Everyone needs to watch this video! It is out out by two of the most amazing and talented Australians I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. I have gotten to see them live (a few times) and I have always dreaded the good-bye. These guys are quirky, and funny, and they have a genuine love for their fans! Whenever it's allowed, I imagine they stand in lines until every last autograph is signed, and every last picture is taken! I know that is how they were when I met them. My friend Amber and I helped them out at Winter Jam by handing out fliers and in turn, we got some one on one time with them away from the crowds to take a picture and have the opportunity to just talk. It was amazing! When they put this video out, I was at a point in life where I just really did not want to watch it (no offense guys), because I knew it would convict me, because I knew my love was NOWHERE near showing the proof of His love! However, when you spend all day with kids between 5 and 8, you become a person who loves A LOT more genuinely! Also, since I watched it early this evening, I have listened to the song like 10 times! Also, when I am lucky, it is playing on the radio on my way to work/student teaching. Luke and Joel, if you are reading this.....a few things: a) I miss you guys, b) my respect and honor bracelet unfortunately met an unfortunate end.....scissors:1, student: sitting at recess, and bracelet: 0 :(, c) this video was totally kick butt, and d) Joel, while I miss the curls...the new hair is growing on me.....although it really isn't new anymore, and I know you don't live life to please me, but thought I'd let you know anyway!
One of these days I will blog about Winter Jam last year and the craziness that led to a text message to mom at 1 in the morning saying "eating in a parking lot with 5 rockstars, don't let the tattoos fool you....they seem nice!" or something to that effect :) I don't know if I have ever told the story in it's entirety or not....if so, I will again!
Here is a picture of me and my friend Amber (not the one who wanted me to start blogging again....a different one) with Joel and Luke of For King and Country!
(I am in the black shirt and black plaid shorts)
Another great and powerful song!
Many people know that the last year or so has been really difficult for me and my family. This year, we lost my little baby cousin, and she was only 35 days old. She had awesome parents and a caring loving family, and so we could not even begin to fathom why the Lord took her. (Through this situation, we learned that roughly 75% of babies that enter hospitals in the shape that baby Hope was in, are that bad due to parental abuse and neglect!) We found that she had passed away because of a disease that attached to her brain and was destroying everything in it's path! Anyway, back to this song and the reason that it has been on repeat for roughly the last six and a half months.
My school every year, has a welcome week concert, and this year it was Remedy Drive. I feel like a hipster saying this, but I knew them before they were a big band! They came to play in a church back when their careers were first starting out with a band called Stellar Kart. I went to the concert as a helper, I helped set-up and tear down! This also meant the chance to talk to the guys after the concert. It didn't take long to get through the line though, because there were only about 80 or so people at this concert! We are talking way small! (I saw them my Freshman year of high school, so we are talking like 2005 or 2006 ish) Anyway, I got very excited to see that they were going to be the band at the concert. Due to having just had surgery, I debated whether or not I was going to the concert at all, but after I heard they had been booked and were our definite band, I made it a point to make sure I was in that concert, and as front row as possible. I ended up in the second row by choice......better picture taking opportunities. So there I was rocking out....in my walking boot! (pretty hardcore, right!) I decided this was exactly the distraction that I needed from the sad situation going on at home. Then, out of the blue, the tell us that they are going to mellow it out a little bit. They didn't use those exact words, but close enough. Anyway, they sang a song called "Follow Me" and I was nearly moved to tears. Thinking we were going to quickly go back to rocking out, I held the tears in the best I could, and only a few escaped. I recovered quickly and was back into the groove of rocking out and taking pictures. Afterwards, they signed autographs and took pictures with fans. Again, I hung around and reminisced about how my friend and I had a talk in the car about how awesome they were and about how one day, we would HAVE to go and see them again! Well, I bet her too it and I have pictures to prove it! Wearing the walking boot and all! :)
So now, round robin to how I got to this song. I was looking for their song, Lost Cause, and came across their whole album on Spotify! I got so very excited that I had found the song! Anyway, I figured that I loved their music a lot and so I would go ahead and add the whole CD, because I figured I would end up slowly falling in love with all the songs over time otherwise, may as well enjoy them all at once, right? So I add this CD, and listen to it for the next couple weeks, and fall more and more in love with this song called "God I Hope So." The song seemed to tell the exact story of my heart. The part that I could not put into words. The part of my heart that knew there was a reason for Hope being sick, I just didn't know what that reason was. At this point, she was still just sick, but hadn't passed away! I was looking for the beauty in this tragedy, but I couldn't find it! I still haven't found it! I listened to this song almost the whole three hour trip home, when I found out there was really no chance of survival and they were taking her off of life support. When I got home, we headed for Children's Mercy right away. It was all I could do to keep from breaking down in front of Hope's sister, three-year old Grace. The thing that got me through was to keep repeating, "maybe this is just the way it has to be, maybe there's a beauty in this tragedy, I don't know....but God I hope so!" The day came when little miss Hope breathed her last breath, and the 35 days of suffering ended. It was very bittersweet, part of me was happy that she wasn't in pain, part of me was angry at God for doing this to our family, part of me was scared for the babies that were going to be born in the future, the fear for the women in my family over getting pregnant, but the largest part of me was sad.....I just kept asking God, why. After the doctors told us what they believed was wrong with her, a large part of my heart began to feel thankful for the amount of time that we did get with her. Most babies with her condition are never carried to term, and so very little was known about what was wrong with her. I began to become very thankful for those 35 precious days we had with her, even if most were spent round the clock in the hospital if you were various family members, or spent at school worrying about her if you are me! That's 35 days more than most families get.
I got the pleasure of passing this song onto my family members, but I could not tell you if any of them have listened to it. Honestly, now that I put a lot of thought into it, I do not know that I even passed the link onto them in the midst of everything! I had thought about playing it at the funeral with the other music that was played before and after, but I felt that people needed to listen to it in their own time, and be able to really listen to it. It is so powerful and so healing. I for one, am so excited that I happened to stumble upon this song! For all I know, they may have sung it at the concert, for a bit, I was in my own mind having a much needed heart to heart with Jesus! :) always a good thing!
OK, that was deep! Music has that effect on me lol
Here is the pictorial proof that God crosses our paths with those who we need to see/hear EXACTLY when we need them!
and now I will leave you with this! For those people who ask why I love music, songs, and tunes so much......and pretty much quote them in daily conversations.....just remember "shouting the words to your favorite songs is cheaper than therapy!" and I would add that often times, it is just as effective! ( I got that off of a facebook thingy, just added my own thought to it!)
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