"children drop your chains and sing"

A benefit of having a brother and cousin (who are rather on the up-and-up when it comes to Christian contemporary music) is they keep you well-informed on the best songs out there. So when Daniel bought Tenth Avenue North's The Struggle c.d., I had high high hopes.

 Mike Donahey's music blesses me more and more the better I get to know it. This c.d. is full of wonderful songs, but one in particular I have taken as my catch-phrase for 2013...

"The Struggle"

"There's a wreckage, there's a fire

There's a weakness in my love

There's a hunger I can't control.

Lord I falter, and I fall down 

Then I hold onto the chains You broke

When You came down and saved my soul.

Save my soul."

This verse is my heart's cry when I'm hurting...it was David's heart's cry in the Psalms, and I think it is the prayer of every Christian at times. (And as a purely aesthetic thing, I love the play on S.O.S. "save our ship" turned to "Save my soul") This verse just pins those moments of temptation and weakness and mourning. Then comes the chorus:

"Hallelujah!

We are free to struggle,

We're not struggling to be free.

Your blood bought and makes us children

So children drop your chains and sing."

So profound. So beautiful. "We are free to struggle. We're not struggling to be free." When I first heard this song I got chills...and it's happened every time since. God's love for me. His passion and longing for His wandering people to repent and come home to His arms.// I love how the author of this song pegged the difference grace makes: as Christians we are free to struggle--the battle and war against and wrestle temptations. But we're not in bondage. We're not struggling to be free.

"So I look. Do I still fail?

Do I withold? Do I give into temptations?

On my own I am bankrupt

I will trust You. I will take You at Your word.

You promise."

Then the chorus again. A cry for the fulfillment of this promise from Jesus...and the piercing knowledge that He will give it. This promise, this oath, this glorious, incomprehensible grace. 

"Hallelujah, death is overcome

And we are breathing.

Hallelujah our stone hearts become flesh,

a flesh that's beating.

Hallelujah chains have been undone

and we are singing.

Hallelujah the fire has begun.

Can you feel it?"

The victory in this verse reminds me so of that passage in Romans: (8:38-39) 

"For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord."

"Hallelujah!

We are free to struggle,

We're not struggling to be free.

Your blood bought and makes us children

So children drop your chains and sing."

{Danceables}

Because sometimes it's fun just to listen to and dance to a whole playlist of random music that has no connection, save that it makes you smile. :)

{And by the way, I don't know anything about some of these artists--I just like this particular song of theirs. :}

Corinne Bailey Rae "Put Your Records On" 

--just heard this on Pandora--what a cute little song! Makes me happy. :)

JJ Heller's "Boat Song"...always a favorite. :)

"Waka Waka" by Shakira
{Sarah showed me this very danceable song after she did some Zumba with some friends. :D}

   

 Josh Turner "Why Don't We Just Dance" <3 

For Daniel & Abigail: "Lovin' You is Fun" by Easton Corbin

   

 Jack Johnson's "Banana Pancakes" :) 

Hee-hee! I couldn't resist. ;)

 What are you some of your fun-to-listen-to songs?

The Pursuit of Refinement

People used to think I was a girly-girl. Goodness. I thought I was a girly-girl. But I wasn't. (And I'm not.) We labored under the delusion that because I wasn't a tom-boy, I must be a girly-girl. But "everything pink" was not me and is not me. Sure, I like pink things and I like to look pretty and I love things that sparkle and glitter, but I'm not the typical girly-girl.

I don't like zebra stripes or tu-tus.

I don't wear high-heels when it's ridiculous to wear high-heels.

I don't get manicures and pedicures every weekend.

I didn't ever want a room that was entirely pink and frilly. (or at least, not in my memory)

There's nothing wrong with any of those things, but I'm just proving a point. I'm not a girly-girl. Got it? So what am I? Dear, dear. We've got a rather narrow mind, haven't we? Thinking girls can only be sloshed into one of two categories. I've discovered what to call the sophisticated, feminine strain in my personality. I call it:

The Pursuit of Refinement. 

"The Pursuit of Refinement" isn't prudish or wax-dollian or boring when exercised in its proper capacity. It simply means that my tastes are more refined, sophisticated, and cosmopolitan than they are flirty, giddy, and fluffy.

I admire multi-lingual people, and wish I knew French, German, or Italian.

I love polished wood and coffee shops.

I love travel, and talking about travel, and old suitcases.

I love big hats and tiny waists. (And I have neither. :P)

The idea of going to the theatre or an opera or a concert thrills me.

Red lipstick ought to come back into style.

Nights on the town (in the most innocent sense of that term) are my cup of tea.

I'd love to go to a horse-race someday.

I take fashion-inspiration from old actresses.

Bookstores hold my literary-heart in captivity.

"Effervescent" describes me to a "t": "vivacious, lively, sparkling"

City-life fascinates me.

Rich people fascinate me.

I read classics because I truly love them--not because I've been assigned a reading project.

I have a deep-seated desire to be "accomplished" in the manner of those good-old-days.

I love dressing up.

I prize cleverness and wit.

So I quote clever and witty people. ;)

Anyone who can play well on any instrument has my deep regard.

Intelligent conversation is a must.

I work at becoming a well-read person.

The Pursuit of Refinement inspires me to write, to draw, to sing, to dance, to visit historical houses and to be mindful of my posture. It lends magic to words like "masquerade," "ball," "tea," and "aristocrat." It gives me bourgeoisie satisfaction in truly clever things, and teaches me the difference between wit and wise-cracking. Of course my entire life is not about pursuing refinement, just as the girly-girl's life isn't all about painting her nails and the tomboy's life isn't all about paintball-ing. But it does lend a certain atmosphere to the ways I choose to cultivate my tastes, pleasures, and talents. :) So what sort of a girl are you? If you'd like, write your own blog post about it and leave a link in a comment. I'd love to read about your personality in this respect. <3

the boat song

I pretty much consider this the single cutest love-song/homemade music-video ever. JJ Heller and her hubby made it in their dining room with a few simple props, and came out with something beautiful, sweet, and happy. Watch it and be blessed. :) <3

It's up you New York! New York! :)

This post is in honor of two of my heart-dearest friends who are trotting off to New York City without me. ;) I hope they are going to have a fantabulous time and that they will come home and tell me oodles and oodles about this bucket-list destination of mine! :) I know Mare and Jo are going to dazzle NYC with their beauty, sophistication, and down-to-earth Virginian-ness. Have a blast, girls!

Mare and Jo are three and four from the left. :) 

♫"Start spreadin' the news...I'm leavin' today..."

"..I want to be a part of it--New York, New York..."

"These vagabond-shoes are longin' to stray..."

"...Right to the very heart of it--in old New York..."

"I wanna wake up in the city that doesn't sleep..."

"...To find I'm King of the Hill, top of the heap."

"These little-town blues are meltin' away..."

"I'll make a brand new start of it in old New York..."

"...If I can make it there I'll make it anywhere!"

"It's up to you! New York! New York!!!"♫

A Song for your Sunday :)

This song is the beautiful, poignant prayer that my soul cries every day to my Redeemer. I love it when a song's melody matches it's subject and words, and Michael W. Smith's "Lord Have Mercy" is one of those songs for me. :) It's like a modern-day Psalm in a way.

"Lord have mercy"

Michael W. Smith

Jesus, I've forgotten the words that You have spoken

Promises that burned within my heart have now grown dim

With a doubting heart I follow the paths of earthly wisdom

Forgive me for my unbelief

Renew the fire again

Chorus

Lord have mercy

Christ have mercy 

Lord have mercy on me

I have built an altar where I worship things of men

I have taken journeys that have drawn me far from You

Now I am returning to Your mercies ever flowing

Pardon my transgressions

Help me love You again

Repeat Chorus

I have longed to know You and Your tender mercies

Like a river of forgiveness ever flowing without end

I bow my heart before You in the goodness of Your presence

Your grace forever shining

Like a beacon in the night

Monday Praise :)

I thought it'd be a good way to start off a Monday by posting several of my favorite invigorating Worship songs. :) Nothing we need more on a Monday morning than a good dose of His perspective, right? :)

 "Your Great Name" Natalie Grant--definitely one of my favorite worship songs. :)

"My Redeemer Lives" by Hillsong

"Victory Chant" by Nicole C. Mullens. :)

The Little Pieces

I love the little pieces of Big Family Life. :)

...Singing "On the Street Where you Live" in man-voices with Sarah...

...5 year-old Grace running to me crying and saying, "Benjamin is singing the ominous song!"...

...The fact that the kids can organize a full-out baseball game at any time just using a few of the 17 kids living on this piece of land...

...Comparing how far we are through our current reading project with a sister...

...Kids stealing licks from the cookie-dough bowl...and me threatening to cut off their fingers. ;)

...Singing "Amazing Grace" [William Wilberforce style] with Sarah while the kids are trying to do school, and watching them stare at us like we've lost it for good this time...

...baby giggles...

...baby dimples...

...baby yawns...

...babies in general...

...The Magnificent Wardrobe swap with sisters and Mama...

...finding that my siblings have slipped into my fictional characters without asking permission...

...making a meal and having it monstrously appreciated...

...sharing that, "I know what you're thinking" look with a sister...

...Quoting period-dramas and movies in general...

...the stinkin' amazing sense of humor most of us were endowed with...

...commandeering a vase full of brilliantly colored daffodils [picked by a sister] and falling asleep with them on my nightstand in a sheen of moonlight...

...watching the romantic scenes in North & South and realizing that not all of us girls could lay claim to Mr. Thornton, even if he was real. :D

Yep. Life's good.

And so the Christmasing Begins... :)

Christmas has always been one of my favorite times of the year. :) So many of my childhood memories are linked to our traditions and the simple joys of this season...each ornament on our tree is so much more than a decoration--it links the present with the past and takes me back to feeling like a little girl. [Though I am no so very ancient now.]
From this point on to Christmas I am always busy making gifts for family and friends--at first through necessity from having no money at all, and now by habit and preference, though this year money is an issue. I love the challenge of making something amazing without spending a red cent. I have a huge [relatively] present in the works for a dear friend of mine, and I will post pictures of it tomorrow night or Saturday morning--after I've given it to her. I am proud to say that I will have spend all of about...10 cents (if that) on this present, but if I was selling it I'd go for....a whole lot more. I ought to patent the idea and make millions. ;)
But back to Christmas--In recent years my satisfaction as far as gifts go has gone far more into making them than into receiving them, though I love to get gifts as well. There is a supreme happiness and rightness in spending hours on a gift for another person. I could make the same exact gift for myself but there would be little contentment in that--why would I want to keep it when I know it will make that person so happy? :)
As this post is already disjointed and rambling and doesn't know Where It's Going, I will kick off two more random points.
Point One: I am loving Michael Buble's Christmas music this year...his voice is just so classic and vintage and perfect for all my beloved carols!

Michael Buble "White Christmas" 

(One of my favorites! Gotta listen to it! :)

Point Two: Click here to read Mr. Woodhouse's opinion on what a lover should give his beloved for the 12th day of Christmas! :D (Thanks to Miss Georgiana Darcy for pointing me to it!)