Music Monday - 20080512

This past week has been kind of a whirlwind. My beloved finished out her last week at work, and although it looks like they are going to offer her another (higher paying) job, she is telling me that she isn't going to take it. She has been talking about wanting to really be home for the kids after school, and not wanting to work. So, I went out and took a large chunk of the money I was (am) saving for an elliptical machine and bought her a $100 gift card to A.C. Moore so that she can build up her painting supplies. She loves to paint and draw. I am hoping to find a way to encourage her to do this more often, maybe even show some of her pieces. Who knows, maybe God will use this talent of hers to provide an additional source of income.

It's hard to say where God is going to take us. So many uncertainties. God gave me a verse on Friday night at our caregroup. To summarize it has to do with Moses telling God how he feels inadequate to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. There has been a burden on my heart for a long time in regards to some kind of ministry. With me getting out of the Guard, my beloved not wanting to work anymore, and the economy going the way it's going... a lot of uncertainty. I know we can't tell the day or the hour, but the world just seems like it's going crazy at times.

Anyway, with all of this going on I really didn't have a song for today until a friend who I was IM'ing suggested this song. Although the author wrote it when his daughter was born, I think it really expresses where I am at right now.

Weathered

by Written by Tremonti/Stapp

I lie awake on a long, dark night
I can’t seem to tame my mind
Slings and arrows are killing me inside
Maybe I can’t accept the life that’s mine
No I can’t accept the life that’s mine

Simple living is my desperate cry
Been trading love with indifference
yeah it suits me just fine
I try to hold on but I’m calloused to the bone
Maybe that’s why I feel alone
Maybe that’s why I feel so alone

Me…I’m rusted and weathered
Barely holding together
I’m covered with skin that peels and
it just won’t heal

The sun shines and I can’t avoid the light
I think I’m holding on to life too tight
Ashes to ashes and dust to dust
Sometimes I feel like giving up
Sometimes I feel like giving up

Me…I’m rusted and weathered
Barely holding together
I’m covered with skin that peels
and it just won’t heal

The day reminds me of you
The night hides your truth
The earth is a voice
Speaking to you
Take all this pride
And leave it behind
Because one day it ends
One day we die
Believe what you will
That is your right
But I choose to win
So I choose to fight
To fight

From Creed's Greatest Hits Albumn

Well, I need to run along for today. May God richly bless each of you.
Verse for today:
Hebrews 13 : 2-6, ESV
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say,

“The Lord is my helper;
I will not fear;
what can man do to me?”

Music Monday - 20080428

Well my beloved got home from Chicago early Saturday morning. It was supposed to be at 6:42PM on Friday, but a chain of events that sitcom writers would have a field day with kept pushing it back. We both climbed into bed at 5:30AM on Saturday morning. On Friday I managed to get a case of heat exhaustion. Probably a minor case, but it wore me out. I did this to myself as it took me four hours to mow my lawn! And I don't have a very big lawn, but with every pass I had to empty the bag of my walk-behind mower. Then I had the bright idea of trying to plant the tree I bought for my beloved - a weeping cherry tree (see the pic above/right of what what such a tree looks like, just not ours yet - LOL). I managed to get the layer of sod off and relocated before I realized the folly of that, took a shower, and collapsed for a brief (15 min) nap before the demands of the house took over again.

Oh, and one last note before I move on to my regularly scheduled Music Monday post. I have a new (second) favorite NFL football team! The Detroit Lions! Why? For drafting Caleb Campbell out of West Point. I know the guys is a 7th rounder, but I am pulling for him. Not for the same reason many might (to "save" him from going to Iraq or Afghanistan), but because he is Army and he is getting an opportunity to play in the NFL.

Ok, on to my regular post. I had a hard time picking out a song for today. It is not really an upbeat melody, and the band tried to play towards a Hard Rock Christian tempo, but seeing how the sins played out I am not sure I would label this a Christian Band, but I believe that is their goal. Since the split up of this group, the core of them went on to form a band called Alter Bridge. I don't know if 'eclectic' is an accurate term, but I really do enjoy a wide range of music. What I listen to has a lot to do with what I am feeling at the time.

One Last Breath
by Creed

Please come now I think I’m falling
I’m holding on to all I think is safe
It seems I found the road to nowhere
And I’m trying to escape
I yelled back when I heard thunder
But I’m down to one last breath
And with it let me say
Let me say

[Chorus]
Hold me now
I’m six feet from the edge and I’m thinking
Maybe six feet
Ain’t so far down

I’m looking down now that it’s over
Reflecting on all of my mistakes
I thought I found the road to somewhere
Somewhere in His grace
I cried out heaven save me
But I’m down to one last breath
And with it let me say
Let me say

[Chorus x2]

I'm so far down

Sad eyes follow me
But I still believe there’s something left for me
So please come stay with me
‘Cause I still believe there’s something left for you and me
For you and me
For you and me

Hold me now
I’m six feet from the edge and I’m thinking

[Chorus x2]

Please come now I think I’m falling
I’m holding on to all I think is safe

There are times when the ache of Heaven is more acute than others. I am not talking about taking a proactive course of action. I am saying that I am grateful that today is one day closer to that day.
Verse for today:
Psalm 37 : 3-7, ESV
Trust in the Lord, and do good;
dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. [2]
Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him, and he will act.
He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
and your justice as the noonday.

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;
fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,
over the man who carries out evil devices!