong because my heart is full of hope because He is already there, and it is well.