Yesterday an old friend sent funny cat pictures to make me smile.  I mentioned she should help me a find a version of “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms” that compares with her own.  She is the worship leader/director/awesomeness supervisor at Riverside Church.  A few years ago she reintroduced the song to me as a folksy hymn.  Sadly for my two girls, I have been singing it for weeks.  She is a terrific singer, and her husband is an excellent masterer of music, guitar player, harmony singer, and the only man I know who can get his dog to play bass (you have to really listen for it though).  After looking around on the internet she found what I found – there weren’t versions as excellent as the Duke Wilson Band’s.

Mahalia Jackson takes 6 minutes to sing it.  David Crowder is great, but he is intermixing another song, and doesn’t complete the lyrics.  Alan Jackson somehow sings it in 1:45.

So, my friends recorded me a version

.  I have listened to it around 20 times today (now yesterday).  Cried 15 or so of those times.  Good crying.  I listened to it while shaving, and held back the tears then…  seemed dangerous.

We are blessed with more than 1 great church praying for us, holding us up, making us food, praying, and loving us.  We are thankful.