Track 16—From When We Were Young (2011)

I Know You’re There  

Al Dunkleman, Heartfelt Americana Music/ASCAP

 

I can feel your ocean breeze

See your mountains tall

I can hear your singing birds

Watch your raindrops fall

And I don’t have a reason

To doubt you, Lord at all

For I know, I know that you are there    

 

(Chorus)

O Lord, I, I know you’re there

For I can feel your loving hand

And Lord, I, I know you’re there

For I can see your wonderland

And I, I know You’re there

For you help me to understand

O Lord, I know that you are there

 

But sometimes my light glows dim

I feel my spirit fall

Living life without a friend

Feeling up against the wall

And when I let you back into my life

You become my all in all

It is then, that I know that You are there (Chorus)

 

And I can feel your ocean breeze

See your mountains tall

I can hear your singing birds

Watch your raindrops fall

And I don’t have a reason

To doubt you, Lord at all

For I know, I know that you are there (Chorus)   

 

And Lord, I know that You are there

 

Between 1987 and 2002, I worked in full-time ministry. After eleven-years serving as associate minister in Bristol, Virginia, the Lord led me to work with a congregation in Wilmington, North Carolina, where I served as their first youth and family minister.

 

While waiting for our first home to be completed, my family and I stayed with one of the Elders and his family who lived in a fabulous home on the edge of the Intracoastal Waterway. I can honestly say that besides the North Carolina mountains, this setting was one of the most “heavenly places” I have ever experienced.

 

In the distance you could hear and faintly see the ocean framed by Masonboro Island. The alternating tide created a constantly changing landscape. The grasslands, sand bars, aquatic life, wildlife and steady boat traffic created a fascinating “reality show.”  

 

One morning I was sitting alone in the sun room working on a Bible class lesson that I was to share with the youth that Wednesday night. Gazing out the window, the early sun had created an extraordinary gleam on the water surface. As I sat there mesmerized, all of a sudden two large, black porpoises surfaced in tandem and then disappeared under the water’s surface. I sat there stunned by the sheer beauty, wonder and glorious demonstration of God’s handiwork.

 

I sat there motionless for what seemed to be twenty-minutes and eventually jotted down the thoughts that were coming to my mind—

 

O Lord, I know you’re there for I can feel your loving hand

And Lord, I know you’re there for I can see your wonderland.

 

Fifteen minutes later, I had completed the song.

 

Soon after this extraordinary experience of acknowledging God’s presence and creation, I also remember feeling guilty for spending all of that time looking out the window when I should have been reading and studying the Bible in preparation for the evening devotion.

 

Looking back, I now realize that it was time well spent with God.