Realize

So I wrote a song one day kind of on accident and decided to record it super fast.  So I recorded it all in my house in one night and I thought it would be fun to share it with you guys.  The song is extremely short but basically sums up the attitude I am trying to keep through this whole process. Feel free to share this video if you want! I hope you enjoy and I will put the lyrics beneath the video.

I’ve come to realize

Everything I have that I’m leaving behind

Came from you

And It’s still yours

I’ve come to realize

Why you’re asking me to leave my life behind

Because you

You have something new... For me. 

Action

Philippians 1 : 19-22

Yes, and I will rejoice, 19for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, 20as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. 21For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me.

Paul was an amazing person.  He knew what it meant to love God with his whole heart.  Paul loved who God was so much that all he wanted to was go and be with him, to worship him constantly and that is why he said "to die is gain" but he was sold out for God's purposes and knew that there were still people who needed to know God's love in the same way he did. What if we had the mind set of "If I have to be on this earth, then every day, every minute is going to be spent furthering the Kingdom of God"? WHAT IF --- we were to stop asking questions about what could happen and instead; ask for the courage to change our world in a real and relevant way like Paul did?

Prayer---

God empower me with the courage to stand up for you.  Remind me to stop asking "What if?" and start asking "What's next?".  I want everyone to experience your love like I have. Don't let my life be about ME. I want life to count for you and you ALONE.

O Come, O Come Emmanuel

So many of you may already know that my band Slaves to Righteousness just recorded our own version of "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" (There is a link to the song at the bottom of this blog post).  I absolutely love the way that it turned out but it is also sad for me because I realize that this is the last song I will be releasing with this group of guys.  They have ALL been my best friends for the last few years, and we have gone through and done lots of crazy stuff over the last few years.  I will miss them more than they know; but do know that my life will never be the same because of what God has done in our lives.


Throughout the entire recording process I never really took the time to step back from the busyness,to just read and take to heart what the lyrics have to say in this song.  Finally after it was mixed, mastered and sent to me I decided to look up the lyrics online and read along while listening to the song.  I had a real experience with God in that moment because he gave me peace but most of all he gave me HOPE.  "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" is a song of hope.  

O Come, O Come Emmanuel

And ransom captive Israel

That mourns in lonely exile here

Until the Son of God appear

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel,

Shall come to thee, O Israel

Right now in my life I don't know exactly what God has in store for me, but I have confidence that He has a specific purpose and plan for my life.  I have confidence because Jesus the Son of God came from his throne to this mess of a world, to save someone like me, and by his sacrifice on the cross I know I am saved and I KNOW he loves me and has a purpose for my life. I have HOPE because of Christmas. Merry Christmas!!

John 10:10

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

O Come, O Come Emmanuel --- Slaves to Righteousness

This Weird Selfish Feeling

Recently I just feel ready to go to Florida.  I've lived my whole life in Minnesota and have never really experienced this feeling of leaving everything or extreme change.  If you have ever moved or experienced a lot of change then you probably know what I'm talking about.  Everyday is full of "lasts" like "This is the last time I'm going to hang out with this person, or this is the last time I am going to go to this place I have been to a ton of times".  Not that big of a deal but really WEIRD!  Honestly, I am really ready to go there and, selfishly, it's hard to still be here.
I pray everyday for his peace in this time of transition.  I love everyone here and that is what makes it so hard.  Minnesota is my home and I will miss it a lot but I am SO excited to see what God has for me in Florida.