25 Days of Song Day 02

Day 02 - A Song That Reminds You of Your Most Recent ex-boyfriend/girlfriend
  Um... I don't have any boyfriends. Or ex-boyfriends. Blech. Ew. No. Scratch that!

Day 02 - A Song That You Can Clean Up The Kitchen To - "Welcome to the Show" by Britt Nicole. It's one of the more "pop-y" songs on the album The Lost Get Found, and I love to listen to fast, loud music whilst washing dishes and sweeping. :) I often get caught lip-sinking. And singing. Loudly. (Have you started to notice the pattern here?)

25 Days of Song

Folks, it's time you knew the truth. I do not only sing A LOT, I pretty much cannot go over two hours without singing. Sometimes, it's a blessing, sometimes, it's a curse. (I am miserable when I can't sing.) My friend Rebecca posted a 25 Day Song Challenge, so I thought I'd copy her, since that kind of thing is right up my alley. :) Here we go!

Day 01 -- A Song From Your Childhood:

   "Here I Am," from the Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron movie. This was my favorite horse movie of all time until Secretariat came out. Now it is still a close second. And I still sing the songs with gusto. :) 

My Squeaky Bed: A Reminder to be Thankful

I'll be completely honest with you: yesterday was not a good day for me. I was short, snappy, and harsh with everyone. I didn't even have a good reason to be upset! I climbed into bed last night, still grouching. Let me tell you, my bed squeaks. A lot. Not loudly, but just enough to keep me awake. Sometimes it's hard to fall asleep no matter what side of the bed I'm on, because of all the creaks and screechiness. As I was laying there complaining about my creaking bed, the reason I was so irritable all day finally clicked:
   I wasn't being thankful.
That may sound too "simple," but really, being thankful can make a BIG difference. Especially when you are thankful for the things that bug you. Right away, I prayed out loud, "Lord, thank you for my squeaky bed, because I'm not sleeping on a dirt floor." Then I listed off some other things that I daily take for granted.
  Today, my focus was to be thankful, and it really helped my attitude. Here's just a few things from my list...

Today, I am thankful for:

• warm socks
• sweaters
• wax for my braces (because without it, I'd be pretty miserable.)
• a heating system in the house that WORKS
• the U.S. postal service
• running cars
• personal health/well-being
• milk
• my wonderful (albeit loud) siblings
• I don't have to worry about bomb-raids at night
• hot cocoa
• my cat, Franklin
• a dishwasher!!!
• hot soup
• my copy of The Complete Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
• books
• the fact that I have the right to learn in this country, even though I am a girl
• grace from God, that yesterday's mistakes do not dictate today's joy
• friends that encourage me to walk uprightly and to love the Lord

And last but foremost: MY REDEEMER LIVES! That is the best and often the last thing on our minds to be thankful for! 

  I also found this video from Messy Mondays to be a funny, yet very convicting and helpful clip!

So go ahead, I dare you-- Write down a list of things that bug you, and find a way to be thankful for them! Feel free to comment below with some of them too!

-SG

A Mopping Epiphany

  Strange title, you're probably thinking. Right now, I'm waiting for the floor to dry so that I can rescue the kitchen chairs from their perch atop the dining room table. I tend to carry out a lot of midnight mopping around here. No, my parents are not slave-drivers, it's just my fault for not doing it earlier in the day. I do have reasons: A) it's nice to think that it will stay clean for at least 7+ hours before someone gets it dirty again, and B) it gives me some nice quiet time to listen to an audio book or my music.
  Tonight, my soundtrack was Francesca Battistelli, and I stood there, one of her songs really hit me--BAM!

  ...He knows my name/

  I'm not living for applause/

  I'm already so adored/

  It's all His stage/

  He knows my name...

He knows my name. I've already heard this song, but I'm not really sure that it connected with my brain until just now. Standing with a mop in my hands, washing the kitchen tile, I realized that even if Mom doesn't notice the clean floor when she wakes up in the morning, (my little siblings most certainly will not notice), that God is watching me. Watching me scrub the floors and wash the dishes! The Creator of the Universe knows my name, and to Him, I am famous.
  Right now, I am struggling with being very self-conscious about the way I sound. I just got my bottom braces put on, and since I have a slight overbite, I also had to get some bite-guard thingees put up behind my front teeth to stop them from hitting my brackets when I bite down. As you can imagine, I now have a slight lisp. It's probably not as bad as I think, but it is noticeable when I talk or sing. Up until last Tuesday, my voice was my "one beauty" (as Jo March would say). I love to sing, and hearing myself lisp is pretty hard. I try to joke about it, and say that I sound like the beaver from Disney's Lady and the Tramp. ("Shaaaay! Thish works shwell!")
  But listening to those words tonight: "His forever, Held and Treasured ... I am loved..." Is a beautiful reminder that no matter what I sound like, or even if anyone's listening or watching, God sees me, sees through the lisp, and loves me just the same. I don't know about you, but I'd say not having to worry about what others think is pretty "shwell", because I have the kitchen floor as my stage, and God as my audience.