Pages

Monday, June 25, 2012

It's Finally Here!

It's finally here!  It's vacation time!  And I'm enjoying every relaxing and adventurous second of it.


Photo credit: escapetoblueridge.com

Monday, June 18, 2012

Search My Heart

I had another post planned for today, but my mind is in serious vacation mode (I'm leaving for Blue Ridge, Georgia next week!) and I'm not able to write two sentences without erasing them and starting over again.

I thought I would give my mind a little break (I think that it thinks it's already on vacation anyways) and share a new favorite song with you instead. This song is called Search My Heart, and it's by Hillsong United. I heard this song recently, and I had to stop what I was doing just so that I could sing along and worship.

If you're looking for a good worship song this week, I encourage you to listen to this one.



Have a wonderful week!

Monday, June 11, 2012

Six Years Ago Today...


...I married this handsome man.

Wow, I can't believe it's already been six years!  The time passes by so quickly, and I'm thankful that every day with him just gets better and better.

We'll be celebrating our anniversary with a quiet dinner at home tonight, and then later this month we'll be taking a week long vacation in the mountains of Blue Ridge, Georgia with our family and then we'll spend a couple of days by ourselves in New Orleans, Louisiana.  It will be a wonderful way to celebrate our six years together. 

Here's to many, many, many more blessed and happy years of marriage!

Monday, June 4, 2012

What To Do While You Wait

If someone ever told me that fulfilling my singing/songwriting dreams would take me 31 years to accomplish, I'd laugh out loud because that would seem so ridiculous.  But truth be told, that is my reality at the moment...

I'm 31 years old, and I'm still waiting for my music dreams to come to pass.  There are times when I can the realization of those dreams so clearly, like I can reach out and touch them.  But the moment that I reach out is the moment that I realize that it's still too far away.  So there I stand.  Waiting.  Hoping.  There's something within me that does not want to give up, even after all these years. 

So, what do you do while you're waiting, you ask?  Well, a lot of times I grumble and complain that things are not happening as fast as I would like them to.  Other times, I cry my eyes out and say that I never want to sing again.

Neither of those things are good to do while you're waiting for your dreams to come true.  In fact, I believe that these things may even cause you to take steps backwards, away from your dream.   

If you want to forge ahead and take positive steps toward your dreams while you're in the season of waiting, then here are three things that I've learned to do:

1. Increase your prayer time.
Prayer is simply communicating with God.  Often times, when things aren't going our way, we stop communicating with God because we think that maybe He is not listening to us or He doesn't hear us.  That couldn't be further from the truth.

Psalm 145:18 (The Message) says, "God's there, listening for all who pray, for all who pray and mean it."  When you communicate with God with a pure heart, He hears you, so keep talking to Him even while you're waiting.

2. Confess God's Word over your life.
A lot of times when we are on the path towards our dreams, we may feel discouraged and begin to think negative things about ourselves, and eventually begin to speak negative things about ourselves. 

Instead of saying those negative words, choose to say what God says about you.  Proverbs 18:21 says, "Words kill, words give life; they're either poison or fruit - you choose."  Find God's promises in the Bible, and let those be the words that come out of your mouth.  Remember, it's a choice; no one can do it for you.

3. Rejoice in the Lord.
While you are waiting, go ahead and thank God for the victory, for the fulfillment of your dreams.  There's a beautiful portrayal of this in Habakkuk 3:17-18 when he says, "Though the cherry trees don't blossom and the strawberries don't ripen, though the apples are worm-eaten and the wheat fields stunted, though the sheep pens are sheepless and the cattle barns empty, I'm singing joyful praise to God.  I'm turning cartwheels of joy to my Savior God." 

You see, Habakkuk could have easily complained about his situation, but instead he rejoiced in the Lord as he was waiting on victory.  Oh, this is my desire as well!  While I'm waiting, I want to sing, shout, dance and rejoice in the Lord, trusting that victory is on the way.

I have come to the conclusion in my life that even if I have to wait 31 more years before seeing my dream come to pass, then I will still wait with great expectation.  And while I'm waiting, I will continue to pray, confess God's word over my life and rejoice in Him, trusting that He is working out everything for my good.

So tell me, what do you do while you're waiting for your dreams to come true?