Waiting

Have you ever had something happen that you just couldn’t explain; something that is so unexpected and catches you by surprise? I have very few moments like these in my life…

Monday night Jon and I downloaded some new songs from iTunes. I had heard some on XM that I really liked so I wrote them down at work as I heard them and then we downloaded them. The main one I initially wanted was John Waller’s song “While I’m Waiting.” I had heard this song on the movie Fireproof and really liked it. The movie by the way is amazing if you haven’t seen it. The acting isn’t the best but the story is real and I think we could all identify with it. I watched it twice in one week; that should tell you something.

I love music; I love it more every day; especially when a song really speaks to you and applies to you in EVERY way. So that is where this story is heading. Maybe some of you get tired of me droning on about music but it is something that truly influences my everyday life. So, I was on my way home yesterday listening to this song by John Waller. I think I was playing through the 2nd time and as I was singing I pictured the movie; I always associate things when I see/hear them together. But, all of a sudden when I was singing it was like, this song is about you not the movie. It hit me so hard that I felt like I couldn’t breathe; tears came to my eyes before I could fully grasp what had happened. I will post the lyrics here and will explain below…

While I'm Waiting :
I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am hopeful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it is painful
But patiently, I will wait

I will move ahead, bold and confident
Taking every step in obedience
While I'm waiting
I will serve You
While I'm waiting
I will worship
While I'm waiting
I will not faint
I'll be running the race
Even while I wait

I'm waiting I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am peaceful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it's not easy
But faithfully, I will wait
Yes, I will wait
I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will serve you while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting on you Lord



You can watch the video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3b2jw1rjBc

It is hard when you are struggling with something to wait on God; you beg and plead with Him and then you have to wait. It is so hard for me; I am someone who is not very patient so when I have been asking for a while and feel like I am getting nowhere I get upset and frustrated. I am sure you can all identify with this in some way. I let other things and my emotions take over and I become obsessed with this particular thing. It is easy to lose sight during times like this. It is easy to put other things first and God comes in last. Yet, we still beg and plead with Him all the while He is still last in our lives; watching TV is more important than studying, falling asleep is more important than nightly prayers, and many, many other things get in the way. I have been trying to catch up on my daily Bible reading. I am 13 days behind right now. Does that tell you something; many other things are coming first right now. This song really seemed to be meant for me in that moment. It was telling me to wait on God; He will do all things in His own time. He has heard our prayers but that doesn’t necessarily mean He will answer them the way we want Him to or when we want Him to. I write this mainly for my own benefit; it is easier for me to write things out than actually say them and I wanted to share this song with you. It is a wonderful song and I am sure it applies to many of us. It is easy to get caught up in life and it is nice when things can be put back in perspective for you. For me it happens in music; I always try to apply music to my life and it is very therapeutic for me.

The other songs I wanted to download that night were by Remedy Drive. We downloaded their newest CD and it is awesome. I highly recommend it. Watch their newest video here:
http://www.tangle.com/view_video.php?viewkey=9ae5876c866e64065536

It's that time again...

Universal Studios has just released the lineup for Rock the Universe 2009!!!! It will be held on September 11-12 at Universal Studios!! I cannot wait! Casting Crowns, Third Day, Switchfoot, The Afters, Jeremy Camp, David Crowder....
http://www.rocktheuniverse.com/

Still here...

So, I noticed that I haven't posted in almost 20 days!!!! Back to my old ways of having a blog and never posting. I have several photos (dogs, Jenna's party...) and a video that I want to post but haven't been able to do it yet. Jon and I have been busy just doing odd stuff around the house and things like that. Softball is about to start up again for Jon which is always fun and stressful at the same time. Games are on Monday nights so getting home from work, eating and then driving to the other side of town is no easy task, but we enjoy time with friends. We are trying to not watch as much TV lately and doing other things instead. We are reading our daily Bibles, studying, doing laundry, I have been organizing our photos on the computer, taking walks... Things like that. TV consumes SO much time and sometimes we just plop down in front of the TV and then it is time for bed. On Monday night we watched 1 hour of TV, which is quite a downgrade for us. We didn't even turn it on until almost 9pm!! I feel like the night passes by more slowly without TV and we definitely get more done.
Sunday is our 6 year anniversary so we will be going out on Friday night to celebrate. I am not sure what we are doing yet but I am sure it will be good times. Spring is almost here, and I cannot wait. I want to get out and plant stuff RIGHT NOW!! I want my ugly brown grass to be pretty and green again and I want to ride my lawn mower again. I am planning a vegetable garden and should maybe begin that on Saturday and Jon and I are getting a tree for the front yard. I love spring and all of the new growth that it brings, I just wish it would hurry up and get here! Anyway, I will post more later...when I get the time!

Something I always do

Usually when I hear a song on the radio I like I will buy it on iTunes for my iPod. Sometimes I will listen to some clips of other songs by the artist/group and decide if I just want to go ahead and buy the whole album. I have this bad habit of buying a CD and then ONLY listening to the song that I bought it for. Most recently I have bought the new Jeremy Camp CD (only listen to 2 songs I know on it), Switchfoot "The Best Yet," and Above the Golden State. Well, since I have 600 Christian songs on my iPod; that's right 600!!! It is hard to hear them all and I have a really bad habit of flipping through the songs like crazy. I can tell immediately if I want to hear a song. I am sure that there are songs on there that I have never, ever heard before. I have the songs on shuffle so it randomly goes through them.

Several weeks ago I finally put my iPod on Switchfoot and gave them a try. I love their song, "This is Home," from the movie Prince Caspian; so Jon bought me their greatest hits album. Anyway, I gave them a try and LOVE the entire CD. Who knew? I have had it since Christmas and just now like it. Well, even worse than that...we bought a CD on iTunes back in September or so. It was a group called Above the Golden State. I heard their song "Sound of Your Name" on our local Christian station and loved it!! I had never even heard of them before. So, I went home that day and listened to a couple of clips and then bought the whole album, never even listening to the other songs until last week.

So, like I said my habit is flipping through songs like crazy, I have to be in a certain mood to hear certain songs. If I don't know the song or the title too bad, it gets flipped through. Last week I was in the car and not really paying attention to my iPod and then I heard a song I had never heard before. It was "Comeback" by Above the Golden State. I really liked it and told Jon about it. He had never heard it either. Like I said with 600 songs it is hard to hear them all. So, later that day when we went out we put it on Above the Golden State and listened to their album for the first time. I have got to say, they are my new favorite. I really like the whole album, they are upbeat but get a good message across. So, give them a listen. I think you will really like them. It took me months to listen to them and now I am listening to them nonstop!!!

http://www.myspace.com/abovethegoldenstate

If you feel lost...

James 1:2-3: My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

This was written a couple of days ago, but I just posted it today, sorry for the delay...

This is my favorite verse in the Bible. It has been for a couple of years now; for reasons that are personal and are my own. I try to remember this every time something pops into my life that is a “trial.” That we are to count it a joy, something good will come from it; whether it be here on earth or in Heaven. I feel like everyone will encounter the storms of life at some point, and in those moments we need to reach out to God and pray to him and make him the center of our lives. Sometimes it is so hard to hold on in times like that; sometimes God is the only thing to hold on to. It is when you are on your knees that you look up and see God and remember what this life is all about.

I think it is hard for me in times like these because life really does not seem “fair.” I know that no one was promised a “fair” life but sometimes it is so easy to get down and feel really low. You start to wonder and ask “why me?” I know I have done this a lot lately and there is no answer to this. My life in recent years has had its ups and down; happy times and sad times; and when something new strikes, a new trial is brought on, it can be really overwhelming. And the questioning begins. It is hard to stop it once it starts, and it is hard to just realize that God has a plan for our lives and what is meant to happen will happen. God works in wonderful and mysterious ways; we just have to trust Him. I say all of this even as I struggle to understand it myself. Jon reminds me all the time that what is meant to happen will happen. But, no matter how many times I hear it I struggle to understand it and accept it. I need a daily reminder of this, a daily reminder to trust Him. I try every day to do this, but sometimes it is so hard for a cynic such as myself. I know all of this sounds cryptic but I really just needed to get my feelings out there. Some will know what I am talking about, others will not and I am sorry about that for now.

Anyway, I heard this song this morning on the way to a doctor’s appointment and I have heard several times before but sometimes something just hits you when you are in a different place in your life. It is like I had never heard it before. It meant something totally different to me than it did the last time I heard it. Jon has always liked this song and I have listened to it with him several times. But, this morning I had a lot on my mind and on my heart and this song really spoke to me; it was like it was for me in that moment. Music is so healing to me. It can do wonderful things; it can make you cry, it can make you happy, it can bring something into perspective, it can open your eyes. This song really touched my heart today and I wanted to share it with you. The lyrics really do not do it justice. I will post a link too, you can listen to the song on the right hand side of the page. It is such a pretty song...

Shine Your Light on Us

Robbie Seay Band

Oh, my God

Shine Your light on us

That we might live (repeat)

I've been holding on

I've been holding on

All that is inside me

Screams to come back home

Chorus

If you feel lost

If you feel lost

Sing along

If you feel tired

If you feel tired

Sing along

If you feel lost and tired

This is your song (repeat second time)

I've been broken down

I've been broken down

I ain't giving up

Love will come back around

(Chorus 2x, repeat last 2 lines 2nd time)

Shine Your light

Shine it down

Let Your rescue come for us, we long to love

And if you feel lost, sing along

And if you feel tired, sing along

http://www.last.fm/music/Robbie+Seay+Band/_/Shine+Your+Light+On+Us

Zing, Zang, ZOOM...an afternoon at the circus

Today we ventured over to see Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus with Jenna and Kelly. We KNEW Jenna would love it and she did. She loved the popcorn, the candied cashews, the soft pretzels and everything else. It was so cute to watch her enjoy something like that for the first time.

Me and Jenna. She did not want to have her picture taken at all! In the other picture she is holding the toy that Nana gave us money to buy for her. She loved it.

Her with her new toy. It was so much fun!

Jenna with the elephants in the background. She did not want to leave when it was over. She danced and "felt the music" during the entire show. PS--she looks just like Kelly in this picure!!

The tigers. They did not like to perform and even Jenna noticed how "angry" they were.

The elephants. They were impressive.

We had a great time and it was so much fun with Jenna. We have a ton more pictures but I am sure you will see some from Kelly too!

By Your Side

Here we are again…another song post!! I love music, what else can I say? This song is by Tenth Avenue North. I heard it for the first time probably about a month ago on my fabulous XM radio (thank you Jon). It is called “By Your Side” and it is just a wonderful song, it really makes you think about your life and your relationship with Christ. I love songs like this one. It is such a pretty song and the words if you really listen to them can really affect you. I love to listen to music on my way home from work. It gives me perspective when I have had a bad day or if I am down and upset it can bring me up again and make me realize that life isn’t really all that bad. This song will really lift your spirit if you need it and if you let it.
Tenth Avenue North: By Your Side

Why are you striving these days
Why are you trying to earn grace
Why are you crying
Let me lift up your face
Just don't turn away

Why are you looking for love
Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough
To where will you go child
Tell me where will you run
To where will you run

Chorus
'Cause I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

Look at these hands and my side
They swallowed the grave on that night
When I drank the world's sin
So I could carry you in
And give you life
I want to give you life

Chorus
'Cause I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

'Cause I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

Cause I, I love you
I want you to know
That I, I love you
I'll never let you go

Chorus
'Cause I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

'Cause I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

You can listen to it here:
http://www.tenthavenuenorth.com/media/music