Life is full of unkind moments. We are sinful people living in a world broken by sin trying to have relationships with other broken, sinful people.

This week has been full of high emotional highs and low emotional lows. I’ve celebrated the beginnings of new life and I’ve had difficult conversations with people. I’ve laughed so hard I cried and I’ve cried so hard that I didn’t think I could stop.

I find myself at 9:30 on a Sunday night completely exhausted, and somehow instead of empty I feel full. Full of gratefulness that I have the capacity to experience life so abundantly, even the hard things.

If you know me, you know that I am a very emotional human being. I feel things deeply, and pretty much every emotion makes me cry – happy, sad, thankful, angry, confused, tired, joyful, scared – you name the emotion and it probably makes me cry. I think it overwhelms or even frightens less emotional people that I feel things so intensely, and a lot of times I wish I wasn’t stinking crying all the time.

But, I am fully aware that God has created me in His image – as a reflection of who He is and His character. Jesus was proof of this as he walked the earth and felt intense joy, grief, anger, despair, and more.

Throughout all of the emotions, I experienced this weekend the theme that stuck through it all was the ability to sing. To worship my creator through songs of praise and joy and songs of recognizing our brokenness. I had the chance to go to Rend Collective’s concert on Friday full of joy and energy and brokenness before God and Jesus and worship with my full heart, body, and mind. This morning, I was on my church’s worship team and felt for the first time while leading a song for my church family, the letting go of nervousness and self-consciousness and truly focusing on the words of the song and what the Holy Spirit was doing through the music.

Even through the feeling of being on the edge of the cliff and feeling like I was on the mountaintop, I had a reason to sing. When all else fades and scatters away, Jesus will be the anchor of hope in the midst of it all and we will always have a reason to sing.

For your listening pleasure: Reason to Sing by All Sons and Daughters.