All the Broken Pieces...

Did you feel, feel it break
From all the weight of your mistake?
You never knew how much it cost
Feels like your innocence is lost
So much for the perfect life
So much for the perfect day
It's like no matter how you try
Perfection's just too far away
So lift them up to Me

All the broken pieces
All the broken pieces of your life
All the broken pieces
All the broken pieces of your life

Did you hear what I said?
Did you read the words I wrote down in red?
I was broken once for you
And no one loves you like I do

And that's the beauty of this grace
It can put the pieces back in place
And shine reflections of forgiveness
In a million different ways

I can take even your greatest mistake
Every scar, every tear, every break
And I can turn it in to something more beautiful
Than you have ever seen
So lift them up to Me

--All the Broken Pieces, Matthew West

Carry you...

Lay down your burden, I will carry you
I will carry you, my child
Lay down your burden, I will carry you
I will carry you, my child, my child

If I can walk on water
And calm a restless sea
I've done a thousand things you've never done

And I'm weary watchin'
While you struggle on your own
Call my name, I'll come

Lay down your burden, I will carry you
I will carry you, my child
Lay down your burden, I will carry you
I will carry you, my child, my child

I give vision to the blind
And I can raise the dead
I've seen the darker side of Hell
And I returned
And I see these sleepless nights
And I count every tear you cry
I know some lessons hurt to learn

Lay down your burden, I will carry you
I will carry you, my child
Lay down your burden, I will carry you
I will carry you, my child, my child

I will carry you, my child

I see these sleepless nights
And I count every tear you cry
And call my name, I'll come runnin'

Lay down your burden, I will carry you
I will carry you, my child
Lay down your burden, I will carry you
I will carry you, my child, my child

I will carry you, my child, my child
I will carry you

new career in car sales?

i think not...but i did successfully sell my old, '93 Dodge Shadow yesterday! surprisingly for only $200 less than what i asked for it....i was kinda shocked. but, i had to remind myself that no matter how sick i was of that vehicle (and if you know me, you know how much THAT was...) it's still a great car! i'm glad someone can get some use out of it. some girl who's vehicle just died bought it. good for her.

and i'm rid of it :)

spring is coming...the sun has been out for 4 days straight, the snow is melting, the birds are singing. sure signs of God's faithfulness as the seasons turn once again. He never fails. Thank you, Lord!

i should give up jealousy for lent...

why is that the thing you want the most seems to be flaunted in your face? do you believe that God tests your patience, endurance and desires? because i certainly do. there's this one thing that i've wanted for a little while now and recently it's become stronger and harder to deal with.

i recently bought a new vehicle. it's something i've wanted for a long while. we bought a house 9 months ago. i'm trying to learn how to appreciate my life for the now and not the future. i'm so blessed in so many ways and need to find ways to remind myself of this.

but still...wishing's free!

Tears are falling, hearts are breaking, how we need to hear from God.
You've been promised, we've been waiting,
welcome, Holy Child, welcome, Holy Child.

Hope that you don't mind our manger, how I wish we would have known,
long-awaited holy stranger,
make yourself at home, please make yourself at home.

Bring your peace into our violence, bid our hungry souls be filled,
Word now breaking heaven's silence,
welcome to our world, welcome to our world.

Fragile finger sent to heal us, tender brow prepared for thorn,
tiny heart whose blood will save us,
unto us is born, unto us is born.

So wrap our injured flesh around you, breathe our air and walk our sod.
Rob our sin and make us holy,
perfect Son of God, perfect Son of God.

AHHHHH!!!

I think i'm nuts...how the heck did i agree to do so much? oh yea, one thing at a time. dangit.

also, how is it possible that I gained another 10 lbs? i don't have TIME to eat! well...aside from those quick dinners before going to the house. dangit. that's the problem. i'm secretly hoping my scale is wrong. although i'm sure it's NOT and i'll find out in a few weeks at my yearly dr's appt...after last year's said appointment I told myself, "next year i'll weight less." yea, not gonna happen.

I'm so frusterated with myself.

i need to focus-to re-center myself on this minute, this day, this time in my life. i have SUCH a hard time doing that. i'm always looking for the "what next?" in life. that's no way to live.



Chris Rice, "Power of a moment"

What am I gonna be when I grow up?
How am I gonna make my mark in history?
And what are they gonna write about me when I’m gone?
These are the questions that shape the way I think about whatmatters
But I have no guarantee of my next heartbeat
And my world’s too big to make a name for myself
And what if no one wants to read about me when I’m gone?
Seems to me that right now’s the only moment that matters

You know the number of my days
So come paint Your pictures on the canvas in my head
And come write Your wisdom on my heart
And teach me the power of a moment
The power of a moment, the power of a moment
In Your kingdom where the least is greatest
The weak are given strength and fools confound the wise

And forever brushes up against a moment’s time
Leaving impressions and drawing me into what really matters
You know the number of my days
So come paint Your pictures on the canvas in my head
And come write Your wisdom on my heart
And teach me the power of a moment
The power of a moment, the power of a moment

I get so distracted by my bigger schemes
Show me the importance of the simple things
Like a word, a seed, a thorn, a nail
And a cup of cold water

You know the number of my days
So come paint Your pictures on the canvas in my head
And come write Your wisdom on my heart
And teach me the power of a moment
The power of a moment, the power of, the power of, the power of a moment.

HSRT (again...) Little Women

Last night I saw HSRT's "Little Women the musical." I was a little bit skeptical about putting this classic story to music...but it was so wonderful I feel I have to write about it!

Everyone loves the classic story....and the movie, too, because it captures the feeling and emotions of the sisters. The plot of the musical was a little bit different, including most of the same story highlights, but in a sort of "flashback" way when Jo was living at the boarding house in New York. Wonderfully inventive. The play started out with Jo talking to Prof. Baeher in the boarding house about how the editors in New York hated her stories and how he thinks she needs to write from her heart, not the blood and guts stuff she thinks the editors want.

The relationship between the sisters in Hope's version was far more believable and emotional than the movie. The ensemble work was flawless and, as much at I HATE Claire Danes in the movie version, i LOVED the girl who played Beth in the musical. Far less annoying and way more of a normal person. Plus, gorgeous voice. There was a scene right before Beth dies where Jo takes her and Marmee to Cape Cod. Beth had a strength within her that you don't see in the movie version as clearly, and it was one of the most emotional scenes i've ever seen HSRT do on stage. Beth was suburb. The entire audience was in tears.

One of the best parts, though, was the director's way of putting Jo's stories to life. At times, the sisters would act them out in the attic, but at other times Jo acted them out to Prof. Baeher in the boarding house, and the ensemble put them to life as Jo told them. I found this to be wonderfully creative and sooooo beautifully done. I can't describe it! Jo was not my favorite actress in the world, but i thought the casting was great in the way that Jo's not overly feminine, like the other sisters, but more independent and different from most women of her time. Meg's character was great, too. I also always found the woman who played her in the movie version to be annoying and forgetable. not so in the play. the only character i found myself missing from the movie version was Susan Sarandon's Marmee. You can't top her. The woman who played her in the musical was alright but didn't capture the nurturing element as well, i thought. Still great, though. And the always great Chip Duford....oh gosh. wonderful as the Professor.

Ok, now i'm rambling. I feel like i'm writing a review. But, I'm really trying to impress on you the merits of HSRT. Moral of the story-if you get a chance, GO SEE IT! support local theatre and the wonderful program that is Hope Summer Repertory Theatre. We're so blessed to have such talent available to us right here in Holland. It's my favorite thing about summer!

house

word of advice--don't ever remodel a house. ever.

unless you LIKE it consuming your life....

Words

Words have power in them we cannot understand. I've always been a sucker for a well-written....well, anything.

Perhaps it's why I have a degree in Communication Arts when I never excelled at Public Speaking.

It's why I love to cry in a good book.

It's why I still read the Chicago Tribune for the columnist who made me laugh all the way through college.

It's why I have a special place on my bookshelf for the "devotional (more like books that were totally and completely honest about life and how to struggle through it walking with Christ...they never really mentioned the Bible and were about as far from a traditional bible study as you could get...) " books on my bookshelf.

It's why most songs make me cry.

It's why I love the end of a good One Tree Hill episode (don't judge haha) where there's a long monologue.

This past week I've been reading a blog I found. I'm still not sure how I stumbled onto it, but I wanted to share the power it's had on me this week. It's the most heart-wrenchingly beautiful, honest, hilarious thing I've ever read.

It's here.

Read it. you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll surely be inspired. This woman has the most amazing gift for writing down the real, gritty, horrible and beautiful parts of life. It's given me a fresh outlook.

I hope it does the same for you. Start at the beginning if you have time (and tissues).