Favorite Song Friday #1 - "All You've Ever Wanted"

I read quite a few blogs each day because that's a fun thing for me. Probably because they are always showing off the cool projects they do and their beautiful houses and their good ideas and I like to try to replicate what they're doing if it's something that I like. I'm not a very creative-minded person (hence the job dealing with math and numbers - just facts... not much creativity here!) but I do like to do some creative things, if someone else gives me the idea and shows me how to do it!

A lot of the blogs I read have recurring, weekly posts that have some theme: like to share about food or recipes, to share fun new products that they like, workouts they're doing, an encouraging story they've heard, etc. Here's some examples of some of the ones that pop up on my blog feed throughout the week:

Menu Monday with Lovely Little Snippets

What I'm Loving Wednesday with This Kind of Love

She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not with Michaela Noelle Designs

Workout Wednesday with Skinny Meg

Thriving Thursday with Serving Joyfully

Proverbs 31 Thursdays with Raising Mighty Arrows

Five on Friday with Hello! Happiness

Confessional Friday with A Blonde Ambition

High Five for Friday with The Small Things Blog

I have been thinking lately about a lot of songs that I like and how I occasionally like to share them on my blog. Not only to share them with my friends and family who read my posts but also so I can go back in time and see what favorite songs I had throughout time and read about why I liked them at that moment.

Therefore, in my head, Favorite Song Friday was born!

So without further ado... I bring you the first edition of Favorite Song Friday!

My first favorite is Casting Crowns' song, "All You've Ever Wanted." This song has been one of my favorites since it was released about 5 months or so ago and it has never gotten old to me. On top of just being a beautiful song (and the fact that Casting Crowns is one of my favorite groups), the song has such a simple, clear, and impactful message. The song is about the fact that most of us live our lives every day fighting battles with ourselves that are already over and won for us by God. I know that is something I have struggled with. Some days I am overrun with the guilt that I feel about my past sins. And this song, which, many times, seems to be played at just the right time, reminds me that God doesn't want anything from me but for me to give Him my heart. All I have to do is ask Him to forgive me, and it's done. He doesn't hold on to the memories of what I've done, so why should I? God doesn't need me to go out and do any good deeds or cure cancer or convince every person on Earth that I am wonderful (not that all those are bad things to do anyway), he just wants me to lay my life down for Him. The thought of that takes my breath away and brings tears to my eyes. God doesn't want anything from us, he just wants us to give ourselves to Him and live our lives each day for Him. It's just that simple. God is so good!

The lyrics that I love are:
"But all my deeds and my good name
Are just dirty rags that tear and strain
To cover all my guilty stains
That You already washed away"

You can listen to the song by clicking here or watching it below.
I hope you enjoy and I hope it makes an impact on you like it has to me!
Happy Friday!

Full Lyrics

I just looked up today
And realized how far away I am from where You are
You gave me life worth dying for
But between the altar and the door
I bought the lies that promised more
And here I go again

Lord, I know I let You down
But somehow, I will make You proud
I'll turn this sinking ship around
And make it back to You

But all my deeds and my good name
Are just dirty rags that tear and strain
To cover all my guilty stains
That You already washed away

('Cause) All You've ever wanted, all You've ever wanted
All You've ever wanted was my heart
Freedom's arms are open, my chains have all been broken
Relentless love has called me from the start
And all You wanted was my heart

I was chasing healing when I'd been made well
I was fighting battles when You conquered hell
Living free but from a prison cell
Lord, I lay it down today

So I'll stop living off of how I feel
And start standing on Your truth revealed
Jesus is my strength, my shield
And He will never fail me

No more chains, I've been set free
No more fighting battles You've won for me
Now in Christ, I stand complete

Iowa State Fair 2013 - Nothing Compares!

Just one short week ago, I was off having fun at the Iowa State Fair with my mom. I love the fair and I was so happy that I got to go again this year after having to miss a few years due to being a "grown up". The day went WAY too fast, but I think we got some of the important stuff crossed off our to-do list while we were there... We both agreed we could have spent several days there and still found enough to do, though!

 

 

We made it to the fairgrounds a little before noon and not even five seconds after walking in, we saw the Big Green Egg tent. I happen to be married to a so called "Egghead" who loves his Big Green Egg grill. So we took a gander around their tent and listened to the salespeople talk up the Egg and all of the Eggcessories before going on our way. They do have a lot to offer and I do love all that Trent cooks for us on our Egg, so it may or may not have convinced me a little more that we should upgrade our medium sized egg to a large... someday ;)

 

 

After stopping to fill out some forms to try to win a new car (fingers crossed!), we made our way to get some lunch and then find a seat at the Bill Riley Talent Show. My mom had a corn dog and lemonade. I had some cheese curds and a Dr. Pepper! Yum!

 

 

We watched a majority of the sprouts competition which included some singers, dancers, a piano player, and a hula hoop performer girl to name a few. We decided that if we wanted to make good use of the time we had that day, we'd better get on our way and miss out on the Senior Division performances.

After we left the Bill Riley Stage, we made our way to check out the livestock. We didn't stop to look at anything much, but got to see some pigs, cows, an ostrich and a llama among other things as we walked to the back to meet up with some people who were there from our area to show their cattle. And, of course, we took their picture as they were reading The Observer.

 

 

Cows

Our next stop was the Agriculture building. But on the way in we had to stop by the outside of the building to locate Grandma and Grandpa Jons' brick.

 

The view from the top of the stairs in the Ag Building

Probably my favorite thing about the Agriculture building is walking around the upper area and checking out the real live infomercials. Of course, the Quick n Brite stand was there. Unfortunately, we didn't feel like we had time to stop and listen to the schpeel (especially since I've heard it quite a few times before) but it sure does make me happy to think about standing there and watching it do its magic!

 

 

We DID stop and watch the end of the Vitamix show and got to have a sample of the smoothie they were making. Totally worth it! Someday when I'm grown up, I think I'll get one of those.

 

As we finished walking through the building, I figured out how tall I was...

 

...we saw the Butter Cow and the other Butter sculptures...

 

 

...and finished it up with some ice cream on our way out! (I LOVE ice cream!)

 

It was then time for us to head over to the Varied Industries building for our time slot volunteering to package meals for Meals from the Heartland.

 

 

We ended up at a table with 8 other women. At each table, the same process was done to package the meals. First a small pack of vitamins is put into a plastic bag, followed by a scoop of rice, one of soy flour, and a smaller one of dried vegetables. The bag is then weighed and sealed and then packaged, 36 bags to a box. The process was actually quite fun. It was easy and it was definitely something I would do again. I can imagine that it would be a lot of fun to do it with a group of 10 people you know and can just enjoy spending time with them while doing something for a good cause! During that one day, about 1,500 volunteers packaged 255,096 meals that will go to feed children throughout the Midwest as well as overseas.

 

 

The bins of the different stuff we put into the bags

 

 

After our volunteering was done, we made our way through the Varied Industries building, picking up a lot of catalogs and business cards and posters and sporting schedules... you know - the good stuff!

 

(I had to grab a flier for the Sam Clovis for U.S. Senate campaign from the Republicans' table. The guy at the table laughed at me when I took a picture of them but I just smiled back and said that Sam was my advisor in college and told him I thought Sam was awesome. He thought I was cool then... or something...)

 

 

By the time we got through all of the aisles of the Varied Industries building, it was about time for us to head to the concert. We made a quick trip to the car to drop off all our goodies from the day and then made one more stop for some supper before heading into the concert. For supper I had a corn dog this time and my mom had a tenderloin sandwich. Both good choices again!

 

 

Trent told me to have a turkey leg for him at the fair...
There was absolutely no room in my belly for that,
so I just took a picture of a sign instead :)
It's the thought that counts, right?

And then IT WAS TIME! Time to head into the Grandstand for the Jeremy Camp and Casting Crowns concert. We were lucky enough to be in row 5 and were able to experience the great concert from up close! And just like the rest of the day, the concert went way too fast! It was absolutely awesome, though. I can say without a doubt that they are two of my favorite artists and I could listen to their songs all day long. Their songs say so many things that I think relate directly to my life and have such great messages. Being there with thousands of other people, singing together and praising God and worshiping together really fills up my heart. 

 

(Lots of pictures... I couldn't pick which ones to use, so you get to see them all!)

 

 

Both Jeremy Camp and Casting Crowns not only had great messages in their songs but they also spoke great messages to the crowd. Their encouragement to us all as Christians was absolutely uplifting and I honestly believe everyone had to have left there ready and pumped to spread the greatness of God through their words and actions.

 

 

Not only was it a great experience to have to be there with all those thousands of people, singing together and praising the Lord, it was a great experience to share with my mom. I'm so happy that I got to spend the day with her and top it off with the amazing concert. It was a perfect day! There really is nothing that compares to the Iowa State Fair!

 

"I want all who I meet to see you through me.

I want all that I speak to be You.

If there's anything that I would pray.

It's that the whole world would seek Your face.

And in spite of who I can be.

Please reign in me"

Reign in Me - Jeremy Camp

Pray

The song Pray by Sanctus Real is a song I heard for the first time on the radio a while back and instantly loved. I now listen to it at least once or twice a day while at work and today I really felt like I wanted to share this song.

 

I don't feel like I have ever been as good of a "pray-er" as I would like to be and I'm sure I don't do it "right" but I don't think God so much cares about that as long as I talk to Him. I pray more now than I ever have before in my life. A lot of times, I don't know what I should pray, and I usually pray about the most random things... but I figure, God knows me pretty well so I'm sure He knows what I'm trying to say. Sometimes they're long, sometimes they're just once sentence, sometimes I'm asking for forgiveness, sometimes I'm thanking God, and sometime I'm asking for His help... and I usually end my prayers by asking God to tell my dad hi. And I'm sure He does for me.

 

I just wanted to share this song because I think we all get to a place sometimes when we just don't know what to do anymore, but we can remember that God knows our hearts and knows what we need. We can tell him anything and ask him for anything and he will always share the weight of our burdens with us. We don't have to and aren't supposed to try to make it through life on our own, God wants us to lean on Him.

"Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4:6-7

Pray by Sanctus Real

I bow my head to pray, I don't know what to say
I'm not sure how to fix the things I'm dealing with
I'm in a desperate place, I need to share the weight
But I just don't know how, to let it all pour out
Though I'm silent, my heart is crying
Cause I was made to come to You
So I pray
God I need You more than words can say
Right here in this moment
You know my heart, You know my need
You know every part of me
So even if it's just to speak Your name
I'm gonna pray
I failed to find the time, but You've been calling out
I let the days go by as if I could live without
But it's gotta be here now, I won't be pulled away
Cause it's just You and I, so let the world around us fade

As I pray
God I need You more than words can say
Right here in this moment
You know my heart, You know my need
You know every part of me
So even if it's just to speak Your name
I'm gonna pray
I'm gonna pray
Will You meet me here right now?
I surrender, lay it down
And every time I close my eyes
I know that I was made
To lift my hands and pray
I lift my hands and pray

You know my heart, You know my need
And every single part of me
So even if it's just to speak Your name
I'm gonna pray
I'm gonna pray

You know my heart, You know my need
You know every part of me
More than words you want my life

Take it as an offering

Thankful - Day 5: Music

I know I have missed a few days, but between working and studying and all the other random things I get distracted with during the day as well as always attempting to go to sleep early, the days just go by so quickly! So I'm just going to do a little catching up here throughout the rest of the month!

For my 5th Day I am thankful for music. I love what music and songs add to every situation. It intensifies situations in movies and makes the exciting moments more exciting and the sad or romantic moments even more dramatic. I'm also very thankful for the part music played in my younger days when I was in band and choir. I sure learned a lot through my years spent playing the clarinet and piano and singing and all that stuff with Mr. Meyer. =) I love what music adds to church services and picture slide shows and I'm very thankful to have music to make a car ride less dull. 

Lately, I have especially enjoyed it when I hear a song and part of it can sum up exactly how I'm feeling. I love that I can turn up the songs very loud in my car and just sing as loud as I want. For some reason, singing these words makes me feel better. Especially the chorus of Over You by Miranda Lambert below, when she sings "I miss you", a lot of times I just sing and cry, cuz that's exactly how I feel! But then, I know, that even though I miss my dad every day, that I will see him again one day. This world is temporary and he is in a much better place! For the time being, though, I, along with my family, will all learn to deal with the empty place in our hearts and we will be okay as long as we lean on God to comfort us and heal our hearts.

I have picked out these three songs that have really spoken to me as of lately to share. These songs bring me comfort and hope in the sadness and heartache I feel - and for that, I'm thankful!

See You Again by Carrie Underwood

I will see you again. 

This is not where it ends.

I will carry you with me. 

'Til I see you again.

Over You - Miranda Lambert

But you went away.

How dare you?

I miss you

They say I'll be okay

But I'm not going to ever get over you.

Steady My Heart by Kari Jobe

Even when it hurts

Even when its hard

Even when it all just falls apart

I will run to You

Cuz I know that You are

Lover of my soul

Healer of my scars

Steady my Heart