So...small factoid about me...I LOVE LOVE LOVE acoustic guitar. I even own a Taylor and took lessons for a few months...after that, life happened (literally)...and well, it's a little tough to play guitar on top of a big baby belly...6 years later, I still haven't taken another single lesson. But I will. I definitely will. I'm getting the itch again and bands like this inspire.
Check out my "background music" for a sampling of this incredible new band.
This song came on the radio on my way home from RU last night...and was the first song I heard this morning when I got into my car to go yard saling...
It may be coincidence but I prefer to think that God sends me love songs...
At the very least, he allows them to be playing on the radio (in this case, Word FM) when I need them most...
The song following this one this morning was this
I love these lyrics:
We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things
Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise
We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe
Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise
When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home
Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the achings of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise
Last night in RU, we had an AWESOME message from Mitch Zejac (aka the most amazing preacher that I have EVER heard and he's not even a preacher!)
He spoke about how Satan is on the loose seeking whom he may devour...especially those in who's lives God is working the hardest... I know that we feel him working in our family every day... He's on a mission to steal our joy. And honestly, he's been winning!
Cue attitude change... We don't have to give the devil place in our lives just because he wants one!
It's hard though...it's hard to feel beaten down...defeated...lost... It's hard not to succumb when life throws crap at us and we feel like "what's the point?"
The POINT is...the point in ALL of this life is...GOD'S GLORY! It's all for his glory...
I'm terrible at explaining what I mean sometimes but let me try for a second anyway...
I do not think that it's a coincidence that every single person God used as an example in the Bible was someone who was BROKEN. It is only when we are broken that we rely on him FULLY which is really sad when you think about it. How often do we break down and cry because God has been sooooo good to us... life has been awesome... happy days all around... No, usually, when things are going well, God sorta gets put back in the "first aid kit" for the next time we get a spiritual, emotional, mental or even physical boo boo. When we are hurting and we turn to him, that is when we really ALLOW him to work and HE gets the GLORY! That may seem selfish of him and guess what?! It is...but not in a bad way. According to the Bible, God is a jealous God...but he is a PERFECT God so the kind of jealous that he's referring to is of the righteous kind. He created us FOR HIMSELF anyway...of COURSE he wants us to rely on him! It's through our trials that HE can shine the brightest!
Think about it this way...
Yes, we can look at someone who has it all...good job, great family, impeccable health...loads of success...and think, wow, God has really blessed them...praise the Lord.
But how much GREATER is God magnified when someone was broken...poor...desolate...DESPERATE...addicted...rejected...sick...lost...and then God touches them and they are made WHOLE again???
I have had the thought that I think that people who are saved later in life actually get the better deal than someone who was saved as a child...someone who was raised in a Christian home...went to church all growing up etc...someone who lived in a spiritual bubble, so to speak.
When you go through hell...it makes you appreciate your salvation so much more!
Some people struggle to understand what they were saved from because they have never known trial...REAL TRIAL!
Have you ever met someone who truly KNOWS what they were saved from?! It's POWERFUL! What a gift!!!
Aside from trials when you aren't saved...those that bring you to God for your salvation...there are also the trials that Christians go through - the Christian life is not one that is perfect FOR SURE! In fact, sometimes I think that the trials are WORSE than that of someone who isn't a Christian. Satan doesn't care about "bothering" someone who isn't going to point others to Christ. BUT...if you are doing HIS will...LOOK OUT. Whatever it may be...you don't have to be working in the church to get attacked...you could just be trying to eat healthier in the name of protecting HIS temple (1 Corinthians 6:19) or you could be trying not to overreact when a proverbial "thorn in your side" tries to get to you (I know this one WELL). It really could be anything...your car could get hit in your work's parking lot for the 5th TIME (and you think...why am I the only one getting hit?) or your child could be diagnosed with cancer (and you think...why US...why MY CHILD?!). OR...you have an overabundance of ANTS attacking your house with seemingly no rhyme or reason. Or your husband or wife has decided that enough is enough and attorney's have been called...papers have been filed...lives have been turned upside down. All of these trials can make us or break us...in the truest sense. We can use them to destroy our lives or we can use them to promote God's glory. We do this through our attitudes. And is it easy...NO (I actually wanted to say HELL NO but it didn't seem appropriate - haha)! Horrible, in fact. So many times, I have turned to God in ANGER instead of humbleness and a open spirit to His teaching ...I have obstructed God's glory by having a bitter attitude. Do you know that the world especially looks at Christians in times of trial? They are looking for us to MESS UP! Because then it solidifies in their minds that the Christian life is really no better than the unbelieving one.
This post is mostly a reminder to me...but if you glean anything positive from it, I'm happy for that too.
Here's to working on our attitudes...realizing that God has bigger plans for us if we rely on him through our trials...
"[We] were meant for so much more than all of this"...but we have to rely on Him to find out what it is...
Ya know how you'll be rolling along in your car and all of the sudden your song (or jam, whichever you prefer) will come on the radio and your day almost instantly gets brighter? I'll tell you what...music can make you go from crappy to happy in 3 minutes flat...(and I suppose the opposite is also true - but let's not dwell on that)
Here are "MY SONGS" (& artists) for Summer 2011
Bruno Mars "The Lazy Song"
"Just the Way You Are" (This is Natalie's song and whenever it comes on, we all serenade each other...as loudly as humanly possible)
;)
Adele "Rolling in the Deep"
Sara Bareilles "King of Anything" (this song could really be my life's theme song)
Hot Chelle Rae "Tonight Tonight" (This song makes me smile and giggle like a silly person)
One Republic "Good Life"
Old School Jason Mraz
"The Remedy" "Curbside Prophet"
Dave Matthews Band
"Crash Into Me" (Because it's my all time FAVORITE song)
Jennifer Lopez
"On the Floor"
Katy Perry "ET"
The Script
"We Cry" (and everything else they do cause I love 'em like that)
The Black Eyed Peas
"Just Can't Get Enough"
"I Gotta Feeling"
Anything at all by Dido...the greatest most underrated female artist of all time
What are YOURS?
:)
XO
P.S. I took the liberty to add these songs to my playlist somewhere over there -------->>> just in case you wanna listen...
(Warning: Some of these songs may not be appropriate for little ears which is why I tend to roll deep with the Veggie Tales when my chitlins are in tow...FYI)
In winter of 2003, I stepped out of my comfort zone and ran straight into my husband. On our second date (NYE 2003/4), a random girl came up to me and told me that he was my soul mate. 4 months later, we were engaged. 2 months after that, we were married. I picked up my entire life and moved 10 hours South...away from everything I've ever known. 6 months after that, we had our first son, Nicolas. 5 months after that, we found out that we were expecting our daughter. My husband could not and still does not believe that she is a girl. ;) We've lived in 2 states, 4 homes and have had 3 children in 7 years. All three of our children were born before our 4 year wedding anniversary. We welcomed Noah on my birthday in 2008. Best birthday present. EVER.
Presently -
We are settled in Chester County, PA...close to all of our family and friends in a home that we love and enjoy making our own.
Us -
Jeremy, who was a sergeant in the Marine Corps when I met him, is now self-employed, plays the piano and is an avid outdoors man. He bow hunts for whitetail in the fall and winter months and fishes (semi-pro style) the rest of the year.
Jennifer enjoys the privilege of being a full-time stay at home mom. She loves all things HOME, interior design, photography, chai tea, yard sales, blogging, reading, quotes, music, New England and good vampires.
Our Kiddos -
Nicolas (6) aspires to be a major league baseball player, fishes with his daddy and enjoys stalking deer (with bow and arrow in hand) in our backyard.
Natalie (5) is our super smarty pants. She enjoys art, Barbie's, spending time with grandma (x's 2) and CHOCOLATE.
Noah is 3. That really should sum him up. lol He loves his blankie, being tickled, coloring on walls, breaking things and eating...us out of house and home.
We are a household of faith and God is ultimately at the center of everything we do.
What's New? -
We've begun a new journey this fall with homeschooling...it's a nerve racking venture but we're excited about it!
The Blog -
This blog is a creative outlet for Jennifer in which she writes about our life in general...from the marvelous to the mediocre...the miraculous to the mundane.
Welcome to A Fine Romance. We're so happy you're here!
image from...........oh you know where! 
