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Alive and Breathing

October 14, 2020 | KELLY MCLOUGHLIN

woman and man on a ride at an amusement park
“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift that’s why we call it the present.”

In late 1999 my Mom was very sick with cancer. I was flying to a conference for work and remember looking out the window of the airplane and worrying about my Mom dying. Tears were rolling down my cheeks and I was so sad. The thought entered my mind, “Kelly, this plane could crash right now, and you could die, and Mom could outlive you.” The memory is still so vivid in my mind. I was wasting time being sad about losing Mom while she was still with me.

Country singer Tim McGraw sings a song called Live like you were dying. In the song he is talking to a guy who received news of a diagnosis that didn’t look good for him and he asks the guy what did you do when you got the news and his answer was “I went skydiving. I went Rocky Mountain climbing; I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fumanchu and I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter and I gave forgiveness I’d been denying. Someday I hope you get the chance
to live like you were dying”. I love the song because it reminds us to live each day as if it could be our last and to not waste the time we are given.

ALIVE! colorful typographyWe all know that each day is a gift and none of us know when our last day is but, we don’t always behave as if we believe it. One of my favorite quotes is “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift that’s why we call it the present.”

At RE Congress earlier this year Matt Maher gave a free concert one of the evenings and he sang a new song called Alive and Breathing. I recommend listening to the song here.

The lyrics so perfectly remind us that if we are alive and breathing it is reason to praise the Lord.

What holds your heart
What stirs your soul
What matters come to mind
The cares you keep
The thoughts you think
It’s not all wasted time
Seek and you will find

Joy still comes in the morning
Hope still walks with the hurting
If you’re still alive and breathing
Praise the Lord
Don’t stop dancing and dreaming
There’s still Good News worth repeating
So lift your head and keep singing
Praise the Lord

Years roll by
We wonder why
We lost our way from home
Our Father finds
The child inside
We had left for growing old
Awake, awake, awake my soul

Joy still comes in the morning
Hope still walks with the hurting
If you’re still alive and breathing
Praise the Lord
Don’t stop dancing and dreaming
There’s still Good News worth repeating
So lift your head and keep singing
Praise the Lord

Let everything, let everything
Let everything praise the Lord
In the working, in the waiting
Praise the Lord
In the blessing, in the breaking
Come on, praise the Lord
In the dying, the rising
Let it praise the Lord
Let it praise the Lord
Praise the Lord

Joy still comes in the morning
Hope still walks with the hurting
If you’re still alive and breathing
Praise the Lord
Don’t stop dancing and dreaming
There’s still Good News worth repeating
So lift your head and keep singing
Praise the Lord

Joy still comes in the morning
Hope still walks with the hurting
If you’re still alive and breathing
Praise the Lord
Don’t stop dancing and dreaming
There’s still Good News worth repeating
So lift your head and keep singing
Praise the Lord

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Elle Limebear / Matt Maher
Alive & Breathing lyrics © Essential Music Publishing