Appreciation and the Bomb

I've heard the verse my whole life... I think most people raised in the church have. "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thess. 5:18) It's one of those I always heard but never A. seriously contemplated or B. did anything about. It was just there. Then, God took it upon himself to do something about it. He's good like that.

As you may or may not know I'm a fan of this bomb band called Honor Society. Please, check them out. As it turns out, a lot of their fan base includes Jonas Brothers fans, because Honor Society opened for them on tour this summer. I had myself convinced that, since they are older and their lyrics are more mature that must be aggravating. Obviously they would want an older fan base, more like their peers and college aged folks, right? I would tell myself that clearly they are trying to make it and will take whatever opportunities are presented but, really? They have to be at least a little frustrated behind the scenes, don't they?

That's about the time when God knocked me upside the head and told me what was up. First of all, who the heck am I to analyze their fame? Secondly, they treat their fans with the utmost love and respect and appreciation. They are a picture of grace. They are completely humble. They get it. I don't. Or at least I didn't, I'm hoping I am beginning to. Let me break it down. God has this huge, all encompassing will and you and I alike are in it. Our goal in life is to try and live a life so full of faith and dedication to the Father that we can discern His will for us. I knew that much. I am pretty sure I have even figured out small parts of what God's plan for me entails. But that is where it got fuzzy. You see, we don't get to choose how we get from point A to point B. It could be the way we imagine it. It could involve a lot of detours. It could be the path never taken, or it could be the path everyone else seems to be on. The boys of Honor Society are clearly called to be musicians (and they are quite remarkable, if I do say so myself). However, whether they wanted it or not (which is definitely not to be determined by me, anyway) God decided they would get their break touring with the Jonas Brothers and, thus, have a generally young fan base. Obviously they have older fans as well (oh hey, it's me!) it just seems like a pretty big chunk are what I like to call JoBro converts.

...you know what though? They are making it. They are on an uphill climb and I'm hoping the mountain is way bigger than they have been hoping or dreaming. They deserve it. And, whether they know it or not, they're pretty fantastic professors of grace and humility. Bravo, fellas.

Lead Me To The Cross

I have so many thoughts tumbling around in my brain right now that I barely even know what to do with them. They will soon turn into a few blogs, but I don't currently have the time to sort them all out into coherent thoughts for you all as I am to be at the airport in a matter of hours and I have yet to pack. So I will leave you with lyrics, and also, the Internet situation could be shifty these next few days but I will do my best to post. If not, I will definitely write down my thoughts and have them prepared for my return.

Savior I come Quiet my soul remember

Redemption's hill

Where Your blood was spilled

For my ransom

Everything I once held dear I count it all as lost

Lead me to the cross

Where Your love poured out

Bring me to my knees Lord I lay me down

Rid me of myself I belong to You

Lead me, lead me to the cross

You were as I Tempted and tried You are

The word became flesh

Bore my sin and death

Now you're risen

To your heart

To your heart

Lead me to your heart

Lead me to your heart

... I challenge you to let him Lead you to the Cross in your quiet time. Lay down yourself and everything you've held on to, give it all up to Him. I imagine you will feel much more centered and grounded and joyful these next few days.

Only Hope

Meet my favorite song. Ever.

There's a song that's inside of my soul
It's the one that I've tried to write
over and over again
I'm awake and in the infinite cold
But You sing to me over and over and
over again

So I lay my head back down
And I lift my hands
And pray to be only Yours
I pray to be only Yours
I know now You're my only hope

Sing to me of the song of the stars
Of Your galaxy dancing and laughing
and laughing again
When it feels like my dreams are so far
Sing to me of the plans that You have
for me over again

I give You my apathy
I'm giving You all of me
I want Your symphony
Singing in all that I am
At the top of my lungs I'm giving it back

...He is our only hope.

Love Song

I once started to read the book Captivating that is all about a woman's heart. I never did get through it (it's on my summer to-do list) but I got the gist. It is ingrained in the heart of women to want to be loved. To want to feel needed and wanted. To want to be romanced. But I think it's not just women. I think, deep down, most men want it too.

How lucky are we, that we have a God who provides? He can love us when we feel as if no one else does. He can and he does.

To be loved, to be loved
What more could you ask for?
To be loved, to be loved
Everyone wants to be loved
To be loved
What more could you ask for?
To be loved, to be loved
Everyone…

... isn't that such a beautiful thing? To be loved.

This Kind of Love

It always amazes me how much God speaks to me through music. Not just christian music, either. Actually, especially not christian music. I think I learn the most when I get something from a song that, to my knowledge, was written with no thoughts of God. There are some songs that move my heart like nothing else, and I am always left full of awe and amazement at how God will use anything and everything to make me fall more and more in love with Him. He surprises me daily, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

My freshman year roommate was completely obsessed with Sister Hazel and she passed on all of their CDs to me. One song in particular spoke to me. One of the band members wrote it to his girlfriend to play just before he proposed but to me it is a perfect anthem of God's love for us. So, enjoy these beautiful words and take a minute of your time to stop and think about how much God has sacrificed for us and how very much he loves each and every one of us in a unique way that suits us.

This kind of love makes me feel ten feet tall
It makes all my problems fall
This kind of trust helps me to hold the line
I'll be there every time

(chorus)
This kind of love is what I dreamed about
Yeah, it fills me up
It leaves no doubt
This kind of love it's why I'm standing here
It's something that we can share
I can't get enough of this kind of love

This kind of hope is what I try to find
And now I can't deny I believe
This kind of faith is so unshakeable
It's unmistakeable
It's bigger than me

(chorus)

Your love can move a mountain
It makes my world go round
Its always there to guide me
I'm so lucky that I found

This kind of love it's what I dreamed about
Yeah it fills me up
Well baby it leaves no doubt
This kind of love it's why I'm standing here
It's something we can share
I can't get enough of this kind of love
This kind of love

... as Jim Carrey would say, B-E-A-UTIFUL.

Bigger Than Love

I'm not really even going to say anything about these lyrics, except I hope you read them and meditate on the words a little. Though this band is not christian (that I am aware of) God really speaks to me through this song, as He often does with music. I'm praying for all of you extra hard tonight.

We've all got scars as big as ours
A token for the pain we hide inside of us
Everyone's scared that somebody knows
You keep it inside, yeah, that's how it goes
If you've ever heard a beating heart
A rhythm for the songs we're too afraid to sing
Nobody here is perfectly fine
A delicate frame, a fragile design

If there's a hole in your heart
You gotta pull it together
It takes the courage to start
But now is better than never
It takes a push and a shove
Somehow it's never enough
And it's alarming how quick you could forget that

Nothing's bigger than love
Nothing's bigger than love
Nothing's bigger than love
All you need, all you need is love

Some people change and some just won't
You can't take back the words you wish you'd never said
Promises break and lovers will lie
You hold up your hands and let out a sigh
So smile right before you fall
And lay beside this mess and call it consequence
Somebody said that life isn't fair
When somebody else was saying a prayer

No one's taking me out
Nothing's pulling me down
I turn my head to the crowd
This love is big and it's loud

This is the car in the crash
This is the light in the flash
This is the answers you know
But you're just too scared ask

If there's a hole your heart
You gotta pull it together
It takes the courage to start
But now is better than never
It takes a push and a shove
Somehow it's never enough

... no matter what you're feeling, remember that nothing is bigger than love. And more than that, nothing can even compare to God's love for you.

You Spoke Me Into Motion

You know when you hear a song and it's almost creepy how much it speaks to you? Like the person knows you? Cue "What Do I Know of Holy." This is THE most beautifully written and performed song. The first time I truly listened to it I had tears in my eyes. For some reason it has such a profound effect on my heart and my mind... I think because it describes me to a t. Almost like the songwriter knows me. 

"I guess I thought that I had figured You out,

I knew all the stories and I learned to talk about

how You were mighty to save,

those were only empty words on a page.

Then I caught a glimpse of who You might be,

the slightest hint of You brought me down to my knees."

...the moral of today's blog? LISTEN TO ADDISON ROAD. They are such a God-send in my life right now.  Anyway, I recommend you YouTube, Yahoo, Google, Blackle... whatever you do find a way to listen to this song. All of their songs for that matter.

How Great is Our God.

I am forever in awe of our amazing father. He is so much bigger than I will ever know, and every time I think I have him figured out He does something to blow my notion out of the water. Lately He has me wondering why me? What on earth did I do that could or would cause God to look so favorable upon me. 

I am a sophomore in college. I have countless friends who currently are undecided as to what their major is or who are in a major that they just chose to have one. They have nothing that they are so passionate about they could imagine doing it now and for the rest of their working lives. How, then, is it possible that God has blessed me with three such passions? Graphic Design, Journalism and Music. I would be happy working in any single or combination of these three career paths. I have new ideas every day as to which job would combine all three of them, what company dabbles in each. Basically, while knowing exactly what I want to do, I have NO IDEA what I really WANT to do.

... and the funny thing? I'm totally fine with that. 

Songs Telling of a Life of Love

God loves me. Well... we all know that God loves each and every one of his children here on earth. But today... God LOVES me. Let me explain. 

As you all know and as I have made clear in my previous blog posts, I have a thing for music. Maybe it would be more properly described as an obsession. I am obsessed with music. I also like to read and write and, thanks to the grace of God, I'm rather decent at both endeavors. So as I walked into my first class of World Literature today, I wasn't really nervous or dreading it. Sure "world" literature is perhaps not my favorite type of literature but I enjoy reading what I like to consider "scholarly" works because it makes me feel more sophisticated and, well, worldly. So there I sat, in a room in the first quadrant, third floor of the Haley center waiting for the teacher to arrive. And when he did, boy was I in for a treat. Within two minutes of him talking he was referencing the band Sublime in efforts to drag the definition of the word out of one of my classmates. Later in his lesson he was using the musical and lyrical "battles", if you will, of Neil Young and Lynyrd Skynyrd and of Biggie and Tupac. Yes, you heard me. My World Lit professor was using musical analogies to explain age old literature. Is that a God-send or what?

... and now you see why, today, God LOVES me. 

The Music of My Heart

So I'll go ahead and get it out of the way. I'm going to be super cheesy (what's new?) and use some lyrics written by some Disney songwriters to preface this post. 

"Music's in my soul,

I can hear it every day and every night,

it's the one thing on my mind."

This post is about glue. You heard me, glue. You thought it was about music, didn't you? False! Well, maybe you're partially right. I have recently discovered, in my new found sophistication and introspection, that all things in life are held together by a common denominator. You may be thinking God, but no, it's not God. Well, obviously God IS everything in your life. But He has given each and every person something to call their own. Something special. He has given us glue. (Never knew glue was such a heaven-send, now did you?) This is a glue that holds you together. All the pieces of you. I've recently discovered that my glue is music. As the quotes portrays, music is ALWAYS on my mind. I constantly have a song stuck in my head or actually playing. Songs recall memories for me. Songs paint pictures. Songs get me through tough spots. Songs determine my mood. Songs speak to my heart. And mostly, songs shape me. I can relate everything to a song, and God speaks to me and teaches me through songs. Lately I have been seeing how God intends music to be a part of my life always. I am beginning to think I'd like to work with music once I graduate. Design record labels. Write music articles. Interview music stars. Who knows what is in the cards for me, but I have a strong feeling it will involve music. I pray that in this new year you all find your glue and that it helps you see things more clearly, see God in your life even more than before. 

Where I Find You

I find it constantly amusing how God seems to pop up everywhere. Especially, I've noticed more recently, in music. Lately I feel as though I never hear a love song as that. I hear it as a God song. The object of affection in the song is never an earthly man for me, it's God. I'll be the first to admit this could have something to do with the 20th anniversary I recently celebrated. Or maybe not. Maybe I am just growing more and more in tune to God in my life, what He wants for me, what He has been planning. Maybe I am FINALLY completely content with being just who I am, an independent entity. I am me. I am not his boyfriend. I am not the girl he is talking to. I am not her best friend. I am me, Aimee Belcher, child of God.

... and you know? I am finally okay with that. I don't need anyone else. I don't need anything else. I think I've finally found who I am and I could not be more excited. I knew 2009 was going to be a good year!

I've Gotta Find You...

I've been thinking about him a lot lately. Him. My soul mate. Future husband. Lover. Life partner. Best friend. Time in the car gives you a lot of time to think, and he was the focus of my thoughts. It seems every song that came on my iPod spoke to my heart, the part that is and will be reserved for him until I find him. Or until he finds me...

Obviously I have no control over who, where or when. But I can prepare for the person I want to be when we finally meet. I want to be the girl Everyday Sunday sings about in the song Herself. I want to be the girl Hawk Nelson sings about in Every Little Thing. I want to be the girl Joe Jonas sings about in Gotta Find You. I want to be that girl. I will be that girl. When we meet, I want him to have had The Best Day of His Life like Jesse McCartney sings about. When we start talking, I want him to have the Crazy Kind of Crush on me the JoBros sing about. When we start dating, I want him to be the kind of Happy Josiah sings about. When we are together, I want for him to experience the Bleeding Love Leona Lewis sings about. I want for him to know there Ain't No Mountain High enough to keep me away. I want for him to know I'm Heels Over Head for him like Boys Like Girls sing about. I want him to know I Want to Hold His Hand like The Beatles sing about. I want him to know I Will Always Love Him like Whitney Houston sings about. I want him to know I'm Only Me When I'm With Him like Taylor Swift sings about. And once we get married I hope we experience This Kind of Love Sister Hazel sings about. 

More than anything though, I want to be his best friend. I want to know everything about him, as I want him to know everything about me. Every fear, every love, every memory, every regret. I want every word of More Than You'll Ever Know by Watermark to remind him of me, to remind me of him. To perfectly describe our relationship. 

... I think I'll start writing letters. Tonight.