the wire...

I have found a new love...Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors.  Let me just share some lyrics with you:

The Wire

How you gonna know it if you never try?

You spend your life wondering if it passed you by.

Livin' like that will make you terrified.

How you gonna know it if you never try?

How you gonna feel it if you won't let go?

You're scared to death of being alone.

When you're scared like that you'll grow a heart of stone.

How you gonna feel it if you don't let go?

Ohhh, you got a dead desire.

Ohhh, thrown in the fire.

Ohhh, it's down to the wire.

How you gonna learn it if you close your mind?

You lie and say that everything's fine.

Livin' in denial, it'll leave you blind. 

How you gonna learn it if you close your mind?

How you gonna make it if you go alone?

When you think of all the chances you've blown.

It takes faith and a friend to carry you home.

How you gonna make it if you go alone?

Check them out on iTunes if you haven't been blessed by their voices! Such a treat!

how could you not...

....absolutely love this time of year?

There are some many things about this time of year that make my heart giddy!  Sure, there are plenty that do just the opposite...but right now, the positive far outweigh the negative.  The child-like spirit in many of us comes out when we begin to decorate our Christmas trees, hang stockings, shop for gifts for the special people in our lives, listen to carols, fix a nice, hot cup of cocoa and sit in front of a roaring fire.  

I find myself reflecting this Christmas season.  Not just the normal reflecting I often do....this is a much deeper reflection.  I reflect back on the past years experiences and how much I learned and grew from each of them.  I am so incredibly blessed and have so many things to be thankful for.  God has done mighty things in me this year.  Life is a tricky, tricky game we're all forced to play.  But I have people in my life to make those tricky things bearable.

Several years ago I sat up thinking about everything I wanted to pray for and I came up with an easy outline/reminder for praying a prayer of thanksgiving.  

Faith

Family

Friends

Fortune

Future

These five things are the five most important things in my life and I am in prayer daily for them.  They have made me who I am and continue to play this tricky game of life alongside me.  Just know that if you fall into one of the categories above, I am incredibly thankful for you and the influence you've had on my life.  Thank you for loving me in spite of my faults and giving me unending grace, especially when none is deserved. 

My hope for you is that you would take this time to be in prayer for the things and people in your life that you are truly thankful for.