5 o' Clock and Alllll is Wellll...

6 o' Clock and Alllll is Wellll...

The kids like the cartoon of Robin Hood.  Toward the end of the movie, they're sneaking into the king's castle to take all his gold and there are guards keeping watch.  Every hour the guards announce 7 o' Clock and Allll is Welllll.  Although they weren't very good at keeping watch (Robin Hood snuck in and got all the gold), that phrase has been a good reminder around our house.  The kids got that stuck in their heads and every once in a while, after they've checked the clock, they'll make their own announcement:  8 o' Clock and Allll is Wellll...  :)

I love that they can say that All is Well in the Crawford home.  As Christians, we have the freedom to announce that All is Well, too.  The reason that All is Well?  Not that circumstances are always great.  Or that our family is always happy.  Or that the sun is always shinning.  Why are we always able to announce that all is well?  Because we know Whom we have believed in.  (2 Tim. 1:12)  We trust in a God who has everything under control.  He loves us.  He is powerful.  He is all knowing.  He sees us.  He cares.  He is with us.

Robin Hood has reminded me of the hymn, It is Well With My Soul:

It Is Well With My Soul

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Refrain:
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life,
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

But Lord, 'tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul.

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

Horatio Spafford

I was just going to share the first stansa since that's the most famous... but it's all so good.  Skim it if you want to...  or read through it all.  Then do the same for the story I found on Wikapedia:

"It Is Well with My Soul" is a very influential hymn penned by hymnist Horatio Spafford and composed byPhilip Bliss.

This hymn was written after several traumatic events in Spafford’s life. The first was the death of his only son in 1871 at the age of four, shortly followed by the great Chicago Fire which ruined him financially (he had been a successful lawyer). Then in 1873, he had planned to travel to Europe with his family on the SS Ville du Havre, but sent the family ahead while he was delayed on business concerning zoning problems following the Great Chicago Fire. While crossing the Atlantic, the ship sank rapidly after a collision with a sailing ship, the Loch Earn, and all four of Spafford's daughters died. His wife Anna survived and sent him the now famous telegram, "Saved alone." Shortly afterwards, as Spafford traveled to meet his grieving wife, he was inspired to write these words as his ship passed near where his daughters had died.

Bliss called his tune Ville du Havre, from the name of the stricken vessel.

The Spaffords later had three more children, one of whom (a son) died in infancy. In 1881 the Spaffords, including baby Bertha and newborn Grace, set sail for Israel. The Spaffords moved to Jerusalem and helped found a group called the American Colony; its mission was to serve the poor. The colony later became the subject of the Nobel prize winning Jerusalem, by Swedish novelist Selma Lagerlöf.

Whatever you're going through, you, too, can say All is Well!  As believers, we always have hope.  Hope that God has good plans and is working things out in our lives.  And ultimately, we have hope that one day, all will be just as it should be when we are Home.  This gives us peace for this hour, too.

9 o' Clock and Allll is Welllll, with my soul.