I'm A Belieber

Hello. My name is Katie, I'm 27 years old, and I am officially a Justin Bieber fan.

A few months I ago, I knew nothing more of Justin Bieber than the fact that he was the newest teeny bopper out there and that he was the new protege of Usher Raymond.

I'd heard his songs, hummed along in my car, but never really thought twice about it.

Then the kid's career BLEW UP.

A couple of years ago, this kid was singing covers on YouTube. Now, he's selling out Madison Square Garden. And not just that, he did it quicker than anyone probably ever has. He set his sights on performing at MSG a year ago and just a few months ago, he did it. In 22 minutes.

How do I know all of this? I saw the movie yesterday. In 3-D. (Who knew my first 3-D movie would feature the Biebs?)

Now I'm not like one of those preteen fans crying at the mere sight of the kid, but after seeing this film, I have mad respect for the guy. This kid is ultra-talented. No, seriously. He was given a drum when he was three and just started banging on it with impeccable rhythm. Impeccable. He sings, he dances, he plays four instruments (maybe more). The guy is good at everything he does - basketball, yo-yo, music.

He's got GOD-given talent and he knows Who gave it to him.

His work ethic is something I wish every 15-year old could have. If that were the case, this world would be unrecognizable.

But not only that, he's genuine. He's humble. He's just a kid doing what he was born to do. Sitting there watching that movie last night, the passion that Justin Bieber has for what he's doing and who he is doing it for, radiated from the screen.

When you are born to do something, no one can stop you from doing it. It's all you want to do and you're not happy if you aren't do it.

Justin Beiber embodies that very sentence.

Call me a bandwagon fan. I don't care. All board. I'm taking that wagon straight to Happy Town.

Today calls for a repost of a video from three years ago. His body is like Disneyland and he'll make barbeque when you want him to. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you....Dave Barnes.

This Makes Me Happy

Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors have to be my new favorite music group. I've got to say, I had really never heard of them until the Dave Barnes Christmas Tour, and from the moment Ellie Holcomb (she reminds me of Brooke White) opened her mouth to sing, I knew they would be on heavy rotation on my iPod. These two are mega talented and their music is so good. Here's the music video for their new single, "Fire and Dynamite". Their new record comes out next week, and I can. not. wait.

Til I'm Home

I've just come home from an incredible night of worship and prayer at my church. I can't thank God enough for moving me to Birmingham five years ago and placing this church and its people in my life. I am have been truly changed by the truth that has been spoken into my heart and that truth then coming alive in my life.

One of those people who has completely spoken truth into my life has been Mandi Mapes. God has totally used Mandi to transform my heart and she doesn't even know. I barely know her. Maybe have spoken two words to her in a choir practice. But, she is just one part of the amazing worship team at Brook Hills. God has gifted Mandi in so many ways, with the voice of an angel, the ability to play many instruments, but most importantly, the mind and the heart to create music and lyrics that completely speak the heart of God's people.

Mandi has been leading worship for about three years now, and after much waiting from our faith family, she has finally put out a full-length album. It's entitled Til I'm Home and you can get it at iTunes. And I urge you to get it.

Much of what Mandi writes tells the story of redemption through Jesus Christ and points us to our eternal home. The chorus of one of her songs pleads:

"This world is not my home,

I'm a stranger in this country,

Jesus in me, won't you pour me out.

I'm ready to abandon all my shiny things,

my family and this American dream

Lord, come take it all from me

until there's nothing left but you."

If that's not a prayer for the life that we should be living I don't know what is.

Over the holidays, I finished reading John Eldredge's book Desire. It's a fantastic read and I recommend it to everyone. But it struck a chord with me personally because it hit straight to the heart of what I've been dealing with over the last couple of years.

I've been struggling with what my purpose is in this life. I feel called to greater things that what I'm doing right now and that's hard for me because I've worked so hard (and my parents have shelled out a lot of money) to get where I am right now. Now, I feel God calling me to a completely different arena.

I've talked (read: blogged) a lot about how my desires have slowly become what God desires and how my perspective on that has completely changed. Eldredge points out that we shouldn't be afraid of desire because desire fuels life and prayer and accomplishment. If we don't desire anything, then we are dead in our tracks. It's what we do with that desire that is the key.

He writes:

"The clue to who we really are and why we are here comes to us through our heart's desire. But it comes in surprising ways, and often goes unnoticed or is misunderstood. Once in a while life comes together for us in a way that feels good and right and what we've been waiting for. These are moments in our lives that we wish could go on forever. They aren't necessarily the "Kodak moments"...More often than not they come in subtler, unexpected ways, as if to sneak up on us...Something in your heart says, Finally--it has come. This is what I was made for."

"...even though we sleep, our desire does not. It is who we are. We are desire. It is the essence of the human soul, the secret of our existence. Absolutely nothing of human greatness is ever accomplished without it."

I don't want to give too much of the book away but the basic take-away I got from the book was that my desire should draw me closer to God, not because I'm pleading with him for that desire to be fulfilled (which we should be doing anyway), but because my desire should be rooted in God in the first place.

If we are followers of Christ, then we are heirs of God's kingdom. I never really understood what that meant until I read this book.

"...when Genesis declares we are God's image, it is describing not certain qualities of our character but capacities of our nature. This is why when the essence of our likeness to God is announced, it is in the context of our position upon the earth, our place in creation....Our original design was for a life of creative rule, to share in the overall care and development of God's creation."

"His plan is for us to develop, as apprentices to Jesus, to the point where we can take our place in the ongoing creativity of the universe." (The Divine Conspiracy, Dallas Willard)

When we all get to heaven (sing it with me now, WHAT A DAY OUR REJOICING THAT WILL BE!), we won't just be sitting around strumming harps and eating an unlimited supply of Krispy Kreme donuts with no consequences. We will be participating in the ongoing production that is the creation and sustainment of the universe.

WHAT?!? How cool is that? We will be apprentices to Jesus! Jesus doesn't just sit on a throne next to his dad and watch life go on like it's an Oscar-nominated drama. He's directing the entire show, people! Therefore, if we are co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17) and made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26), we won't be spectators in heaven. We will be participants.

I don't know about y'all but that makes me PUMPED to get to heaven.

So, with that said, how do I get to heaven. We'll I've already taken the first step (enter into a relationship with Christ). The second step? Either I die, or Jesus comes and gets me. Those are my choices.

I kind of think it would be cool to be alive when Jesus comes and gets me. No joke. But how do I make that happen?

Well, the Bible tells us that Jesus ain't coming back until the whole world has heard His name. When the ends of the earth are reached for him, and all the work that he started here is complete, then he'll come back. (Matthew 24:14)

So what does that mean for me?

In words of Niecy Nash, I better "git to gittin'."

Y'all, the gospel isn't going to get up on a Delta airplane and ship itself to the Middle East. And it's not going to put on suit and walk into your workplace tomorrow and share itself with your co-workers. Actually, if God wanted it that way, he'd make it happen. I mean there is that "the rocks will cry out" verse in the Bible.

But what a privilege it is that God has picked us out to be his instruments to carry the gospel to the ends of the earth.

We were once the ends of the earth. Just ask that Columbus guy.

So, in conclusion (because obviously I'm writing a thesis here), what are you going to do with your desire?

Your Weekly Sing-Off Indulgence

So I love my Committed boys from Alabama and they did fantastic this week. But Street Corner Symphony is quickly edging out The Backbeats for my second favorite. Except I really want to learn how to beatbox like that girl Courtney from The Backbeats. Anyway, everybody killed it on last night's show but SCS was just so good. So they win the honor of being spotlighted on el bloggo this week.



And they win an extra award for having a John Lennon doppleganger. Except it was especially freaky this night.



Jeremy Lister's voice is just genius. God knew what he was doing with that one.

Sing Off

If you're not watching this show called "Sing Off" on NBC, then you'd better have something serious going on.

Y'all, these white boys from Oregon (On The Rocks) just rocked some T.I. and Rhianna. Rocked. It.

There's also a group from Nashville called Street Corner Symphony. But really, they are reppin' Mississippi because the Lister boys, Jeremy and Adam, are from Madison.

Committed is from Huntsville. That's in Alabama, y'all. And they are basically reppin' God because well, that's why they are named committed. They said they are committed to God first, each other second and music third. And there are some kind of good.

Then there's this other group, I forget what they are called. But they have a female lead singer who is insanely talented.

So, watch it.

Now.

Because I said so.

Have I ever led you astray?

Blog-Linkity Goodness 12.1.10

On this Wednesday, I share with you:

1. Our Fox channel here in Birmingham, spotlighted my church recently and talked to our pastor about what we call The Radical Experiment. I know it's reached people across the U.S. and around the world because we hear stories from those people and pray for those people every Sunday. I have to say I'm humbled by what I'm seeing God do throughout this process and very thankful that I'm being led by such a man as David Platt, along with other men who have a passionate commitment to making disciples of all nations. Click here to see the news package and here if you have 24:06 to watch the raw video of his interview.

2. If you haven't gotten Dave Barnes' Christmas album "A Very Merry Christmas", you need to drop what you are doing and go to iTunes or Dave Barnes' website and get it NOW. Seriously. My Christmas music collection never knew what it was missing until baby came along. His original songs are amazing and his version of "The Christmas Song" is chasing Avalon's for best version ever made. And his video for "Christmas Tonight" has everything, including Jennifer Lowe Hewitt. Watch it now.




3. If you didn't see my post about fashionABLE or if you did and don't remember where you can get a scarf, go here. Y'all they are cutie-patooty and are for a great cause. I just ordered mine Monday and can't wait for it to arrive.

4. Annie Downs' book, From Head To Foot, comes out in SEVEN days, people. That's exciting. It's her first and I know it won't be her last. It's geared toward teenage girls but I know the themes in her book will touch all women, young and old. This is a writer I admire so so much, who inspires me to take hold of what God has for me, and who I consider one of my spiritual heroes. If you have a teenage girl in your life who is facing or about to face those tough, yucky teenage-y years, this would be a great gift for her.

5. If you haven't seen the video for David Crowder's song, "Shine", consider this your Christmas gift from me.



6. And what's an editioni of Blog-Linkity Goodness without a link to SCL. Jon Acuff hit the nail on the head with this serious Wednesday post about when things in life don't go exactly as you planned.

Music & Film

Just two things I'm excited about today:

1. My church just released a brand new original worship CD. Go listen. Buy it. And marvel at how God is using the people in my faith family for His glory.



Every song is my favorite but I'll go ahead and say "In Your Arms", "Redeemer", and "Hallelujah" will change. your. life.

2. Did you know they were making "Blue Like Jazz" into a movie? And then did you hear that it fell through because they couldn't fund it? And then did you hear that it's back in production now because a bunch of people got together and raised the remaining money?

Yeah.

I'm excited.

That is all.

Sing, Sing A Song

I've been formulating this list for about, oh...the last 18 years of my life. That would mean that I started the list of "Katie's Top 10 Favorite Songs Ever In Life" when I was eight. These were the thoughts of eight-year-old Katie. Do you know my mother?

You'll be surprised, or at least my dad will be surprised, to know that only two showtunes ended up on the list. That's a great feat for this list, considering my life revolved around musicals for the first third of my life. It's basically all I watched, along with "Follow That Bird", "Muppets Take Manhattan" and "The Care Bear Movie".

So here it is, people. It all its deeply thought out glory.

I give you...

Katie's Top 10 Favorite Songs Ever In Life (so far)"

1. "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" from The Wizard of Oz -- The Judy Garland version of the Katherine McPhee version. It doesn't matter. This is my favorite movie in the whole world so it's only fitting that it's my favorite song. Since I was a little I wanted to be Dorothy Gale and stage on a stage and since this song. In high school, my dream became reality.

2. "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond -- One day I will sing this with a throng of Boston Red Sox faithful at Fenway Park after the top of the eighth inning. For now, I'll settle on begging Hollie to play it at every baseball game and leading the fans in the crucial crowd participation parts.

3. "Piano Man" by Billy Joel -- Seriously, who didn't/doesn't want to be a piano (wo)man. I did. I started playing piano by ear when I was six before my mom put me in lessons for the next five years. Although, I hated practicing and would have rather played whatever I wanted to, I wish I'd applied myself a little more so that I could've been really, really good. I still have to fight the urge to sit down and play whenever I'm in the vacinity of a piano that isn't my own. I miss it terribly and wish I had one in my apartment. Billy Joel was just one of the amazing artists on rotation in the cassette decks of my parents' cars when I was a wee one. I remember watching one of his concerts on television when I was about four or five, probably Live From Leningrad USSR since that aired on HBO in 1987. Although he's been shrowded by controversy for a while now, I still think Billy Joel is a musical genius no matter what kind of person he his.

4. "Saturday In The Park" by Chicago -- Chicago was and will always be one of my top four favorite bands. Chicago was the other artist on mega rotation in the Walden cassette players when I was a kid. And I used to associate any Chicago song as "beach music" because it always conjures up memories of family vacations at the beach, I guess because we listened to it a lot there. This song is my particular favorite because you can't just listen to it and not be happy. Of course, now it reminds me of my Tuesday afternoon in Central Park last summer with my family and our tour guide Kumar.

5. "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" by Stevie Wonder -- You just can't deny Stevie a place on the list. Seriously. I could've put any of his songs on here but this one just gets into my soul and makes me believe that I really could make it as a back-up singer. I've got that harmony down to a science.

6. "Ants Marching" or "Two Step" by Dave Matthews -- Well, it's Dave Matthews. Nothing more to say.

7. "Jesus Will Still Be There" by Point of Grace -- This is one of the first songs I ever sang in church and it became my theme song, I guess you could say. I sang it several times when I was in youth group. It spoke to my heart then and it speaks to my heart now.

8. "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen (the Hope for Haiti version by Justin Timberlake and Charlie Sexton) -- I really don't know what to say about this song but that there is just something that pulls me to it. Maybe it's the beautiful melody. I don't know.

9. "Defying Gravitiy" from Wicked -- I really don't think that this needs explaining.

10. "Children Go Where I Send Thee" -- This song will forever and always scream Stone Family Christmas for me. It's my favorite staple in the Christmas Eve sing-along and it just conjures up warm memories for me.

Almost making the list:
"Grace's Amazing Hands" by Dave Barnes
"Get It Like You Like It" by Ben Harper
"Tears of the Saints" by Leeland
"Hosanna" by Hillsong United
"Midnight Train To Georgia" by Gladys Knight and the Pips
"Winter Snow" by Audrey Assad

Blog-Linkity Goodness 9.10.10

So really, the blog neglect is out of control. But considering that I'm a little overwhelmed with life right now to be able to form complete sentences that might entertain the four people that read this, I'm going to go ahead and tell myself that it's okay.

However, I'm back today with another edition of Blog-Linkity Goodness. And trust me, there's some mega goodness today.

- Bryan Allain lives in Amish country and often times documents his sighting on his blog. This time he got video of them enjoying a little volleyball. I know it shouldn't be funny, but it just is.

- It was the bad call heard around the world. MLB umpire Jim Joyce's blown call last week that erased Detroit Tiger Armando Galarraga's perfect game sent sports fans, and non-sports fans, into an upheaval over whether the call should be reversed. Both Joyce and Galarraga handled it amazingly. And instead of putting my own thoughts here, I thought I'd let a professional do it. Here's Donald Miller's take. And it's a good one.

- If you didn't see America's Got Talent the other night, this is about the only thing you missed. And it was amazing.



Thoughts:
1. Nick Cannon lied. EVERY light didn't go off.
2. I'd like to visit that fraternity house.
3. Um, wow.

- Improv Everywhere does it again. Their latest mission.



- I've said it before and I'll say it again, these kids are amazing. And that voice is coming out of a 10-year-old.



- This post of Jon Acuff's from Stuff Christians Like spoke straight to me heart yesterday. Sometimes we're okay with letting God take over the steering but we still want to control the speed.

- And finally, Dave Barnes made his soap opera debut on All My Children yesterday and he'll be on again today with a real speaking part. If you missed it, full episodes are on ABC.com or catch the replays on SOAPnet. This is huge and I hope it's just the jumping off point for him. Here's a little behind the scenes look from Dave.


Y'all have a great Thursday.

The Weekend That Was - Part 3

The final installment of "The Weekend That Was" features fantastic music, football players and fun friends.

At Kelly and Raymond's wedding, a friend from my church small group mentioned that she had a couple of free tickets to see Needtobreathe at Sloss Furnace on Sunday night. I had wanted to go to this concert all along when the concert was scheduled for Saturday but my friend Nicole and I had decided not to because it would almost be pushing it to get back from the wedding and then to the concert.

But the monsoon rains on Saturday forced the Sloss folks to postpone the

concert until Sunday night so Emily offered up some free tickets and Nicole and I gladly accepted. This made the third time that Nicole and I had seen Needtobreathe together. Tradition, anyone?

(L to R: Emily, Dana, Heather, Me and Nicole)

Needtobreathe has quickly become one of my favorite bands and they really do put on a great show. Matthew Mayfield (Birmingham native) opened for them (for the second show in a row that I've seen) and the kid is mega talented. So that was a plus.

The guy standing in front of me looked kind of familiar but I was with all of the people that I knew that liked Needtobreathe so I didn't think that it would be anyone I actually knew. Then, he turned to ask a question and it was none other than my assistant volleyball coach, Reggie. So it was fun to add another two people to our group and to introduce someone else to some great music. Reggie had never heard of Needtobreathe.

After Matthew Mayfield finished, there was a small break. I turned around to see how the crowd looked and I saw another familiar face. It took me a little longer to figure out who this guy was but once I figured it out, I was giddy like a school girl. Who was it?

This guy. Tyson Lee. And people, he is just a precious as he looks. I didn't get a picture with him because I thought that might be pushing it a little but I did talk to him for about 10 minutes and he was so very nice and interesting. He was more interested in learning about me than talking about himself and soaking up compliments, and that really impressed me.

So all in all, it was a good night. It was good times with good friends and good music with a little extra fun. And it was a great ending to a great weekend. I couldn't even remember when I had a weekend that I really enjoyed as much as I did that one.

Stay tuned for a pictures and recap of my trip to Charleston, S.C., for the SoCon Baseball Tournament. I may have it up by Christmas...if you're lucky.

American Idol - Simon's Last Word

Well, it's here. The last hurrah. The final two. And the last show where Simon will be able to make people fell like crap...at least until his new show airs.

I have to say that when I saw both of these people audition, I had a feeling that they would go very far. And they did. All the way to the final two. Whoever wins, these two are going to make some serious buck. They are both incredibly talented and extremely humble and they both deserve all of the blessings that they will receive.

So, without further ado...

THIS. Is American Idol.

Lee DeWyze

Lee's Pick: "The Boxer" - So glad he picked to do this one again because it really was my favorite from the season. And tonight was no different. I actually think it was better than the first time he did it and the first time was great. How funny that Ellen just said that too.

Simon Fuller's Pick: "Everybody Hurts" - Is this the first time that anyone has every done R.E.M. on this show? This is perfect song for his voice and you gotta love a good gospel choir behind you. That was really good. He has really gotten to where he can really show his passion through his performance.

P.S. Nice pep talk by Simon. I was vigorously nodding my head and now I'm ready to go score the winning TD.

Potential First Single: "Beautiful Day" - Okay, I was not expecting a cover song but I guess the written song last year didn't really do so well for Kris Allen because it was overflowing with cheese (Sorry, Kara!). And I just stop and say that I love his red Chucks. So. I loved this. And I will buy it. So he needs to win.

Crystal Bowersox

Crystal's Pick: "Me and Bobby McGee" - I feel the same about this one that I felt about Lee's. It was great the first time and even better this time. I agree with Simon that the past few weeks, Crystal has been a little bit off her game. Tonight, she was back on the horse.

Simon Fuller's Pick: "Black Velvet" - I haven't even heard the first note and I know this is a perfect song for her. Okay, it was the perfect song for her and overall I think it was good. I think there were a few parts were she really got excited and maybe over-sang it a little bit and it didn't really sound good. But that was a rockin' performance and the crowd was eating it up.

Potential First Single: "Up To The Mountain" - Well, that was delightful.

Here's the deal, I wish both could win. Crystal is incredibly talented but I think America loves Lee more. This is going to be a tight vote.

I don't know what else to say except...

Walden. Out.

Who do you want to win?

One Single Struggle

I started this post as another edition of Blog-Linkity Goodness but this one link I have to share kind of calls for a whole post of its own.

Let me preface...

Lately, I've been burdened a bit (read: a lot) by the direction my life is headed. I've prayed for many years Psalm 37:4.

"Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart."

I think for a long time I've just been praying the second half of that verse.

Recently, I've really been confronted with frustration about my singleness. If you would have asked me four years ago if I would still be single at the age of 26, I would have laughed in your face and told you my whole wedding plan.

Nowadays, I'll tell you my whole wedding plan, but I just am not laughing as hard anymore.

So many thoughts run through my head. My parents were married at my age. My sister was four years younger than me when she got married. All but two of my best friends are married. I see college friends who have now been married for four or five years and are now having their first or second child. Girls who were freshmen when I was a senior in college are married and having kids. I'm watching people live the life that I thought I would be knee deep in by now.

And it is a little bit disheartening. And I guess it is okay because that is the way God made me. He gave me these desires and these emotions for a reason.

However, over the last two or three years, I really started concentrated on the first part of that verse.

"Delight in the Lord."

For a large part of my life, I didn't really understand what that whole "delight" word was about. Except that is was half of the title of the best Stone family dessert - Chocolate Delight.

But God has recentlyshown up in my life in a way that I've never seen before. He has shown me things about myself and Himself that I had failed to notice before. And I think that I wasn't noticing those things because I wasn't looking for them and I had been distracted.

I'm a believer in the notion that nothing is coincidence. God has a purpose and plan for everything that happens in our life because it all fits in to His will to bring glory to His name.

I think the mixture of maturity and singleness, along with the grace of God and the love of family and friends, have made me who I am today. I think that at the end of high school and throughout my college career, I was distracted by the feeling of falling in love and finding a husband when I should have been actively pursuing my One True Love.

I had replaced desire to be loved and fulfilled by God, the one who loved me first and will never stop loving me, with the desire to fall in love to a guy and be married and start a family.

It's what every girl dreams of, right? The guy, the proposal, the ring, the dress, the church, the house, the picket fence.

What I have just become to grasp is that I've been going about it all wrong.

God has commanded us to love him with all our heart and soul and mind and strength and to love each other as we would love ourselves. THEN everything else flows from that.

I have realized that what I need to focus on is being in the center of God's will. After that, everything will fall in place. And if I'm not pursuing a relationship with God day after day, what the heck am I doing? Why would I not want to spend my time getting to know the person who created me, who knows my ins and outs and still loves me anyway. Isn't that really what all of us girls are looking for in a guy anyway?

You know, Psalm 37:4 is written the way it is written for a reason. In elementary school, we are taught cause and effect right? One thing leads to the other. If push the gas pedal on my car (cause), it goes (effect).

When we delight in God, when we actively pursue him and long to fall deeply in love with him, his desires become our desires.

I know there were times when I dated a guy and became interested in something that he was passionate about because he shared that passion with me. And vice versa. That's what happens in our relationship with God.

After "the break-up" my junior year of college, I really (surprising myself and taking a lot of advice from my sister) dove deep into God's word and tried to figure out where my fulfillment was coming from. Was it coming from God or was it coming from this boy? Before I could really figure that out, I became entangled in that relationship and again and never really learned that lesson. It took God transplanting me into a completely new life for me to figure out that was tapping into the wrong source of fulfillment.

So...I say all that to say this. This morning I stumbled upon, or shall I say, God led me to Jimmy Needham's website for a reason. Not only is this guy and talented musician who loves the Lord and writes about it from his heart, he's given his wife, Kelly - a girl who struggled with the same burden I am currently struggling with - an outlet to share her story and to encourage girls like me. The wisdom and humility in what she writes is overwhelming and I found myself feeling like I was reading the inside of my own heart.

I know that I'm not the only girl struggling with this burden because I know that I'm not the only girl out there who feels like the desires of her heart aren't being satisfied on the timeline that she thinks they should. So I wanted to share Kelly's Page with all of you fellow singles out there.

Kelly gives some amazing insight in how she walked through this struggle before meeting Jimmy and backs it up with some incredible scripture. As all things should be.

One of my favorite quotes (because I have a lot) from what she writes is this: "Instead of finding fulfillment in Jimmy, I found in him an incredible gift from God that daily turns my attentions back toward Jesus. I love that our God is a jealous God. he longs so much for our affection, that he won't give us anything that will threaten his place in our hearts."

I don't want my husband to be a distraction from my affection towards God. I want our relationship to be a gift that we praise him and give him glory for everyday of our lives. Because that kind of love only comes from God and only He alone is worthy of the glory.

The Weekend That Was - Part 1

So, now that it's been a week, I think that I've waited the appropriate amount of time to tell you guys about my last weekend. Don't you?

It really was one of the best weekends I've had in a long time. It was jam-packed full of fun stuff and I spent a lot of time with some great friends.

We'll start with Friday when my friend Lauren and I went to Workplay Theatre to see Ben Rector and Dave Barnes.

Enter monsoon rains.

Seriously, it had been predicted that the storm coming through would be one of the worst storms Birmingham had seen in years. I think someone missed the memo from God about the weather because although it did rain a whole lot here, and thunder and lightning, I think the worst missed up by about 50 miles.

However, come hell or highwater, Lauren and I were going to make it to that show. Because Lauren had never seen Dave in concert. And really? That's just a sin for someone her age.

We ran into a dilemma as we arrived to the venue. What do you d

o when it's pouring down rain outside and you don't want to take your umbrella inside, but your hair will instantly curl/frizz the minute a drop of rain hits your head?

You improvise. Paten pending, folks.

We did make it inside slightly dry and it was a great show. We ran into some people we knew, and made new friends.

And we documented the cuteness before we started sweating like beasts.

Ben performed.

(My apologies for the blurriness.)

Then Dave came on.

This is the third picture I've gotten with Dave in the past four years. I think I'm good on the picture front now.

They ended the show with an unplugged version of "Greyhound" which was pretty awesome, although someone yelled from the back, "You're copying NEEDTOBREATHE!" I tried to record the whole thing but my camera cut out. Here's what I have.

So the evening ended and Lauren and I headed home. I had a big day ahead of me for Saturday. It was Raymond and Kelly's wedding. And it was going to be outside. And there was a 90 percent chance of severe thunderstorms.

Stay tuned...

Video Wednesday

I hate that I've been neglecting my little blog here but the past couple of months have been nothing but insane. So whatever energy I would've had to blog about the fun and weird things that have happened in my life lately has been spent on one athletic event after the other and restored on my trusty old couch watching American Idol.

However, today I did want to share a few videos with you guys because they make me happy.

First, Hanson. I loved them then and I love them now. This video makes me want to go do choreographed steps in the street.


Thinking 'Bout Somethin'

HANSON MySpace Music Videos

Second, Dave's new video premiered today on AOL.com and it's just as precious as he is. And it even features his cute little wifey, Annie, at the end.

Click here to watch it. You won't be disappointed.

Lastly, this is our freshman closer on the Samford baseball team. The kid is multi-talented and could be playing in the majors right now but decided to come to Samford and get an education. And he's a Mississippi boy. Tupelo, to be exact. This is what he does to get his team pumped up before games. Seems to be working too. 22-14 on the year. Second place in the SoCon.

Free Music... and A Message To Boot

Shaun Groves has become one of my favorite people to hear sing but even more, to read. His words pierce my heart with truth that undoubtedly come from God and his passion inspires me to be who I should be in Christ.

He's offering a couple of free downloads from his website while also sharing with us opportunities to live out our faith here in this world.

The first song is "Sing" and his story that goes along with in hits very close to home with me. He tells his story about the family and friends that stood by him with the love of Christ through a season of doubt and depression that almost stole his Joy.

The second song is "Kingdom Coming". He challenges us to see past what we are free from through salvation to what we are free for. He speaks of the duty we have here on Earth to engage in the Kingdom and take care of each other, rich to poor.

Click on over, get some free music and be blessed.

The Best Way To Spread Christmas Cheer...

...is watching this Dave Barnes Christmas Extravagan Za (Part 4) and sharing it with friends both far and near.

Trust me. You want to watch this.

But be careful. You might pee your pants from all the laughing.



Also check out parts one, two and three.

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Also on a completely different note, I wanted to share this post by Annie Downs that really spoke to me as a fellow July baby.

A Good Sunday

I would like to list for you the components that made up one of the best Sundays I've had in a long while.

1. My church. Amazing praise and worship. And even better it was "choir day". (We don't have one of those "every Sunday choirs". We don't even have a choir loft.) And then my pastor continues to challenge us to live out what the bible teaches us about the new testament church living life together and bringing glory to God through making disciples and multiplying the global church and taking care of his people.

2. Lunch at Panera. Chicken salad on a croissant and sweet tea with three lemons. And great friends. Doesn't get better.

3. An afternoon on the couch catching up on my DVR.

4. An evening with Francesca Battistelli, Leeland and Brandon Heath. The Follow You Tour was at Samford's Wright Center tonight so I headed out catch some good music and praise the Lord a little bit. Or a lot bit.

Here's some photographic evidence of the night.

Leeland, Brandon Heath and Francesca Battistelli opening the show.

Francesca doin' her thing. This girl can wail!

And precious Brandon Heath. His lyrics are somethin' fierce.

So how was your Sunday?

NaBloPoMo Fail #1

So, it's only six days into NaBloPoMo and I've already failed. I know. I'm sorry.

However, I'll make up for it today with two posts and a free gift. Mkay?

Actually the free gift isn't from me. Because, well, I'm poor. And cheap. So there.

But I got Matt Wertz's new live album for free yesterday just for tweeting it and I'm listening to it today at work and I. am. in. love.

This is such a great album because it's not just Matt and Justin Rosolino singing a bunch of songs live. It includes all the funny banter in between the songs. Which, by the way, is pure gold. There are no three guys in the business that are better at inter-song banter than Dave Barnes, Matt Wertz and Justin Rosolino.

It's just good stuff.

So, go here, look at the top of the page and check out the ways that you can help Matt spread the word about his music and get the album for free at the same time.

It's totally worth it.

If You Like It Then You Should Do A Parody Of It

We began with this.

The SNL came out with this...



Then some guy did this... (this makes me want to gouge out my eyes)

Then TV ran with it...

Then this hit the cyber waves...


And then this went viral...



Which must have inspired this... (which pushed me over the edge)



Can we stop now? Can it be over? Please?