Another one of those songs......

Another one of those songs I've listened to over and over on my iPod....but REALLY heard it today like the words were right from my heart. 



Jesus Loves You

Tell me what do you believe in
Does your life have rhyme or reason
Something in your heart that makes you care
I hope that you don't mind me asking
But I have got a burning passion
I need to know forever you'll be there

I can't make it clearer
Put it any other way
If you can't see the simple truth I do
Then there's nothing in this world that's left to say
But Jesus loves you

I know I don't have all the answers
And I have wasted many chances
To prove to you a faith that lives inside
I'm praying there will be a breakthrough
Cause I can't be the one to save you
God knows how many times I've tried

I can't explain
But I can't deny
So many times for you I've cried
And to see you on your knees tonight

I cant make it clearer
Put it any other way
To know you know simple truth I do
And to know that your forever has been changed
Cause Jesus loves you

The most common and unfortunate misunderstanding.....

Wow, it has been a LONNNGGGGGG time since I've gotten on here.  So much for the song a week, huh?  Gosh, I don't know where to begin.....we had a great summer....so that is probably the reason I was lacking on the updating of my blog.  Anyhow, I am getting ready to do another bible study with some girlfriends and was looking online this morning and ran across this video.  This video is what I hope my friends hear.  Faith is not religion.  It's not.  They are two very different things.  And, unfortunately that is the most common reason why, I believe, people are not willing to hear the Gospel.  They have misunderstood faith in Jesus for religion. 

He Is With You

I haven't had the time lately to post.  I've been meaning to post this song I heard in church a few weeks ago.  I put it on my play list and have heard it at least a dozen times since.  So, the songs title speaks for itself.....He Is With You.  I don't have a sick child, but I am regularly in the midst of families with children dealing with life-threatening illness.  Specifically, last week I had a "send off" party for another little Wish Child.  Her wish was to go to Disney World.  She was 2 when I first met her.  She is 3 now.  They left this past weekend.  When we met at Cold Stone for the send-off, I couldn't help but wonder how this family deals with illness so great.  I don't know if this family has a personal relationship with Jesus (only God knows that for sure), but it really made me wonder how people in this situation (and other life-changing situations) go through tragedy without Him.  Our own personal "strength" can only take us so far.  Tragedy (illness, premature death of a loved one, job loss...the list goes on an on....) can take you under.  But, when you have Jesus "with you" (as this song says) it is completely different.  I love this song because it reminds me that He IS with me!  In tragedy.  In the quiet times.  In the loud, crazy, busy times.  He is ALWAYS with me, no matter what.   (lyrics after the video)



There's a time to live
And a time to die
There's a time to laugh
And a time to cry

There's a time for war
And a time for peace
There's a hand to hold
In the worst of things
In the worst of things

He is with you when your faith is dead
And you can't even get out of bed
Or your husband doesn't kiss you anymore
He is with you when your baby's gone
And your house is still
And your hearts are stone
Crying "God what'd you do that for?"
He is with you

There's a time for yes
And a time for no
There's a time to be angry
And a time to let it go
There's a time to run
And a time to face it
There's love to seek
In all of this
Through all of this

He is with you in the conference room
When the world is coming down on you
And your wife and kids don't know you anymore
And He is with you in the ICU when the doctors don't know what to do
And it scares you to the core
He is with you

We may weep for a time but joy will come in the morning
The morning light

He is with you when your kids are grown
When there's too much space and you feel alone
And your worried if you got it right or wrong
Yes He is with you when you've given up on ever finding your true love
Someone who feels like home
He is with you

When nothing else is left and you take your final breath
He is with you

He is with you

What Life Would Be Like

I was just listening to my iPod and heard the song "You Found Me" by Big Daddy Weave.  LOVE that song because it reminds me that there was nothing I did, or could do, to "earn" God's love.  It was there all along.  It just seemed to take some "stuff" in my life to bring me to the point where I recognized my desperate need for Him.  The day that He found me....well, it was the best (or maybe I should say, most important) day of my life.  The joy and the freedom, the thankfulness and the complete and utter AWE that I felt in the weeks that followed....well, there really aren't many words to describe it.  So, I was going to post this song but as I looked for the video and lyrics, another song kept popping up first!  This song is on my iPod too....but it wasn't in my play list today.  Anyhow, I've been listening to it and it's reminded me that every single day is a day that I have to let Him live through me.   Take a listen.....



I wish I was more of a man
Have you ever felt that way
And if I had to tell you the truth
I’m afraid I’d have to say
That after all I’ve done and failed to do
I feel like less than I was meant to be

What if I could fix myself
Maybe then I could get free
I could try to be somebody else
Who’s much better off than me
But I need to remember this
That it’s when I’m at my weakest
I can clearly see

He made the lame walk and the dumb talk
He opened blinded eyes to see
That the sun rises on His time
Yet He knows our deepest desperate need
And the world waits while His heart aches
To realize the dream
I wonder what life would be like if we let Jesus life thru you and me

What if you could see yourself thru another pair of eyes
What if you could hear the truth
Instead of old familiar lies
What if you could feel inside
The power of the hand that made the universe You’d realize

All our hearts they burn within us
All our lives we’ve longed for more
So let us lay our lives before the one who gave His life for us

One of my fave messages by Perry Noble....

This is worth watching!  You can fast-forward through the music if you want (start at about 30 minutes in if you want to get right to the point!).  I've watched this twice over the past 6 months or so.  Really good.

Here I Go Again

This song falls into the category where I've heard it many times but, on my drive to meet a Wish Child, I really "heard" it.  The words.  They were exactly how I feel....quite often, actually.  And now, every time I hear this song my eyes well up because, unfortunately, this is me.




"Here I Go Again"

Father, hear my prayer
I need the perfect words
Words that he will hear
And know they're straight from You
I don't know what to say
I only know it hurts
To see my only friend slowly fade away

So maybe this time I'll speak the words of life
With Your fire in my eyes
But that old familiar fear is tearing at my words
What am I so afraid of?

'Cause here I go again
Talkin 'bout the rain
And mulling over things that won't live past today
And as I dance around the truth
Time is not his friend
This might be my last chance to tell him
That You love Him
But here I go again, here I go again

Lord, You love him so, You gave Your only Son
If he will just believe; he will never die
But how then will he know what he has never heard
Lord he has never seen mirrored in my life

This might be my last chance to tell him
That You love him
This might be my last chance to tell him
That You love him
You love him, You love him

What Am I so afraid
What am I so afraid
What am I so afraid of?
How then will he know
What he has never heard

Really listen!!

Do you ever listen to music and just kind of go with the flow?  You know, not really listen to the words?  I mean you know the words, but you don't REALLY listen to them.   I think it happens to me when I've heard a song so many times that I just unconsciously sing along but I don't really "listen".  I posted a few days ago about my fear of sharing my story in front of my friend's church.  Shortly after deciding to do it, to be obedient to whatever God wants us to do.....I heard this song in a new way.  It's not the greatest video but, hey, it'll do....



"Set The World On Fire"

I wanna set the world on fire
Until it's burning bright for You
It's everything that I desire
Can I be the one You use?

[CHORUS]
I, I am small but
You, You are big enough
I, I am weak but
You, You are strong enough to
Take my dreams
Come and give them wings
Lord with You
Nothing I can not do
Nothing I cannot do

I wanna feed the hungry children
And reach across the farthest land
And tell the broken there is healing
And mercy in the Father's hands

[CHORUS]

Take my dreams
Come and give them wings
Lord with You
Nothing I cannot do
Nothing I cannot do

My hands my feet
My everything
My life, my love
Lord, use me

I wanna set the world on fire
I wanna set the world on fire, yeah

Take my dreams
Come and give them wings
Lord with You
Nothing I cannot do
Take my dreams
Come and give them wings
Lord with You
There's nothing I can't do
Nothing I can't do

I'm gonna set the world on fire
Set the world on fire

Crazy Love

Everyone is different....but God ALWAYS uses music to speak to me, to "get through" to me, to teach me things.  So, I think I am going to post a song each week (or maybe more than once a week) that shares my heart.  So, here is the inaugural song selection!  It's called Crazy Love!  I'll post the lyrics after the music video.



We're the ones who believe in the things unseen
This home, this party is an in between
We're the ones who fight down on our knees
Who dare to love our enemies
Love enemies

They say it sounds insane
We say that we've been changed
By the power of
Crazy Love
This world, it looks at us
Like we're ridiculous
Baby, it's all because
Of Crazy Love

We're the ones gonna put it all in reverse
Gonna die to ourselves, Gonna live to serve
Cause when you get what you get when you walk by faith
Is it really so dumb to give it all away?
Give it all away

They say it sounds insane
We say that we've been changed
By the power of
Crazy Love
This world, it looks at us
Like we're ridiculous
Baby, it's all because
Of Crazy Love

Crazy Love

We know it sounds absurd
We don't get what we deserve
It's by grace we are saved

They say it sounds insane
We say that we've been changed
By the power of
Crazy Love
This world, it looks at us
Like we're ridiculous
Baby, it's all because
Of Crazy Love
Crazy Love

We're the ones who believe in the things unseen
This home, this party is an in between
We're the ones who fight down on our knees
Who dare to love our enemies

We're the ones gonna put it all in reverse
Gonna die to ourselves, Gonna live to serve
Give it all away

Crazy Love

Fear

After a busy few weeks, things are calming down for us....at least for a little while.  After the cruise, we returned home to work (for Jim) and One Day Serve preparation (for me).  The week before the "big day" is a toughie!  So, I wrote about our friends from Columbus that visited prior to Spring Break.  Before they left, Dennis asked Jim and I if we would be able to come to Columbus in late May and share our "story" at the church he planted since we moved out west.  Of course, our first inclination was "absolutely"....we'll look into it, make sure we have the frequent flier miles...we'll get it all worked out.  So, we returned home from the cruise and lo and behold....no frequent flier seats available, period.  Not even "around" the 22nd of May.  Then, my anxiety about leaving the kids set in.  Then, my fear of standing up in front of a few hundred people set in.  Then, the thought of the cost of the hotel or car or food or whatever.....whatever I could come up with ran through my mind.  Every reason why we should NOT go.  I even emailed Denny and told him that it was not looking like it would work out.  He was disappointed.  I was disappointed....in myself.  I even asked some of our friends to pray for discernment for us in deciding whether we should go or not.  Really???  When would it NOT be God's plan for us to share how He worked in our lives?  (that comment came from my loving husband)  So, we got home last night and promptly booked the tickets without using frequent flier miles.  We emailed Dennis to tell him that we would, in fact, be coming.  Not only will we share our "testimony", our story....of how we became Believers....but we will also be sharing what God has done through us.  Specifically, we will share One Day Serve with the Journey Church! 

I pray that we clearly communicate what God has done in our lives.  Not what we have done on our own.  I pray that we use His words.  Not our own.  I know that in Him, I can do anything!  Anything!! Despite my fear of failure, my fear of being ridiculed, my fear of crying in front of a crowd of people, or my fear of the unknown.  You know what I fear more than any of that?  I fear NOT sharing what God has done in my life.  I fear my friends and neighbors and loved one's not knowing Him.

My First Official Book Review!

So, I joined Book Sneeze. They send me a FREE book to read and review. I finished my first book, A Conversation with God by Alton Gansky. This was very easy to read as it was written in a conversational format (hence the title). To me, it almost made God more "touchable" as the answers to the questions were written as though he was talking directly to me. Each question was answered by a few different people in the Bible: Jesus, God, Paul, Eve, Silas, Joshua. This book covers a variety of topics. Some are "deep", others seem basic. It starts with several questions about God and who he is. The Bible and its accuracy are questioned. Pain and suffering and all the questions that come with it There is an extensive discussion on Jesus, where he went when he died, what is his role in salvation, what IS salvation. Heaven and Hell are discussed at length and although the details are not extensive there is some very good information on this topic. I think people really wonder about the reality of Heaven and Hell and this book does its best to clarify and make these places very real to us. Topics on Christian Living and Today's World end the book and give very practical, life-application type information. Overall, I'd say this book is going to speak to a very wide audience. It's not a deeply theological book, but all of the information is rooted in Scripture and does not appear to be based on the author's opinion.