So be it...

 "Amen" by Dave Barnes

We will have love
We will have pain
There will be days and days and days that feel the same
We will have fear
We will have joy
And maybe little girls and little boys

We will have friends
We will have peace
There will be nights of lights and music 'til you sleep
We will be strong
We will still break
We'll live through so much more than we can take

Amen
Amen
With the dawn, we all begin again
Amen
Amen
What is done, and yet to come
Amen

We will have hope
We will have doubt
There will be memories we could never live without
We will have tears
But there will be grace
There will be prayers that we never thought we'd pray

Amen
Amen
With the dawn, we all begin again
Amen
Amen
What is done, and yet to come
Amen

In the sun or the storms
The flood or the flames
Let everything come, and I'm the one to blame
In heartache or hope
I swear I'll say, I'll say

Amen
Amen
With the dawn, we all begin again
Amen
Amen
What is done, and yet to come
Amen

The first hundred or so times I heard this song, I thought that if I ever get married again, I would like it sung at my wedding...well, played really because I love Dave Barnes's voice, but I digress....Anyway, but as I sat here tonight thinking about the song,  I realized that it could really be applied to anyone we share our lives with, not just to a romantic partner, even though that surely fits as well, because it's just about life in general.

I have often said that life is a roller coaster, and I truly believe that....We will have valleys...but another hill is always sure to come around soon and take us up to the peak again....the hill is a struggle....you may move slowly as you move toward the peak, it may be a hard climb that fills you with anticipation or just sheer anxiety, but you'll get there....there will be excitement....there will be fear....there will be laughter, screams, tears, and stunned silence...and let's not forget prayer. Life will sometimes send us on a spiral that shoots us right back up to the peak and will sometimes plummet us straight to the valley...but, again, another peak is sure to come.

Dave Barnes's song reminds me of that analogy. Life is give and take. We will have peace...but we wouldn't know what it felt like if we never experienced fear. We will have hope...but only after we've doubted. We will have tears....but God provides His grace to help us through. We will experience things that we will want to remember forever...and things that we wish we could soon forget. We will show our strength....when we are broken. This is life.

The word "amen" means "so be it." My daughter, Sydney, didn't understand what the song meant. Well, to me, he is trying to say....probably to his fiance or young wife, but it doesn't really matter...that life is going to be a roller coaster....things are going to happen that they would never expect....they are going to cry....they are going to love...they are going to experience fear and pain and doubt and brokenness...but so be it....because they are going to experience those things together. "With the dawn we all begin again"....Life will always get better after it takes you into the valley...there will be another hill to climb....another peak over which to rejoice....but when you have someone you love to sit beside you and experience the ride with you....Amen.