It's About that Time

Sometimes time goes faster than we expect it to.  This past year has surprisingly, flown by.  While I feel like I've made a lot of personal growth, there is still plenty God is trying to teach me.  One of them is still trusting in his timing.  I can get so wrapped up in my own agenda and all the pointless things I think I need to do, that sometimes I forget to listen to what he wants me to do.

God gets peoples' attention in different ways.  This week I got sick.  Not so sick I needed to go to the doctor, but sick enough that I needed to take a couple days off to rest and get better.  All the things I was rushing around trying to accomplish or the things I thought were important, really weren't.  Not being able to find a good foundation?  Not important.  Getting caught up on tv shows?  Certainly not high on his list of priorities for me.  Now I'm forced to stay in and have plenty of time to listen to what he's saying.

I've been dealing with a lot of anxiety and feeling overwhelmed at times.  I just need to take the time to remember - God's timing, not my own.  He will provide what I need when I need it as long as I trust in him.  His path for me is far greater than what I could ever map out.  This new fork in the road that I've been on for the past year has been incredibly tough, but it has strengthened me and changed me for the better.

I know I can count on him to continue to give me strength and get me through all those twist and turns, I just have to take the time to listen.  To slow down.  To pray.  To be patient.  To be still.

Because it is God's timing - not my own.

The Importance of Bedtime

Sometimes God keeps you up past your bedtime.

Sometimes he asks you to do things outside of your comfort zone.

Sometimes he'll have you laughing and crying at the same time.

Sometimes he will send shivers down your spine because you realize, he wants my attention.

The Almighty Father.

The creator of the heavens and the earth.

He's tapping my shoulder.  On purpose.

And that's sometimes they all happen well past my bedtime.

And it's pretty darn cool.

Thank you father for loving me.  For getting my attention.  For reminding what is important.  For what is going to make my heart and faith so much stronger.

It's All in Your Head

I love music.  I soundtrack most of my day in my head.  I sing as often as I can.  Put a piano in front of me in an empty room and I go to town.  I was raised in a house where music was important and also a constant.  While we aren't a musically inclined family per se, we have a profound love for it in all of its forms.  One of my favorite lines in a movie comes from Elizabethtown when Claire states that some music needs air.  I have loads of songs that I believe sound better with the windows rolled down and a warm breeze dancing through your fingertips.  But, I also have some songs that change into a whole other thing when you listen to them in the quiet of a dark room with your headphones on.  It doesn't matter how fancy (or not fancy they are).  There's something about a song playing just for you.  Only you are hearing it that exact way at that exact moment.  You can focus on all the little intricacies in the instrumentation.  The lyrics are streaming directly into your ears.  For me it is kind of a magical experience.  So, I share with you some of these songs that I urge you to try through your headphones.

Explosions - Ellie Goulding

All This Time - OneRepublic

XO - Beyonce

Fell in Love Without You (Acoustic) - Motion City Soundtrack

Tornado - Jonsi

Be Still - The Fray

If I Lose Myself (Acoustic) - OneRepublic

Down in the Valley - The Head and the Heart

Possibility - Lykke Li

Til the World Ends - Britney Spears

Welcome Home - Radical Face

All of the Lights - Kanye West

Helpless - Mads Langer

Hang With Me (Acoustic) - Robyn

My Love - Sia

The Weight of Us - Sanders Bohlke

Last Time - Paper Route

Down - Jason Walker

Time of Your Life - Green Day

The General Specific - Band of Horses

Even if you aren't a headphones kind of person - give them a try!  What are some of your favorites?

Welcome 2014