gypsy flat road

I started keeping a blog when the band family began moving in different directions. I wanted a place to write and a way to keep up with old friends. I didn't expect to meet new people, but I have, and I'm grateful for it.

It occurs to me most of you probably don't know what the title of my blog means. It's a line from a song by Sandra McCracken (the quote at the top of the page is from her as well). Sandra McCracken is to music what William Carlos Williams is to poetry. Not exactly, but sort of. They describe places as a way of describing the deeper experiences and emotions of daily life, and I love them both for it. Below are the lyrics from Gypsy Flat Road, in case you were wondering.

Across the gypsy flat road
Where everything closes down tonight
Across the gypsy flat road
Where the steps and the stars are light

And it rained all day
With the bounty of new wine

The sky settles in low
On the rooftops of this trainboard town
We are upstairs alone
And we speak only with the whisper sounds

And it rained all day
With the bounty of new wine

Will there come a day
When our faces will not lift out of the dust
Can we then still say,
That this mercy is our only trust

It will rain all day
With the bounty of new wine.

What was incurable, desperate blindness
has been bound up from all sides with lovingkindness
comfort for sorrow,
rivers for dryness
come and drink you who have no money

And it rained all day
With the bounty of new wine.

I used to see friends and strangers with a baby on one hip and another in her belly, and wonder if that would ever be my life. Our friendship with the Searcys has taught me how much our lives are enriched by the abundance of new life, and I've never wanted anything more than I wanted to have children. Even so, I was never guaranteed anything. (As an aside, a few weeks ago some friends told us they were expecting a baby. After they left, Brian said, "I wanted to ask her about hormone levels and heartbeats and ultrasounds, and then I realized she doesn't have to worry about any of that." Pregnancy is an entirely different experience for us.) Yesterday, seeing the new little one kicking and swimming, and seeing our baby walk, arms reaching out for me, I realized what I had - a baby on my hip and one on the way. Gypsy Flat Road came to mind. It describes my emotion of longing and waiting, and how sometimes our hope is not disappointed.

Thanks be to God.