So Excited!!! White Heart & the Christian Music Hall of Fame

One of my all time favorite christian music bands is going to be inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame...White Heart.  I can still remember when I was a Jr High youth leader going to see these guys and WOW what a concert. 

Here is the link if you want to read about the bands history.
http://www.hallmuseum.com/hof/whiteheart.htm                                  

I have been trying to pick my top 3 favorite songs by them and it is impossible! I included a 'bonus' song because I just couldn't narrow down my choices. This first song is definitely one of them.  It was one of the first songs I sang as a solo, and soon became one of my favorites to perform all those many years ago!  It such a wonderful reminder of the gift we are given in Christ.



Oh the tears I have shed to this song...



This song is played VERY loudly in my house!



Loved White Heart all those many years ago and love them just as much today.  I LOVE Christian music and have many favorite songs, bands, singers.  Chad and I were talking the other night about how powerful music is and how much it can influence a life.  I feel so blessed that I have had such incredible Christian music to listen to since I was young.  I have loved lots of different types of music, but the message that Christian music gives me is such an incredible blessing in my life. So many times I will hear a song and think "that is exactly my life" or that is exactly what I needed to hear at that exact moment.

So, if you're looking for a message to uplift you, encourage you...check out some God inspired music. From past to present Christian music has had much to offer over the years and continues to be such a gift to so many people!

Speak Loud

As I am beginning to write this entry trying to put into words how distraught I am about the events that occurred in Washington DC today...this song by Jeremy Camp starts playing on my radio.  You'll need to click the link to listen to the song as I am unable to embed it on my blog.

While I do feel we need to speak up as citizens of this great country as to what is happening or not happening to represent 'the people'. Today I just felt God's presence stronger than ever telling me that there is a bigger picture.  God was the same yesterday, He is the same today, and He will be the same tomorrow.  People are desperate for something, and the only hope that any of us ever have is the hope we have in Christ.  We need to be the salt and light in our Neighborhoods, Cities, States and Nation. 

Now more than ever we need to speak up and speak louder than ever before! 

To hear the song:
  Speaking Louder Than Before


Lyrics to Speaking Louder Than Before:
Hear now this declaration

From out across the nations
We need to wake up and understand
Many hurting hearts are crying
But our voices seem to be dying
Can you see the battle raging on?
We are the light to reach this world
We are the salt preserving these souls
Let's show them the love that we've received now
We are, we are in desperation
We need to reach this generation
We are speaking louder than before
We are the hope that's been forgotten
We have a love that will be brought and
We are speaking louder than before
Take every chance that you can
Move together taking a stand
Never losing heart, we'll speak as one
We need to be the image of Christ
Show love and serve at all times
We can make a difference in these lands
We are the light to reach this world
We are the salt preserving these souls
Let's show them the love that we've received now
We are, we are in desperation
We need to reach this generation
We are speaking louder than before
We are the hope that's been forgotten
We have the love that will be brought and
We are speaking louder than before
Everything's so surreal
But this urgency I feel
We should be reaching out to all these desperate pleas
Oh, the need is real can't you feel
This call to revolution
My beating heart is breaking for them
That's why I'm speaking now
That's why I'm speaking now
We are, we are in desperation
We need to reach this generation
We are speaking louder than before
We are the hope that's been forgotten
We have a love that will be brought and
We are speaking louder than before
We are, we are, we're speaking louder
We are, we are, we're speaking louder
We are speaking louder than before
We are speaking louder than before
Oh, yeah

Monday Madness...

So I am on the phone with Wesley's teacher after school about a problem we're having with him and the bathroom.  We are discussing how to tackle the issue when JJ starts bawling because he didn't get to go down to the corner to pick up the boys from the bus.  Ethan is bawling, running down the street because Lucas didn't get off the bus (too busy talking to his friend and got off at the next stop, ran home laughing at himself).  Wesley is sobbing because he had an accident (for the 3rd time this school-year) and knows mommy is not going to be very happy with him.

Now the counters are covered with papers, water bottles and shoes...yes dirty shoes with a hundred knots in the laces. Tears have been dealt with (until I start trying to untie the knotted shoes), discussions about the day have taken place.  Homework has been started, trumpet is being practiced, baby is napping and all is right in the house for the next 30 seconds.

Stay tuned to see if I make it through the rest of the day with a small percentage of my sanity still intact! 

****  8:30pm ****
I made it!!!  Survived a crazy Monday...do I have any sanity left who knows?!  Just so you can all get a good look at how messy my house is most days I put a picture of what my counters look like when the boys get home from school. If you look close you can see the shoes that are on my counter~GROSS!!!

Now here is the counter after I got done organizing and cleaning:

Wow...what a difference a little organization makes! Too bad the rest of the house doesn't look this nice! 

Caleb has all the sudden really figured out he can go places, and oh the places he went today.  Amazing how I have forgotten the whole 'I can now get from point A to point B phase' even though he is our 5th.  It has been awhile though since JJ was this age.  We are all having lots of fun with his new adventures...and I thought I was busy before!!

Control

How many times do I try to assume that my timing of things are better than God's, more than I probably would care to admit!  Even though I pray for God to be in control of things, I still try as hard as I can to keep it in my control, because I think "my way is the best way". Even when I have seen over and over that God's timing is so much more perfect than mine.  But when it is out of my control I feel anxious, worried and frustrated.  I need to remember that God's timing is perfect~in all things HE is in control.

                There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.

 Ecclesiastes 3:1

                                                     

Sight or Hearing?

When I was getting ready today listening to my favorite radio station the thought came into my mind that if I was ever faced with a choice of giving up my sight or my hearing which would I choose?

I have been thinking all day what I would pick. Gosh I would miss so much if I couldn't see. The beauty of God's creation all around me. The ability to hit the open road for a run.  Watching my children growing, changing right before my eyes. Writing notes, emailing friends & family, driving to the store.  Little things I do every single day that I know I would desperately miss doing if I no longer had my vision.

However, as hard as it would be to miss seeing in the world around me I would not choose to keep my sight. I would give it away and make the choice to keep my hearing.  The laughter of my children is too precious to miss.  Human conversation is 'felt' through hearing...emotion is not conveyed as easily through email as it is in actually hearing someone speak.  I would miss the beautiful birds singing in the early morning, and the soft sounds of raindrops or snow falling.

The biggest thing I would miss though is music.  Oh how I LOVE music. I worship through music. Many times I feel my life is being expressed through a certain song(s).  It can lift my soul out of the darkest pit. Music makes me think about things much, much bigger than I am.  It helps to give my life perspective outside of what the world says my life should be about. Like so many things in life that are precious, music is a gift.

I definitely know that I take both hearing and seeing for granted every single day.  I have it, so I don't even think to tell God thank you.  How many wonderful things have I been given, just the way that I am created that I don't even stop to think a single second about.  Today I am thanking God for the senses He has given to me~and I'm in awe of how I get to use them to live and experience life. I think I'm going to go open the window now and just listen to the gentle sound of the rain...

Never for nothing....

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.  If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it;but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever!  Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! But when full understanding comes, these partial things will become useless.When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.
 ( I Corinthians 13)

Our Pastor says that we all want to love, and to be loved.  Oh how true that statement is.  My question to you today is what happens when the love you give makes you feel like it was for nothing?  When you feel no love returned?  Do you just stop showing love?  Do you walk away?

Maybe you will not see the rewards of loving others in this lifetime, but as Paul states...love is the greatest and without it we are nothing. Love is never for nothing......

Why I need coffee...

"Well, you are JUST a stay at home Mom".  I think that has got to be one of the best comments I've heard recently.  And yes, while that is true I do not hold a position of employment outside of the home I decided to keep track for one day of what went on in our house. I needed to see for myself (even though I already knew the answer) that I am NOT just a stay at home Mom. 

With as big of a family as we have no day around here is really 'typical'.  So, this is just a snapshot of what happened today....tomorrow will be a whole new day!  After seeing all that went on today you will know why I need coffee!!!

1:30am~nurse Caleb
5:40am~nurse Caleb; devotions/prayer time
6:15am~out of bed...make sure boys are getting ready for school
6:30am~laundry
6:35am~make 3 lunches & get water bottles ready
6:44am~put dishes away in sink & dishwasher
6:55am~get ready to head to bus stop w/boys
7:07am~get JJ breakfast
7:11am~make COFFEE
7:13am~clean out fridge in anticipation of grocery shopping
7:17am~breakfast for myself
7:25am~misc kitchen stuff...organize pantry for groceries
7:35am~laundry
7:40am~sweep & pick up back hallway
7:50am~physical therapy exercises
8:05am~change/dress Caleb
8:15am~shower/get ready
8:45am~nurse Caleb
9:05am~quick pick up living room w/JJ
9:10am~make bed
9:13am~file coupons to use for groceries today & double check ads
9:26am~head out the door
11:45am~home from 2 grocery stores
11:55am~cold stuff unloaded and put away
12:00pm~lunch for JJ, short nursing session for Caleb
12:10pm~lunch for Caleb and me...cleanup lunch mess
12:30pm~put away the rest of the groceries, including bringing up items from downstairs needed to restock pantry; change/snuggle Caleb then put him down for a nap
1:00pm~clean off counters and put out new toaster
1:10pm~laundry
1:20pm~play game w/JJ
1:40pm~phone call for the 3rd time to a company concerning a recalled product they are supposed to be taking care of for me.  Have miserable customer service...hang up feeling frustrated.
1:50pm~general picking up/organizing and more laundry
2:45pm~wake Caleb up from his nap to nurse before heading out for Wesley's Dr's appointment
3:00pm~boys home from school, quickly go through backpacks...grab homework to take along
3:15pm~load up 5 kiddos and head out for the Dr's
4:30pm~home from Dr's and onto homework
4:45pm~short nursing session for Caleb
5:00-5:15pm~phone calls
5:15pm~dinner
5:40pm~start eating dinner w/the boys...Chad's running late
6:10pm~clean up
6:45pm~change Caleb &make him a bottle
7:00pm~put Caleb to bed
7:30pm~snack for the boys, pj's, teeth brushing, story and then bedtime
8:00pm~I'm ready to relax!!!!!!!!!!!!

During the day we had lessons in counting, buying something that we need vs. not buying something just because we want it.  We had lessons in taking turns, and cleaning up.  I got to kiss boo boo's, watch my baby get up on all fours and rock back and forth getting mad because he couldn't figure out how to get going.  I got to hear Jackson's silly tall tales of being a pirate.  When the big boys got home from school I got to be a teacher, helping them with their homework and looking over assignments brought home. Most days here are crazy & hectic, but I wouldn't trade staying home for a million dollars.

A Beautiful History

Oh God, how did you know that today when I walked out of the Doctors office this morning, turned on the van that this song needed to be playing on the radio? Funny that I'm asking you, the Lord of the universe how you knew the time I would flip on the radio...the song that needed to be playing and just somehow managed to line it up that way.  Coincidence???  Not in a million years!!


Thank you Lord for speaking to me through music~it can reach to the depths of my soul.   I praise you God for speaking to me right when and where I need to hear from you.  Thank you for looking at my life as a beautiful history, because I don't always see it that way. You see the big picture when I can only see a page at a time. Some pages are full of joy, blessing, growth, and a time spent enjoying the harvest.  Other times those pages are filled with hurt, heartache, questions, sadness, times spent in the desert.  As you continue to write my story God, whatever your plans hold for my life I want it to be a beautiful history written for you.

A Beautiful History~Plumb

I have made mistakes
And I have been afraid
I have felt alone
Then you called my name
Things were crashing loudly
Happening all around me
But your still small voice
Was all that I could hear


“I am here
I’m holding you
You’ll make it through this
I am here
I am here”


Whenever you run away
Whenever you lose your faith
It’s just another stroke of
The pen on the page
A lonely ray of hope
Is all that you'll need
To see
A beautiful history


I've been such a fool
When I've known the truth
I've wasted so much time
Doing what I want to do


I've been living solely
For myself and myself only
But your still small voice is whispering


I toss and turn and scream
I try to do everything
With two feet on the ground
I just keep falling down again
I feel so far from home
Completely all alone
And then I hear you say


I am here, I am here...