Danielle Mellema keeps a blog "about welcoming the Kingdom in your everyday life."

In a recent post, "A crack in the hymnal," she remembers visiting her grandparents' small country church filled with humble "heroes of the faith" like Mister Gordon and Miss Thelma. Danielle writes,

I’d hang on the old wooden fence along the church’s cemetery, trying to make out the names and dates on the moss-covered stones marking the graves of people who had died in Christ. . . I loved the sound of the old church bells calling us to worship, and felt a sense of age-old awe that felt too big for my wisp of a little girl body. “Faithful, faithful, faithful,” the bells rang out to me.

That simple congregation witnessed the weddings of her parents' and of her sister and brother-in-law. It was also where Danielle and Matt walked down the aisle -- the same old red carpet she had run down as a kid. Danielle writes how she was inspired to commemorate the timeless faith of that faraway congregation. It involves an old hymnal -- well worn and well used, like the timeless faith put to music.

Read the story here. hhttps://www.daniellemellema.com/blog/acrackinthehymnal