"Your Great Name"

If you know me a little...you know I love music. There's never a quiet moment around me...constant...I listen to music while driving, working out, reading, sleeping (or at least when falling asleep), cleaning, getting ready in the mornings, studying and on and on! So why not share at least a song a week with you here! Not me singing....lol! This girl only holds the mic on Sunday mornings because 3-5 others join in with me! Solos are not my cup of tea. :)

So on with it...a new song I'm enjoying this week is "Your Great Name" by Natalie Grant. And for me the name is not Lord or God...for many call their god 'lord' and/or 'god'...but the great name of JESUS! There is power and comfort in the name of Jesus!

Check out the lyrics and also take a listen to the YouTube video I'm attaching:

Lost are saved, find their way;
At the sound of Your great name.
All condemned' feel no shame;
At the sound of Your great name.
Every fear has no place;
At the sound of Your great name.
The enemy, he has to leave;
At the sound of Your great name.

Jesus, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain for us,
Son of God and Man
You are high and lifted up;
And all the world will praise Your great name!

All the weak find their strength
At the sound of Your great name.
Hungry souls receive grace
At the sound of Your great name.
The fatherless, they find their rest;
At the sound of Your great name.
Sick are healed and the dead are raised;
At the sound of Your great name.

Jesus, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain for us,
Son of God and Man
You are high and lifted up;
And all the world will praise Your great name.

Redeemer, My Healer, Lord Almighty!
My Savior, Defender, You are my King!

Jesus, Worthy is the Lam that was slain for us,
Son of God and Man
You are high and lifted up;
And all the world will praise Your great name!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuuLBPOYcI8&NR=1&feature=fvwp

Breathe

Below are photos from a drama entitled "Breate" I just played in. Prior to the live portion of the drama the couple is introduced by a video blog that they sent home celebrating what God had done thus far in their first year serving as missionaries....their working in the schools & orphanages, the 3 lives led to Christ, the fans in a local school & their apartment (thanks to donations from their stateside church family), they have started the adoption process for a little girl, and asked for continued support and prayers for their safety and the going forth of the Gospel as they teach the English language. The video ends by them saying they plan to return home for a visit in the winter.....and then the screen fades out and states "7 Weeks Later...." and thus the live drama unfolds as so.....

"SHUT UP! Do you wanted to be the hero? Then fine its your turn!!!"

"To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord!"

"Renounce Christ and I will let you live!"

"I am not ashamed! I am NOT ASHAMED!"

I saw this drama live about 2 years ago and have been eager to share its message since. I remember that night I first saw it. I had to leave the room at the end from the emotion! I was struck with faces of people I spent time with on a mission trip to Malaysia....those that we loved on and shared the Gospel with. We worked with many people but there was a group of about 8 students from the college that we spent everyday with....sharing meals, playing softball, visiting markets, rooming with and touring! None of these 8 knew Jesus. The only Christians we met (besides the missionary and his family) was members of an underground church we visited once. All of the faces came rushing back...and the thoughts that the Malay people who chose to believe and follow Christ run the risk of abandonment and death!....Just as the characters in the drama loose their lives for their faith in Jesus!

In rehearsing for this drama some many lessons and thoughts came!

In this drama a couple gives their life for the Gospel in a dramatic, brutal death. It wasn't merely a simple single bullet and you're out. They were tortured and given opportunities to deny Christ and 'live'.

If faced with a gun to our head and told to deny Christ or take a bullet...then I'd say Christians would yes, they'd take the bullet. But in our small group this week a friend stated that yes, we say we'd take the bullet....but how many times do we deny Him in our everyday lives in even the smallest and simplest things. We ignore the poor guy at the door at McDonalds, we carelessly buy that new dress or gadget instead of giving to the special offering on Sunday, we sneak out of the break room at work to avoid being humiliated in a conversation where we'd have to stand up for Him. Ugh, crushing to really examine and see all the ways we act as if we are ashamed of Him.

Its much easier to say we'd take a bullet. But if tortured and beaten with thoughts of the loved ones we'd leave behind and the severity of the pain....over days....would you, would I still proclaim? Jesus' death wasn't short and fast. He was tortured, chained up and left alone to suffer, beaten to a bloody mess, mocked, pierced by thorns on His brow, forced to carry His own heavy cross and finally nailed to that dirty cross. He took on a long, drawn out miserable death for me, for you.

The drama is performed with the song "Breathe'. I never thought much about the song and its meaning/purpose along with the drama until we started rehearsing. The lyrics are: "This is the air I breathe, Your holy presence in me. This is my daily bread, Your very word spoken to me. I'm desperate for You. I'm lost without You. This is the air I breathe."

Breathe is defined as 'reprise'...and reprise is defined as 'to inhale and exhale air for the purpose of maintaining life'! That is exactly what Jesus was to the characters of this drama....He was their life! I image there wasn't a breathe they took that didn't collide with thoughts, actions, prayers, and love for their Savior! In their very last desperate and gasping breathes they spoke of their Savior, Jesus Christ!

....................speechless, yes. Performing this role leaves a speechless reaction that leaves your soul challenged and desperate for a heart and soul that craves Him with every breathe that you have. That's what I want to be, but I am not. This drama has left me in anguish for such a beautiful relationship. Jealous of the depth of beauty and strength my character had.

Praying that my breathes become deeper and more beautiful.

Prom...As Seen Behind the Lense

I had the honor of taking some prom photos for some awesome students in my youth group! Gosh, we took dozens of photos but I wanted to share at least a hand full! It was a little like prom all over that day as I sat with my sister as she did one of the girl's hair and then I followed up the evening by chaperoning prom! I love my students and want them to know I'm not just there on Wednesday nights...but all the time in life!

Master of disguise....or maybe its just Trey and Jessie! :)

Dad makes sure his baby girl's date has nothing but pure intentions! :)

She was a little sad that the pitch fork was taller than her...but I thought it made the picture great! :)