Come breathe, come breathe, come breathe
on me. . .
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This is my prayer to you tonight. No matter what happens from this point on, no matter what "flash point" or inspiration I receive, the big picture is. . .I need your sovereign hand moving. Your Spirit guiding, your breath of life breathing on me. Come breathe, come breathe on me. . .
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What a simple phrase. Testimony, Salvation, Freedom, Celebration.
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Come breathe, come breath on me. . .
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Come breathe, come breathe, Lord Jesus, come breathe on me. . .
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The gift of song has the power to move, inspire, "flash point," and reflect the spirit within. I feel like my journey through this life will always be marked by a song. A trail behind me will show glimpses of melodies fading through the air. "For I've been reborn," "There's faith to move a mountain in me. . .," So let my words be few," "Come breathe, come breathe on me." With "Hands in the air" and mouth open wide, I feel that my words will never be enough to tell you how I feel or express my soul within. But you have blessed this world with the gift of song. It moves me and tells my stories better than I could tell my own. And today's lesson? Come breathe, come breathe, come breathe on me. . . My life's story is in the movement of your breath. Hopes, dreams, peace, fulfillment, purpose. Come breathe, come breathe, Lord, come breathe on me!
shawanda
11:17 PM
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-Clarifications-
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There are two posts that I feel I must clarify:
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1. Just so there is no confusion, my "Harry's World" post has nothing to do with spoilers from the new book. I know there were some who thought I might have said something about what happens in the book and didn't want to read it because they have not finished reading the book themselves. My "Harry's World" post is really about the B&N party John and I went to in order to pick up our copy of the book. So if you are now reading the book or haven't even started but plan to in the future, my post will not ruin anything for you.
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2. My "Xanga Revolution" post contains my Xanga blog link within it. I was told that the reason my Xanga site was not seen was because there was no link to it. I know that on some browsers, my links show up as a very similar color to the black lettering of all the other words. Also, I mentioned that I would post a permanent link once I started writing on the site more consistently. May have been a little confusing I know. So, go check out the site. The first post contains pictures of some basses I may purchase and any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
shawanda
10:37 PM
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-Harry's World-
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So it's finally here. The 6th book in the Harry Potter Series finally made its way into our town and caused quite a fuss upon its arrival if you don't mind me saying so. John and I headed over to the Barnes & Noble bash last night to get a copy of the book during the midnight release. Overall, it would have been much easier to wait until today to purchase the book. But I wanted to see little children dressed up in Hogwarts gear and be around the excitement of painted faces and waving wands. Though the "party" wasn't much of one by the time we headed over, it was cool to see soo many people (well over a thousand) excited about reading. Little kids were making wands and talking about their favorite characters. Tons of people where dressed in House uniforms and robes. There was even an older man (40's/50's?) who was dressed in complete Dumbledore gear. John and I agreed that our favorite costumes were the Quidditch uniforms. I had a brief conversation with a lady in her early 40's who declared that she was getting much too old for this. Of course she said this as she was grabbing Harry glasses out of a box and putting a Harry sticker on her overall shorts. It made me smile. I wish John and I would have remembered to bring our camera so unfortunately I don't have any cool pictures to share. Except for this:
Not very Harry like but I still tried. As far as the events of the night, most of it was spent waiting for midnight. Earlier in the evening they had cookies and drinks and craft tables for the kids. Once midnight struck people cheered and the line (according to bracelet color and number) began to form for book purchase. While you waited for your bracelet color and number to be called, they had a reading of the book in the children's section that you could listen to. We really didn't have to wait long before our time came to get in line. That was nice.
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As I stated earlier, there wasn't much to the night. My personal opinion is that B&N could have done a little more partying. Maybe a costume contest or getting permission to show the first 3 movies. Next book I think we will skip the fanfare like we have every other time. But it is cool to say that we were there.
shawanda
4:12 PM
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-The Xanga Revolution-
.I don't know if you're aware, but I was told that Blogger is out and Xanga is in. In the beginning, I refused to believe the hype. I did however open an account so I could post comments on Hannah (still unfound) and
Susan's blogs if I wanted. That was last month. But with the recent idea of starting a new blog, I officially caved in.
.Why a new blog you ask? Well, I am about to start a new journey and learn to play the bass. Thanks to Jake I found an awesome website where I will be buying my first bass in less than a month. So, as I am learning basic cords and experiencing the pain of newly formed callouses on my fingertips, I thought I could create a place to share that with anyone who was interested. Plus, it gave me the opportunity to create a new blog look without actually changing this one completely.
So, check it out! I won't add a permanent link to my bass site until I'm writing for it more consistently. Stay tuned.
shawanda
12:46 PM
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-Oh, The Fun We Had-
. Though there have been many cool things worth blogging about, I just can't seem to find the time to do it. And when I do stumble upon a nice chunk of time, I really don't want to do anything but veg. But, I feel it is time to talk about some of the cool things John and I have done in the past few weeks. Here it goes:
. Medieval TimesDuring my time in Schaumburg for John's Art Camp, I wanted us to do something fun for our anniversary week. Since most of my time would be at the hotel, I thought we could end the trip doing something cool. John mentioned that they were taking the kids to Medieval Times as one of their fun activities so this intrigued me. I wasn't quite sure what to expect or how much I would like it. I had heard some good things about it from our friend Jaime (yep, that's how it's spelled) so I was looking forward to it. Once John returned from his time there with the kids all full from eating and hoarse from screaming, I was pumped. We reserved tickets for that Friday night and even upgraded for the royalty treatment. When we arrived, we took our picture with the King and were given crowns tying us to the Blue Knight. While waiting to be seated we looked at swords, watched birthday people as they were knighted for the night, and even ran into the former Jen Fulkerson with her husband. And because this night was soo special, John even bought me a silk-lit flower.
Awww. Once we were seated (front row of our section, baby) we were greeted with all the perks of being royalty. Commemorative programs, blue banners, and a DVD featuring behind the scenes footage. The tournament of stalwart Knights began. We were given the back story and setting for the tournament taking place and introduced to all the players. As we cheered for our blue knight through contests of sport and battle against the other knights, we were served the most delicious feast of monumental proportions. The bill of fare included garlic bread, vegetable soup, roasted chicken, spare rib, herb-basted potato, and an apple pie like pastry. All of it was absolutely delicious. And of course in keeping with the times, all of it was eaten with our hands. I really could go on and on trying to describe the events of the night. But honestly, you have to actually experience it in order to do it justice. I'll end by saying that when I sat down, I sort of felt like a big fat nerd getting all excited over something like this. But by the end of the night, I was screaming and waving my cheap banner as if it were the most natural thing. Really a great night. John and I agreed that the only thing that could enhance the experience is getting a bunch of our friends together to share it with.
.Starved RockJohn and I took a trip here with our friend Hannah. We just decided to hop in the car and take a mini road trip to somewhere for the day. Hannah and I didn't even know where we were headed until we were almost there. I won't say too much about Starved Rock because John is suppose to blog about it himself along with pictures from the day. I will say that it was a pretty cool way to spend the 4th of July. And even though we got drenched by the unexpected storm that came through, it was totally worth it. Before we headed out that morning, we decided that part of our trip had to include a stop at a greasy spoon we'd never been to before. We ended up at Woody's Family Restaurant in El Paso, IL. Not as "greasy" as we were anticipating but the food was still pretty good.
.Shakespeare FestivalThanks to Barry Hudek, John and I were invited to hang with him and Rob(b) for a night of good theater. I think I mentioned in an earlier post that the festival took place in Bloomington. Luckily the rain stayed away and we were able to enjoy
Twelfth Night with all of its humor and mistaken identity. We were definitely reminded that Shakespeare was meant to be performed and not read. The actors were great. Even though I still didn't understand every word spoken, their physical performance was more than enough to carry the meaning of their words. But honestly, it wasn't really the performance of
Twelfth Night that made the time soo great. It had more to do with being outside under the night sky watching live theater being performed. I don't know the last time I've gotten to see live theater like that. It was nice to be eating ice cream with friends hearing them laugh aloud at what they saw and heard. It was about hearing myself chuckle at those same things. I find myself having the hardest time writing about this because I think my enjoyment came out of something very intangible. All I know is that I look forward to doing this again next year.
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So that brings us up to today. The next thing I'm looking forward to is crashing the Barnes & Noble Harry Potter midnight party they have for the kids. We still need to check and see if they are having one in Springfield. I sure hope so. I think Hannah will be joining us for this as well. If we do get to go, I'll be sure to write about all the kids and describe what actually goes on at these things. Maybe I'll get John to do it instead. He seems much better at relaying past events. I think it makes for a better read anyway.
.Song of the day: Opera Singer by Cake
shawanda
6:30 PM
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-Eight O'Clock At The Oasis-
. So I'm experiencing one of those days where I get to play the waiting game. I have a few shop assignments that require materials sent to me via FedEx. I had been waiting all week for them to arrive but with no success. I've actually had to postpone each shop, pushing them back a day because of the lack of materials. However, John and I had to leave the house for a half an hour yesterday in which FedEx decided to choose that small window of time to arrive at our door. Upon our return, we were greeted with a note saying they had come bearing my gifts and would return sometime the next day. Well this wouldn't do. My first shop was rescheduled (for the 2nd time) for 7AM this morning. So we called FedEx to see if it were possible to pick up my packages before they closed. But of course, that couldn't be done because their office hours were only until 6PM but the driver would be out delivering until 8PM - with my materials right beside him. I was told that I could expect a visit today between the hours of 8AM - 8PM. What is that?
. So here I sit. . .waiting. I actually got a phone call this morning around 8:30 asking if I would be home. For some stupid reason I just assumed it meant I would be seeing the delivery person soon. Guess not. Soooo, I can't leave the house until this guy shows up. - John asks if I want to go out for lunch... Nope, sorry, gotta sit here and wait... AND, John and I are headed up North for a Shakespeare festival this evening. Well, the FedEx guy had better be here by then...
.Of course, I write all this like I am going to tell this guy off when he shows up at the door. Like I am going to yell at him about the injustice of having to wait all day, just for him to show up with my package, and why can't they just give me a time? But, in reality, when he does finally show up, I will smile, thank him, and tell him to have a great day.
.Video of the day: If I have not Love by John Deck
Song by Matt Redman
Features artist Ben Brown
shawanda
8:11 AM
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-Faux Poes Foes-
.I'm feeling a little weird today. As usual, I have a lot on my plate. Maybe not so much on my plate as I do in my head. I'm trying to organize the rest of this month and it's driving me a little batty. One item at a time right?
.Anyway, scheduling is not the only thing contributing to my mood. As many of you know, John and I have been away for his Art Camp and today I finally caught up on my blog reading. After a recent conversation with the Helfers (Yes, I do mean Pete and Joy!), an incident I observed yesterday, and then catching up on everyone's blogs, I am left with a feeling of deep sadness. I fear that I will have an impossible time trying to flesh out my feelings with words but I will try nonetheless.
.You see, it has come to my attention, that we, as humans - and even worse as Christians, are the most pompous pieces of crap. We spend our time debating and discussing the greater truths of the world while our fellow man waits for us to stop talking and start acting. It seems that we care more about observing what is wrong in the world (particularly the church) than we care about observing the ones we are called to serve. We read enlightening articles, hear inspiring sermons, and then proceed to dissect them until it's been beaten to death. We even use these blogs to challenge each other with our wit and intellect in hopes of doing who knows what.
.I find myself being drawn in to all of this. In fact, I want to sound just as wise and deep as those around me so that I too can seem like a worth while being. And though there is definitely nothing wrong with smart conversation and sharing viewpoints with one another, I wonder if it has obtained too much of our focus. I wonder if I have become no more than someone who talks a good talk but never does a lick to change the very thing I criticize.
.I don't want that to be me. I want to be woman of action. I want to be someone who is willing to take the time to know the people God has placed in my life. I want balance.
.So here's the deal: for the next month I want to encourage us to blog about our
experiences instead of just thoughts. Let's take the time to get to know those around us a little better and blog about those times. Let's open our eyes and take advantage of the oportunities we have to encourage someone who needs it and share those moments with each other.
.Song of the day: A Long Walk by Jill Scott
shawanda
3:03 PM
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