Loving Jesus Through Country Music

As I have mentioned previously, I have found that not having TV makes you less relevant to those around you. I've done a few things to help with that including listening to a country radio station on my drive to work. They actually report news and keep me pretty up to date with what is going on. Besides, country music is my guilty pleasure. I like many types of music but there is something about a good country song that makes me pretty happy.

The other day I was driving down the road and heard the song I Run to You by Lady Antebellum. As I listened to it, I fell in love with it. It's been a tough school year and the lyrics were something I felt my heart singing to God. I don't call Him "baby" so I just sing "Jesus" in its place. Hope it encourages you today too!

I Run to You by Lady Antebellum

I run from hate, I run from prejudice

I run from pessimists, but I run too late

I run my life, or is it running me?

Run from my past

I run too fast or too slow it seems

When lies become the truth,

That's when I run to you

This world keeps spinning faster

Into a new disaster so I run to you, I run to you Jesus

When it all starts coming undone,

Jesus you're the only one I run to, I run to you

We run on fumes, your life and mine

Make the sands of time slippin' right on through

And love's the only truth

That's why I run to you

This world keeps spinning faster

Into a new disaster so I run to you, I run to you Jesus

When it all starts coming undone,

Jesus you're the only one I run to, I run to you

The Full Story

Since I hate those blog posts that are super vague and because Mindi asked (I'm really hard to convince), here is the story of my worst first date. I need to start off by saying that since this happened, I have talked to this man a few times. He is a nice guy and is very happily married. I mean no ugliness to him at all.

I met him on a Sunday night when he was visiting the church I was worshipping at the time. He was passing through for work and we seemed to really hit it off immediately. We did the long distance getting to know you thing for a few months when he decided to come visit for the weekend. As much as you can get to know someone online, it's so not the same! So for starters, it wasn't just a date. It was a weekend. The story itself is long so I'm going to bullet point this thing. There is more than I am sharing but I'm leaving several things out so not to share things that are not mine to share.

- He brought me a gift. It was a box with a collection of every thing he saw over the past couple of months that reminded him of me - notepads/cards, windshield shades, key chains, cds, etc. It was a bit overwhelming but not as overwhelming as what he told me he wanted to bring me: a nice ring from a jeweler - two months after meeting and spending only a matter of hours face to face. I think he said something about emeralds and the only reason he didn't was because he didn't know my ring size. I told him he was wise to listen to his friend and NOT do that.

- He wanted to meet my parents so we met up with them in a small town midway between me and them. Part way through dinner, he started reciting a ballad he memorized using over 20 different voices. Turns out he was a voice actor on the side. It was not what I expected. Then he started sharing his life history with my parents. Several of the things he shared was new to me as well. It was in depth and very detailed. Since the table was needed, was went over to the Wal-Mart, set up camping chairs in the middle of the aisle, and for the next hour, he finished telling his story.

- Since we were both single, he stayed at my apartment and I stayed with some friends. After he left I went home. All over my bedroom were notes - on my light switch, in my closet, under my pillow, in my drawers, in my cd player, etc, etc, etc.... One on the light switch was OK but all over the room was a bit much - considering he has to go into drawers and closets to put them there.

So at the end of the day, a nice guy that I'm glad found someone else to make him happy.

Reflecting on Bad Dates

After a long week, I usually do one of two things. I either go home and crash or I meet up with some friends for Mexican food. I prefer the second and got to do that tonight. So much fun and I do love these girls. We are all single so often dating comes up - well, it always comes up. To give us some credit, it comes up in various forms. One of my favorites is the first date horror stories. They are the single woman's battle scars. We moan and groan at these poor, clueless men. We laugh at the bullets we've dodged. We shake our heads that this is reality instead of something from a bad movie.

Tonight, when it was my turn to share, I told my fall back bad date story of the guy who played with his face fat and refused to talk all night long. Believe me, it was painful. We all shared and had a good sigh that we survived to tell about "it". However, I found myself sharing another story after that. Since blogs are public and there is the very slight possibility that he may have access to it, I won't go into all of the details here - I do believe in some privacy no matter how bad it was. Let's just say that as I heard the words coming out of my mouth and saw the horror on my friends' faces, I knew that this was THE worst date ever. I know that I am prone to exaggeration but this time, there was none of it. It was THAT bad. My parents were even witness to some of it so they can vouch for me. At the end of my retelling, they all stared at me and said, "You win!"

As I told the story, I found myself thinking, "Did that really happen? Did I really experience that? What in the world!?" It was one of those things that while I was going through it, things didn't seem that bad. But hearing myself say it, watching others react to it, looking at it nearly 10 years removed, it was that bad! It was a good reminder that sometimes being single is a huge blessing!

"Snow Day" in Houston

I know that many of you have seen this on facebook but it is too funny! What makes it even better is that my friend's husband actually made it! He works for Michael Berry and this is totally his sense of humor!

Persistent or Stubborn

This year I didn't make a New Year Resolution. I know myself well enough to know how that will turn out. Instead, I've been seeking what the Lord will have for me this year. He's been faithful to reveal some threads that are already running through. I know some areas He is choosing to work though in this season. For some, I'm glad they are easy. For others, I'm glad I have a year to see how this will play out because I think they'll take that long to work through.

One of the common threads I've seen is asking God to increase my "want to". Let's just be real here - there are things we all know we need to do but don't really want to. I was talking to a friend of mine on Sunday about an area of my life this applies to. Her response was to ask God to increase my desire to let it go. Unless I want to turn it over, my hands will be firmly grasped around this one desire. Only after I want to let it go will I be able to give it to God. Grrrr..... only because I know she is right.

I find this very convicting and very confusing at the same time. I see in scripture the example of the persistent widow and read verse that tell us to ask, seek, and knock. Then I also see scriptures about dying to yourself to live more as Christ. So how do you know which applies to you? I've wondered this for years and am still wrestling with it. When we are being hopefully persistent and when we are being just downright stubborn? The last thing I want is to be fighting the will of God.

Maybe I'm the only one out there that struggles with this. In a way, I hope so because I would love to learn from your wisdom.