Whats a song??

As I was playing my piano this morning this blog started to brew in my head so here goes.... I think everyone would agree that words are powerful therefore songs can be powerful. After all songs are words merely put to music correct? I have studied alot of music and songs over my life time, being a music student from the time for 4 years old and studying it in post secondary school will do that to you. I can sit at my piano for hours and just play and sing. I love to hear/learn new songs and I have to say there are so many great music writers out there - very God gifted and talented people and best of all they are using their talents for God. I don't know about you but there is just something about poping on a worship cd or a cd by your favorite Christian artist that does "the soul good" if you know what I mean. Often when Im sad and listen to music I feel comforted or happy, if Im feeling down listening to it can lift me up, it just brightens my day and brings me in a sweet commune with God. I truly believe God uses music to touch peoples lives and communicate with them - after all thats what most of the book of Psalms is. Growing up in a Christian family I have been blessed and fortunate enough to attend church my entire life therefore allowing me the privilege to learn many songs and watch as we enter into a new generation of worship songs. We no longer only sing hymns at church but we sing praise choruses, new worship songs that have a such power and truth to them. Do you ever find you wake up in the morning with a song already playing in your head? I get that alot and I am so glad when its Christian songs because I truly believe what we listen to effects us whether we think it does or not. I try really hard not to listen to the radio... not because Im some great saint, or because their isn't good tunes out there or because I want to cut myself off from the world but simply because I know for me what I listen to effects the way I think, effects my mood, and it effects the way in which I respond to situations. I really love the old hymns, this is not to say I dont believe music today has less truth to them or they are less "Godly" because I don't but there is just something about singing an old hymn. One of my favorite hymns is "I'd rather have Jesus". I really love the chords and notes of this song but more powerful then the music are the words and the truth they bring.

I'D RATHER HAVE JESUS

(Miller / Shea)

George Beverly Shea

I'd rather have Jesus than silver or gold,

I'd rather be His than have riches untold;

I'd rather have Jesus than houses or land,

I'd rather be led by His nail-pierced hand:

Chorus

Than to be the king of a vast domain

Or be held in sin's dread sway

I'd rather have Jesus than anything

This world affords today

I'd rather have Jesus than men's applause,

I'd rather be faithful to His dear cause;

I'd rather have Jesus than worldwide fame,

I'd rather be true to His holy name:...

He's fairer than lilies of rarest bloom,

He's sweeter than honey from out the comb;

He's all that my hungering spirit needs;

I'd rather have Jesus and let Him lead

I don't think I need to go into detail - the words a pretty self explanatory but I love to sing this song often. I think of the words of which I am singing because often we just sing songs but we don't really think about what we are saying when we sing. I often joke with my husband ab out how awesome it would be to be rich or just to have a little bit more money - not because I think money makes you happy because I know it doesn't but just because it would be nice to be rich and be able to buy other people stuff to be able to just not ever have to worry about money (yes I know God will supply all my needs thats for another post) but if I had to pic k between riches, my house (which I can't wait to move into) material things I like ie: shoes, handbags, clothes I know I would pick Jesus hands down every time.


I know that Jesus choose me instead of worldly things , he choose to die on a cross for me instead of mans applause so why should it even be a question for what you and I would choose? Do yo u enjoy music? What are some of your favorite songs or artists?

Redeemed...

The dictionary says Redeemed means

• deliver: save from sins
• restore the honor or worth of

And I like that!! This year has been a trying one for many many reason for me personally, for my family and for some of my friends and as of late I have really been growing in my walk with God especially in this whole area of "being redeemed". I have known for a long time (growing up in a Christian family, attending church, a Christian school etc) that I am redeemed by God's blood and grace but I don't think I have really ever tried to understand what that means. I really like the second part of the definition "restore the honor and worth of". God through His shed blood has made me worthy of something and honourable. I have been blog slacking of late because for one this summer has been crazy busy with weddings, buying a house, moving my sister, cottage holidays etc but also because I have been trying to spend the time I would be blogging and spending it focusing on my "blogging" or my chatting with God. I donno about you but I find it so much easier to just give God my 20 minutes a day for a short devotional but I can sit at my computer for hours reading about your lives etc and oh how ashamed I am of that fact and yet it's easy to just recognize it but that won't fix it I have to do something about that and so I have been.

This is not to say I was not spending time with God before this I was just I don't think I was giving Him enough time if you know what I mean. I'm finding such a sweet peace inside me and I feel like my relationship is growing so much stronger and I'm excited about that. This year I have seen a friend loose her husband, I saw a horrible disease (cancer) take my grandma's life and I saw her fight so hard and bravely to beat it but she didn't, I have felt the pain and longing to be a mommy and yet am not yet pregnant, I have felt and experience the joy and pain of friendships, I have experience the joy of buying a house and the nervousness and anxiety that brings I have suffered my own personal health issues and the fear and uncertainty they bring.

I read something the other day that really moved me and I feel obligated to share.“...Our healing begins when we participate in the suffering of God. When we don't avoid it but enter into it, and in the process, enter into the life of God. When we see our pain not as separating us from, but connecting us to our Maker...” Oh how true that is. As I heal not only physically but emotionally I can only do that through connecting to the Master Healer. I truly believe that my suffering is a rare opportunity from God to showcase how awesome He really is - and He is really awesome!!
and that suffering has a way of connecting people…sometimes in weird circumstances…but the result is usually for the better. I was listening to Selah ( a group whom I love dearly to listen to) and they have a new song out called "unredeemed" and I encourage you to listen to it.
*On a side note as a musician myself I am continually at "awe" at the gift Selah has in writing songs. I have studied many different forms of music song different styles and listened to millions of different songs yet none as talented as the group Selah and their song writers - one day I pray I can be half as talented. * I am so glad that God takes me and all my brokenness and he uses it. I am really trying hard to remind myself each day that this could be my last. I know sounds like a horrible thought but I truly believe that if we thought that way each day we would live our lives differently. We are not guaranteed tomorrow it is by God's grace we have tomorrow. I am continually challenged as I look at many others out there suffering so much more or differently than I am and yet their faith and strength is so strong. I guess I say all this and it might not make any sense as I'm very exhausted and writing this very late but its just all floating in my head and I wanted to get it out. So I leave you with these lyrics by someone who is much more gifted with words then I am

" When anything that's shattered is laid before the Lord just watch and see it will not be .... unredeemed".

What a promise and truth those words hold. I am hoping to start blogging again my frequently but not at the expense of my time with God ( or my husband and my family cause I love them dearly to) ... now to start catching up on all your blogs...

Busy, Busy, Busy...

Well I have been so busy - excuses I know - so busy in fact that I have a million, yes that is a bit of an exaggeration, blogs to catch up reading but busy is sometimes fun and in my case it has been.

Well where should I start - probably with my most exciting news... WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!! My husband and I have been saving saving saving for over 2 years now and praying for God to show us where he wants us to live and start a family and buy our first house. We have lived in two different places since we've been married equating to two different apartments and as hard as living in an apartment has been for us it was worth the wait. We truly believe that God wants us to be wise with our money after all it is all His money he has just in trusted it to us. So my husband and I agreed on an amount of money we wanted to have before we bought a house. So we started looking seriously in about the end of May... we looked in two different cities and were just praying that God would show us His will for us and bring the "perfect" house for us. We found lots we like but none that we "loved" until June 25th - we viewed 4 houses that day and we fell in love with the first house of the day. 85 Bloomington.... 85 is a great number as it was the year both my husband and I were born... the house is only 2 years old and we wanted a newer home... its the perfect size we wanted .... and they accepted our offer on the first try so we definitely felt Gods hand in all of it. We don't close till October but thats ok because we are just so excited and thankful for finding "our house"... which still sounds very weird to say. So we are excited to start this new chapter in our journey together as homeowners.... so I spend my nights lying in bed dreaming of how Im going to decorate my house ect... its so exciting!

Other exciting news my cousin who is like my little sister came on June 18th and has been staying with us for the past 4 weeks and it has been so much fun. I love her to pieces she is just like a mini me and Im sad she is leaving on Friday, but it has been so fun and we have made some lasting memories. She and my other cousins and Uncle and Aunt live in Peru and are missionaries there so its hard to believe I wont see her for another 1 1/2 as they come home ever 2 years (they were home last summer on furlow) but next time she comes back to stay for college so Im excited for that and for her to come stay in her bedroom at MY house!!!

My husband and I have also been busy packing for our trip out west. We fly out tomorrow to Calgary for 5 days as my sister in law (my husbands sister) is getting married on Saturday. We are very excited about our short trip especially to see our niece who we met at Christmas but is now 11 months old and growing by the day. I am looking forward to the trip it will be very very busy and fly by I know but we intend to enjoy ever minute of being together with family as distance makes that hard to do alot. I will take pictures and post when I get back.

So all in all our lives have been very busy this summer and it doesn't look like they will be slowing down anytime soon but it is an enjoyable busy if you know what I mean.

I hope everyone is having a great summer so far. Is anyone still following the bachelorette? I almost had to stop because Wes was getting on my nerves too much but so happy he is gone and Ed is back!! I have been rooting for Ed since the first episode and was sad when he had to leave and I respected his decision cause I don't know what I would do in that situation. I really like Reed, Kiptyn and Ed - ultimately I hope Ed wins but the other two guys I would be just as happy to see with Jillian. So we will see.... oh reality tv what would we do without you!!!

What a weekend ....

I, yet again, am lacking in the blogging department and Im sorry about that. Everyday I am like "ok today I must update my blog" and that day comes and goes and I never get a minute to do so. So today I made myself sit down and take a few minutes to update. Let me tell you though I make sure I read all your blogs so I dont miss in any of the excitement and action going on in your lives - but its easy to read it from anywhere on my blackberry - just harder to update from there.

This past weekend my cousin and her husband and baby came up to my parents cottage with me and my husband. What a fun weekend we had!! The weather was amazing on Friday and Saturday - and even though it rained on Sunday we had tons of fun playing games ect. We managed to stay up till 3 am on Sunday playing games and laughing having a good time.

Here are a few pictures from our weekend with them!!

playing a little phase 10 on the deck Saturday night

one of my husbands "catches" of the day

Demi and Kinsley (my cousin) fishing




my mom loved loving on this little guy all weekend - made her itch to be a grandma even more ...
one day soon I hope mom!!



I loved cuddling and holding this little guy all weekend - he is such a good baby.


Well I have many more pictures but this is just a taste from our weekend. It was so fun I am looking forward to many more with them this summer!

On a different note let me just say there was a lot of yelling, cheering, clapping, whistling when Ed came back last night on the Bachalorette... Oh I was a happy girl!! I hope he wins thats all I can say... although I like Kipten and Reid too... we'll have to see though. As long as Wes is gone I'll be happy. Hope everyone is having a good week. Tomorrow here in Canada is a holiday, so its a nice little break in the week for me. Although typically we get a long weekend with our holiday this year it falls on a Wednesday - but Im not complaining, a day off work and to sleep in with my husband, who cares which day that falls on.

Picture Post..

I have read on a few other friends blogs that they are in a blogging "rut" too so I guess Im not alone. Maybe its the summer weather... who knows but for whatever reason Im finding it hard to blog. Maybe because things in our lives are kinda in the air right now and I am hoping after a meeting we are having tonight my husband and I will have some more direction. So with not really much to say I will share some pictures from my nieces ballet recital on Saturday and then because someone asked I will "gloat" and show off my beautiful bouquet of flowers that my husband sent me for my anniversary.

P.S. thanks to the sweet friends that wished us a happy anniversary - I felt so loved so thanks.













Well my sweet friends tomorrow is Friday!!! finally the weekend... maybe your week hasn't been as long as mine but it doesn't matter if you've had a great week or a crappy week EVERYONE LOVES THE WEEKEND!!!

P.S. I just have to ps again because I just wanted to mention to anyone who watches the bachelorette I was sooooo sad to see Ed leave... I know he had good reason and I totally wouldn't know what to do in his situation but I was rooting for him to win... now I have to go to my second choice... thats for another post though... oh reality tv!!

2 years ago today....

June 16, 2007

I was feeling probably the most excited, nervous, and beautiful I have ever felt in my life. The weather was much like we are having today - sunny and hot!! It was the perfect day - the day I had spent my life dreaming about and it was a dream come true because I married my prince charming. I can't believe its been two years but other times it seems like it was more than that. Happy Anniversary baby I love you so much and am so thankful God made you just the way he did cause your perfect for me. I have loved spending the last two years with you enjoying special memories sometimes sad, funny, exciting, stressful but all along we did it together and God has brought us closer. I can't wait to see what this next year will hold for us.

My family

My new family!!

Me and my "new" husband!!


HAPPY ANNIVERSARY BABY I wish you were home and not working out of town this week so we could spend our special day together but we will celebrate later this weekend!!! P.S. I have to gloat that I just received the most beautiful bouquet of flowers delivered to me at work from the sweetest man on earth - my husband is the best!!


*note* I know I have been blog slacking lately - I have been keeping up with reading all of your posts and I even got a sweet message from a blogger friend yesterday morning saying she was praying and thinking about me - that means so much. We need lots of prayer right now as we are making some big decisions which I cant talk about right now but I will blog about as soon as I can say.... mostly I have been slacking cause we have been really really busy... its hardly even into the summer and our schedules have gotten busier and busy is fun yes but leaves not alot of "down" time... so I have pictures to post from my nieces dance recital this past weekend but for today I want to just think about my husband and remember our special day 2 years ago.

Busy Week...

What a busy week I have had but it has been alot of fun but man oh man am I a tired girl today or what. We had a lovely weekend visiting and my ice cream dessert was a hit so I definitely will be making it again - now I can't wait to be invited over to someone house so I can make it again... Then on Monday my husband plays softball so he had an early game which was nice then we came home and my sister my mom and I all watched the Bachelorette - I just have to say I really liked Jillian last year on the Bachelor and I still think shes a very beautiful and sweet girl but so far some of her men choices as in who she keeps and who she lets go have made me very disappointed - like what is she thinking?? oh well - then my sister spent the night on Monday so that was fun. Then on Tuesday my grandma came over and my mom my sister, my grandma and myself headed to Toronto for the night for dinner and to see "The sound of Music" and let me tell you it was amazing. I now want my husband to take me again - I just love seeing shows partly because I used to do some (on a much smaller scale) and I just love all the singing and acting - it makes me miss it so much.

* I do have pictures of the evening and I will post them as soon as I can find my camera cord*

Then Wednesday was my sisters birthday - HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BEST SISTER EVER for real!! and hubs and I went out for what was suppose to just be "coffee" even though the girls drank tea with my cousin and her fiance... well he shut the coffee shop down at 11 - man how time flys when your enjoying yourselves... Now it's Thursday and I feel exhausted and can't believe Friday is tomorrow - I have to get laundry and packing done tonight as we head to the cottage tomorrow as my husband is in a fishing tournament again this weekend. Busy lives we are living these days but I wouldn't trade them for the world. We have some other exciting and nerve racking "Stuff" going on right now in our lives to - so we are just praying and really waiting quietly and patiently to see God's leading as to what we should do. I will post more on it all when I can talk about it for now I ask that you just pray!! And I know some of you will and I love you for that. I also want to give a shout out to my new followers - I love meeting new people and I get so excited to see new people finding my simply, boring, sometimes exciting events of my life... Well enjoy your Thursday whatever the day may bring for you - and if it happens to be a rough and not enjoyable day hold your head high because the weekend is right around the corner!!