I got home a little while ago from a live recording service at my church (we are doing a week of recordings to put together our 2nd and 3rd albums. I was there videoing the service. I'll be playing keys tomorrow.) and I want to share a song with you that we just finished recording.
The song is called The Love of God' and was written in the early 20th century by Frederick Lehman. The lyrics are beautifully crafted and have a strong poetic flow to them that I really find powerful. When I first heard the song a couple months ago in a recording preparation practice session I was absolutely blown away by how beautiful this song was. (Apparently, according to google, the song is based of a Jewish poem known as the Haddamut. And the 3rd verse was originally something found written on the wall of a deceased patient at an asylum. I guess, before he went nuts, he was quite the poet...? Strangely, that verse is what I would call the best part!).
Verse 1:
The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star,
And reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled,
And pardoned from his sin.
Chorus:
O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
The saints’ and angels’ song.
Verse 2:
When years of time shall pass away,
And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall,
When men, who here refuse to pray,
On rocks and hills and mountains call,
God’s love so sure, shall still endure,
All measureless and strong;
Redeeming grace to Adam’s race—
The saints’ and angels’ song.
Verse 3:
Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above,
Would drain the ocean dry.
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.
Is that stunning or what? Man, I wish I had written that!
** To answer any questions, YES! the album will eventually be available. Itunes and what not. For right now, check out our last album, In Our Day on itunes.
Disclaimer: it isn't all hymns. This is actually the only hymn we are putting in there. We will be recording a bunch of songs written by my worship pastor and other talented members of CLG, as well as some Hillsong, Hillsong United, Chris Tomlin, Cory Asbury, Kari Jobe, and other well known people in the worship industry. We also have the amazing KENT HENRY (if you don't know who he is, check out his music or something. He is just wayyyy too awesome to miss out on. A personal favorite...) visiting from MI and joining us in the recording process!!!
See our website: www.clgonline.net. Or follow along with the recording process on my worship pastor's blog. Thanks!**
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
What t-shirts, lollipops, and the Love of God can do...
*or "My experience in a Nicaraguan (in Costa Rica) Refugee Camp*
When I did my "quick recap" post about Costa Rica I mentioned that our team went to a refugee camp and that it was my favorite part of the trip. I said I wanted to do a post elaborating on that experience. This is that post.
Monday morning, the twelfth of July, our team of 17 people got into our bus and took off headed for what we were informed would be quite the morning. We were going to spend the morning in a village of refugees from Nicaragua, that was in a valley between a quarry and a garbage dump. We are driving along through a Costa Rican city and suddenly Olman, our faithful bus driver, takes a sharp left turn down a steep and very narrow, mud road. We continue going downhill, taking lefts and rights. The sites out our window keep getting more and more...desperate...looking. The houses are tiny shacks made of tin or aluminum. Wide eyes peer out of windows with no glass. People selling fruit, that is well past ripe, on the side of the road look up as we pass. The smell of the garbage dump is strong in the air. We see a soda delivery truck with a gaurd standing outside of it. He is wearing a bullet proof vest and holding a loaded shot gun, acting like the beverage truck was an armored vehicle containing something of great value. We keep turning. The narrow roads are getting more and more narrow.
In the bus, our Pastor is trying to prep us for what we are about to do. "Leave your backpacks with Olman." "Be mindful. If I can't see you, don't go there." "Don't step in the water running down the side of the road; it isn't water." "Be careful about holding kids. Lice." ...etc, etc...
"...But don't let them see pity in your eyes. Let them see compassion."
I'm not even a germ freak, far from it, and I have seen some pretty rough scenes and desperate situations around the world, but I was a little apprehensive to get out of the bus.
We finally pull up in front of a teeny tiny church (the inside is literally about the same size as my bedroom). Hanging outside the door is a little painted sign saying, in Spanish, that visitors were coming to do a children service at 10:00. That was us.
The bus parks. It is time to get out. Everyone is a little tense. The experience was just a bit outside what we thought was our comfort zone.
But the moment I stepped out of the bus into the muddy street, EVERYTHING CHANGED.
Children flooded out of the church and took each of us by the hand. A little girl (who I came to know as Michele. She was six.) took my hand in hers and guided me over a puddle. She smiled at me.
Pity was gone. Apprehension melted. I was totally overwhelmed with love and compassion. The love God has for her and all the other little kids in a seemingly hopeless situation hit me strong. In that moment, I had a revelation: Jesus didn't die for me any more than He did for them, just because I'm American. God doesn't love me any more than He does them, just because I live in a house with central air conditioning, have a flushing toilet, or because I am better off financially than them. I know, it sounds silly. And obviously I didn't think that God only loved me or Americans. I knew God loved everyone. I knew Jesus died the ultimate death, and had nails driven through his hands and feet, for EVERYONE, no matter who they are or where they live. Just in that moment, with Michele's little hand grasping mine, it felt more like reality than head knowledge. I could see and feel the love of God. Lice and sewage running down the road didn't even bother me any more. I was too in awe of God. I was too amazed at what I was getting to take part in because of Him.
Our team, with our little entourage of children, went door to door, inviting other kids to our service. Michele pointed out her friends to me. She also told me I was married to 5 boys because of the 5 rings I wear. (To that, I laughed...). She kept smiling every time I said anything to her in my less than perfect Spanish. She didn't mind. She just liked that I was smiling back at her. She was a beautiful little girl; so filled with joy, despite her situation and very rough life.
Once all the children had gather together in the church, we sat them all down on the dirty, cement floor and started our service. I would say there were about 30 of them. Their eyes were fixed on us as we disappeared behind a big, blue felt thing (a puppet stage). Music began and the kids erupted with laughter as puppets popped up and began to dance and sing about praising God. Some team members not behind the stage got the kids doing hand motions along with their new puppet friends. SUCH JOY!
After the performance bit some of our fluent Spanish speaking members got up and gave testimonies about God's love and power in their lives. Pastor Daniel, my youth pastor's best friend, gave a call for salvation. Little hands popped up all over the room when he asked who wanted to pray for Jesus to come into their hearts!
I thought I was overwhelmed with love already, but I just kept getting more and more so as we went. That little girl Michele was now my little sister in Christ. I may never see her again in this life, but some day I will see her in heaven! That brought me close to tears (and if you know me, you know it takes a WHOOOLLLE lot to get me to that point.)
With the salvation call given, we started giving out something else. Clothes. Our church did a clothing drive for several months prior to the trip and we had gathered 12 suitcases worth of clothing (that day we brought some specifically for the women and children). The kids just sat still, watching in awe as we pulled out our giant, green bags full of clothing and handed it out to them. On looking mother's started to become emotional. We'd pull out something, look at the size on the tag and try and find a kid it would work for. We would hand them the article of clothing and they would just glow. Moments after we would look over at them to find they were clutching it tight to themselves. Some would hold the clothes to their faces and just inhale deeply. They had never smelled fresh, clean clothes. They'd never had anything with a price tag on it. The clothes they had on their backs might have been their only outfit.
*more overwhelm-ment* I realized I have so, so much that I am less than grateful for. I have a closet full of shirts. I buy new ones all the time. And they never make me *glow.* My eyes never widen. I usually don't sniff my laundry, piece by piece, taking in the freshness. Watching them receive our little gifts was really powerful. Something so simple, and yet very practical, touched them so much.
Also, along with the clothes, I left the Pastor's wife with a bag of 500 lollipops I had brought along with me to distribute to the kids. I wish I had been there long enough to watch them get those too, but unfortunately it was time for us to leave. We loaded back into our bus and waved goodbye to our new little friends.
On the trip we got to see God move in all sorts of amazingly powerful ways. Each person on the team got to be involved in what He was doing in a special way. Lots of moments on the trip stand out to us. This day, this morning with the Nicaraguan refugees, is what stands out most to me. I loved it. And I learned from it.
I consider it such a privileged to have been part of that. Jesus says in the Bible that 'whatever we do for the least of these, we do for Him.' It felt like one of those moments. We handed out clothes and did puppet pieces for Jesus. It wasn't pity; it was true compassion. Were they the "least" in all the world? Were their needs the greatest? No, of course not. But they, like everyone, needed to see the love of God. They had practical needs that needed meeting. And God sent us to THEM and we were able to meet some of those needs and point them to their Heavenly Father for the rest. I am so glad of that.
We didn't do anything amazing. We didn't change the fact they live in a country that isn't theirs, in little shacks, and don't have enough food to eat. We didn't build them luxury houses or dig them proper sewage systems. We didn't put rug in their church or glass in their windows. We didn't get rid of the scary guy with a shot gun delivering their soda. We didn't come as superheroes. We couldn't possibly fix everything. We just came with t-shirts, lollipops and the love of God and that was enough to change their lives forever. We came and said "We love you and the God of the universe sent us here because He loves you even more."
Their situation is still rough. A lollipop doesn't fix the fact that you are a refugee. A shirt or pair of pants doesn't help you make it through the rest of your life that promises to be tough. But the love of God changes EVERYTHING. Those kids might be living in a rough situation, but they now have God in their lives. Things might look hopeless all around them, but they have eternal hope.
And God let me be part of that!? I think that is the coolest thing ever. I could have stayed at that refugee camp all week. I would have loved to have spent more time with those kids, giving out lollipops and doing puppet pieces, but we only had a few hours. We gave God what we had to work with and He changed eternities. Is that powerful or what!?
Am I the only one excited about this? I dunno, maybe I have been reading too much Shane Clairborne, or maybe I have actually caught site of what the Kingdom of God is all about? The love of God isn't complicated. It isn't hard. It just takes a little obedience and boldness to step out of the safe, air conditioned bus, so to speak, and get it done. We did. And it was worth every moment. We were stretched, God's love broke out, and I now I can say I have a bunch of little brothers and sisters in Costa Rica who I will someday spend eternity in the presence of our God with. That is just too cool for me to even wrap my mind around!
*photo credit to Jeff Crandall and the Merge Ahead Missions photography team.
**If you'd like to see more pictures, or a video tour of the village, go check out the Merge Missions site and click on July 12th.
When I did my "quick recap" post about Costa Rica I mentioned that our team went to a refugee camp and that it was my favorite part of the trip. I said I wanted to do a post elaborating on that experience. This is that post.
Monday morning, the twelfth of July, our team of 17 people got into our bus and took off headed for what we were informed would be quite the morning. We were going to spend the morning in a village of refugees from Nicaragua, that was in a valley between a quarry and a garbage dump. We are driving along through a Costa Rican city and suddenly Olman, our faithful bus driver, takes a sharp left turn down a steep and very narrow, mud road. We continue going downhill, taking lefts and rights. The sites out our window keep getting more and more...desperate...looking. The houses are tiny shacks made of tin or aluminum. Wide eyes peer out of windows with no glass. People selling fruit, that is well past ripe, on the side of the road look up as we pass. The smell of the garbage dump is strong in the air. We see a soda delivery truck with a gaurd standing outside of it. He is wearing a bullet proof vest and holding a loaded shot gun, acting like the beverage truck was an armored vehicle containing something of great value. We keep turning. The narrow roads are getting more and more narrow.
In the bus, our Pastor is trying to prep us for what we are about to do. "Leave your backpacks with Olman." "Be mindful. If I can't see you, don't go there." "Don't step in the water running down the side of the road; it isn't water." "Be careful about holding kids. Lice." ...etc, etc...
"...But don't let them see pity in your eyes. Let them see compassion."
I'm not even a germ freak, far from it, and I have seen some pretty rough scenes and desperate situations around the world, but I was a little apprehensive to get out of the bus.
We finally pull up in front of a teeny tiny church (the inside is literally about the same size as my bedroom). Hanging outside the door is a little painted sign saying, in Spanish, that visitors were coming to do a children service at 10:00. That was us.
The bus parks. It is time to get out. Everyone is a little tense. The experience was just a bit outside what we thought was our comfort zone.
But the moment I stepped out of the bus into the muddy street, EVERYTHING CHANGED.
Children flooded out of the church and took each of us by the hand. A little girl (who I came to know as Michele. She was six.) took my hand in hers and guided me over a puddle. She smiled at me.
Pity was gone. Apprehension melted. I was totally overwhelmed with love and compassion. The love God has for her and all the other little kids in a seemingly hopeless situation hit me strong. In that moment, I had a revelation: Jesus didn't die for me any more than He did for them, just because I'm American. God doesn't love me any more than He does them, just because I live in a house with central air conditioning, have a flushing toilet, or because I am better off financially than them. I know, it sounds silly. And obviously I didn't think that God only loved me or Americans. I knew God loved everyone. I knew Jesus died the ultimate death, and had nails driven through his hands and feet, for EVERYONE, no matter who they are or where they live. Just in that moment, with Michele's little hand grasping mine, it felt more like reality than head knowledge. I could see and feel the love of God. Lice and sewage running down the road didn't even bother me any more. I was too in awe of God. I was too amazed at what I was getting to take part in because of Him.
Our team, with our little entourage of children, went door to door, inviting other kids to our service. Michele pointed out her friends to me. She also told me I was married to 5 boys because of the 5 rings I wear. (To that, I laughed...). She kept smiling every time I said anything to her in my less than perfect Spanish. She didn't mind. She just liked that I was smiling back at her. She was a beautiful little girl; so filled with joy, despite her situation and very rough life.
Once all the children had gather together in the church, we sat them all down on the dirty, cement floor and started our service. I would say there were about 30 of them. Their eyes were fixed on us as we disappeared behind a big, blue felt thing (a puppet stage). Music began and the kids erupted with laughter as puppets popped up and began to dance and sing about praising God. Some team members not behind the stage got the kids doing hand motions along with their new puppet friends. SUCH JOY!
After the performance bit some of our fluent Spanish speaking members got up and gave testimonies about God's love and power in their lives. Pastor Daniel, my youth pastor's best friend, gave a call for salvation. Little hands popped up all over the room when he asked who wanted to pray for Jesus to come into their hearts!
I thought I was overwhelmed with love already, but I just kept getting more and more so as we went. That little girl Michele was now my little sister in Christ. I may never see her again in this life, but some day I will see her in heaven! That brought me close to tears (and if you know me, you know it takes a WHOOOLLLE lot to get me to that point.)
With the salvation call given, we started giving out something else. Clothes. Our church did a clothing drive for several months prior to the trip and we had gathered 12 suitcases worth of clothing (that day we brought some specifically for the women and children). The kids just sat still, watching in awe as we pulled out our giant, green bags full of clothing and handed it out to them. On looking mother's started to become emotional. We'd pull out something, look at the size on the tag and try and find a kid it would work for. We would hand them the article of clothing and they would just glow. Moments after we would look over at them to find they were clutching it tight to themselves. Some would hold the clothes to their faces and just inhale deeply. They had never smelled fresh, clean clothes. They'd never had anything with a price tag on it. The clothes they had on their backs might have been their only outfit.
*more overwhelm-ment* I realized I have so, so much that I am less than grateful for. I have a closet full of shirts. I buy new ones all the time. And they never make me *glow.* My eyes never widen. I usually don't sniff my laundry, piece by piece, taking in the freshness. Watching them receive our little gifts was really powerful. Something so simple, and yet very practical, touched them so much.
Also, along with the clothes, I left the Pastor's wife with a bag of 500 lollipops I had brought along with me to distribute to the kids. I wish I had been there long enough to watch them get those too, but unfortunately it was time for us to leave. We loaded back into our bus and waved goodbye to our new little friends.
On the trip we got to see God move in all sorts of amazingly powerful ways. Each person on the team got to be involved in what He was doing in a special way. Lots of moments on the trip stand out to us. This day, this morning with the Nicaraguan refugees, is what stands out most to me. I loved it. And I learned from it.
I consider it such a privileged to have been part of that. Jesus says in the Bible that 'whatever we do for the least of these, we do for Him.' It felt like one of those moments. We handed out clothes and did puppet pieces for Jesus. It wasn't pity; it was true compassion. Were they the "least" in all the world? Were their needs the greatest? No, of course not. But they, like everyone, needed to see the love of God. They had practical needs that needed meeting. And God sent us to THEM and we were able to meet some of those needs and point them to their Heavenly Father for the rest. I am so glad of that.
We didn't do anything amazing. We didn't change the fact they live in a country that isn't theirs, in little shacks, and don't have enough food to eat. We didn't build them luxury houses or dig them proper sewage systems. We didn't put rug in their church or glass in their windows. We didn't get rid of the scary guy with a shot gun delivering their soda. We didn't come as superheroes. We couldn't possibly fix everything. We just came with t-shirts, lollipops and the love of God and that was enough to change their lives forever. We came and said "We love you and the God of the universe sent us here because He loves you even more."
Their situation is still rough. A lollipop doesn't fix the fact that you are a refugee. A shirt or pair of pants doesn't help you make it through the rest of your life that promises to be tough. But the love of God changes EVERYTHING. Those kids might be living in a rough situation, but they now have God in their lives. Things might look hopeless all around them, but they have eternal hope.
And God let me be part of that!? I think that is the coolest thing ever. I could have stayed at that refugee camp all week. I would have loved to have spent more time with those kids, giving out lollipops and doing puppet pieces, but we only had a few hours. We gave God what we had to work with and He changed eternities. Is that powerful or what!?
Am I the only one excited about this? I dunno, maybe I have been reading too much Shane Clairborne, or maybe I have actually caught site of what the Kingdom of God is all about? The love of God isn't complicated. It isn't hard. It just takes a little obedience and boldness to step out of the safe, air conditioned bus, so to speak, and get it done. We did. And it was worth every moment. We were stretched, God's love broke out, and I now I can say I have a bunch of little brothers and sisters in Costa Rica who I will someday spend eternity in the presence of our God with. That is just too cool for me to even wrap my mind around!
*photo credit to Jeff Crandall and the Merge Ahead Missions photography team.
**If you'd like to see more pictures, or a video tour of the village, go check out the Merge Missions site and click on July 12th.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
If I were a...
**I found this somewhere and thought it was semi-intriuging. And slightly crazy. And very time wasting. But here goes anyway...
- If I were a season, I’d be Fall.
- If I were a month, I’d be ...um...September. It is in the fall...
- If I were a day of the week, I’d be Saturday, I suppose.
- If I were a time of day, I’d be ...somewhere after 8:00am and before midnight...?
- If I were a planet, I’d be (who comes up with this stuff?!)...lets go with Pluto. I miss pluto. Poor thing.
- If I were a direction, I’d be..oh who knows...what direction do you think I should be?
- If I were a tree, I’d be a great, big, bad pine tree, with ginormous branches. Or an oak. Or anything climbable (But no you should not try and climb me. I am not a tree.)
- If I were a flower, I'd be...I don't really like flowers...is lavender a flower? It smells very good.
- If I were a fruit, I’d be a pomegranate. Perhaps a mango. Or Nectarine. Or Pineapple. I love fruit...
- If I were a land animal, I’d be a ...um...chipmunk!
- If I were a sea animal, I’d be a...*never thought about this one before, so...* squid?
- If I were a bird, I’d be a.. it's toss up between Peregrine Falcon and Raven.
- If I were a piece of furniture, I’d be a bookcase. Or maybe a hammock, if you consider that to be furniture.
- If I were a liquid, I’d be coffee.
- If I were a stone, I’d be onyx, because it is black and not sparkly.
- If I were a tool, I’d be ...a pen. :)
- If I were a kind of weather, I’d be warm, summer rain that comes on quick in big, pelting drops.
- If I were a musical instrument, I’d be a baby grand piano. Actually, I might be loud and crazy enough to be considered a drum set but...we can stick with piano.
- If I were a colour, I’d be crimson red.
- If I were a facial expression, I’d be...the weird stuff I do with my eyebrows. I can rock a good many facial expressions; facial expression is one of my primary means of communication.
- If I were an emotion, I’d be passion. Better yet, ardency.
- If I were a sound, I’d be rain.
- If I were an element, I’d be fire. Water is cool too, but...no, fire wins.
- If I were a car, I’d be a...I dunno. Can't choose.
- If I were a food, I’d be pasta. Or bread. Or anything carb-ish. Tis a miracle I don't weigh 7,000 pounds with the amount of carbs I consume.
- If I were a place, I’d be...London. And/or Maine. (I am trying to visual what it would be if I some how was able to combine those two wonderful places. Mind blowing, I tell you.)
- If I were a flavour, I’d be a nonartificial one. :)
- If I were a scent, I’d be lavender. I am pretty much am anyway...
- If I were an object, I’d be ...AH! too many options!... blank paper.
- If I were a body part, I’d be...eyes? I love eyes.
- If I were a song, I’d be...I cannot answer this, sorry. Too hard.
- If I were a pair of shoes, I’d be red, Converse High Tops.
- If I were transportation, I’d be ship (...pirate ship...).
- If I were a cartoon, I’d be ...uh...like cartoon strip? TV show? A character? What? Forget this one...
- If I were a fairy tale, I’d be...oh, these are all too hard!
- If I were a holiday, I’d be (obviously!) National Talk Like a Pirate Day
- If I were a superhero, I’d be Batman (though I am female. Not sure how that'd work out...).
...and now you know a whole bunch of really pointless stuff about me!**
- If I were a season, I’d be Fall.
- If I were a month, I’d be ...um...September. It is in the fall...
- If I were a day of the week, I’d be Saturday, I suppose.
- If I were a time of day, I’d be ...somewhere after 8:00am and before midnight...?
- If I were a planet, I’d be (who comes up with this stuff?!)...lets go with Pluto. I miss pluto. Poor thing.
- If I were a direction, I’d be..oh who knows...what direction do you think I should be?
- If I were a tree, I’d be a great, big, bad pine tree, with ginormous branches. Or an oak. Or anything climbable (But no you should not try and climb me. I am not a tree.)
- If I were a flower, I'd be...I don't really like flowers...is lavender a flower? It smells very good.
- If I were a fruit, I’d be a pomegranate. Perhaps a mango. Or Nectarine. Or Pineapple. I love fruit...
- If I were a land animal, I’d be a ...um...chipmunk!
- If I were a sea animal, I’d be a...*never thought about this one before, so...* squid?
- If I were a bird, I’d be a.. it's toss up between Peregrine Falcon and Raven.
- If I were a piece of furniture, I’d be a bookcase. Or maybe a hammock, if you consider that to be furniture.
- If I were a liquid, I’d be coffee.
- If I were a stone, I’d be onyx, because it is black and not sparkly.
- If I were a tool, I’d be ...a pen. :)
- If I were a kind of weather, I’d be warm, summer rain that comes on quick in big, pelting drops.
- If I were a musical instrument, I’d be a baby grand piano. Actually, I might be loud and crazy enough to be considered a drum set but...we can stick with piano.
- If I were a colour, I’d be crimson red.
- If I were a facial expression, I’d be...the weird stuff I do with my eyebrows. I can rock a good many facial expressions; facial expression is one of my primary means of communication.
- If I were an emotion, I’d be passion. Better yet, ardency.
- If I were a sound, I’d be rain.
- If I were an element, I’d be fire. Water is cool too, but...no, fire wins.
- If I were a car, I’d be a...I dunno. Can't choose.
- If I were a food, I’d be pasta. Or bread. Or anything carb-ish. Tis a miracle I don't weigh 7,000 pounds with the amount of carbs I consume.
- If I were a place, I’d be...London. And/or Maine. (I am trying to visual what it would be if I some how was able to combine those two wonderful places. Mind blowing, I tell you.)
- If I were a flavour, I’d be a nonartificial one. :)
- If I were a scent, I’d be lavender. I am pretty much am anyway...
- If I were an object, I’d be ...AH! too many options!... blank paper.
- If I were a body part, I’d be...eyes? I love eyes.
- If I were a song, I’d be...I cannot answer this, sorry. Too hard.
- If I were a pair of shoes, I’d be red, Converse High Tops.
- If I were transportation, I’d be ship (...pirate ship...).
- If I were a cartoon, I’d be ...uh...like cartoon strip? TV show? A character? What? Forget this one...
- If I were a fairy tale, I’d be...oh, these are all too hard!
- If I were a holiday, I’d be (obviously!) National Talk Like a Pirate Day
- If I were a superhero, I’d be Batman (though I am female. Not sure how that'd work out...).
...and now you know a whole bunch of really pointless stuff about me!**
Friday, July 23, 2010
I write like...
Heard of that site? Apparently it is some new Internet fad...
You go on, copy & paste a couple of paragraphs of something you've written, the site instantly "analyzes" what material you've given it, and soon a little badge pops up telling you who you write like...
...in theory...
I heard about the site when I got home from Costa Rica, and though I thought the whole concept was a little...or a lot... ridiculous (there are only like 30 famous authors it chooses from. And inevitably, even the WORST writers will end up compared to someone of great skill. I actually read an article the site before I checked it out, and supposedly it was used to find out that Lady Gaga's song Alejandro is comparable to Will. Shakespeare...? To that I say "HA!"), I decided to give it a try.
So, do you want to know who I write like?
WELL, apppareeently I write like several people (Yeah, I tried the thing like 5 times, laughing at the stuff it came up with).
First, I entered in part of a chapter in the middle of my book (hallelujah, I'm 'done' editing and working on the next step!). I write like told me that my several paragraphs, taken out of a high tension scene from my youth fantasy novel, was comparable to...James Joyce!?!?! Hmmm...that is...something... (ps: I don't write like him...)
Next, because I didn't believe the first result, I entered in another chapter segment, a couple pages after the first bit I had pulled, to see what it would tell me. This time I came out as Kurt Vonnegut. (anyone else seeing some ridiculousness here? Same book. Joyce and Vonnegut?)
Then I gave up on "analysis" of my novel and moved onto a short story. The one about the sky falling down came out as George Orwell (mmmmayyybe plausible. I at least LIKE Orwell. And yes, I really do like George Orwell, believe it or not.)
Fourth, I tried some lyrics to a song I wrote years ago. Wanna guess who that came out as? Just try. Oh wait, you never will...
... Stephen King.
I write song lyrics like...Stephen King?! What in the world does that even MEAN!? Lady Gaga is Shakespeare and I am Stephen King...utterly MIND BLOWING. Who knew!? And my name is supposed to NOT be King... (alright, sorry. I'm not funny. Moving on...)
Last, I stuck in a blog post. I chose the one where I went off about my family, adoptions, and people's stereotypes and rude comments. That came out as Cory Doctorow...and I don't even think I know who that is...? (also, I just ran this post through and a couple others, just to assume myself. My blog appears to consistently come out Doctorow-y)
So basically, the site is a load of ludicrisness. I know I pretty much don't write like any of those people, and a fad website really has no authority to tell me anything about me, my writing style, or anything else. But it was fun to try. Check it out. Tell me what you come out with! I would love to laugh along with you as you find out who *YOU* write like.
You go on, copy & paste a couple of paragraphs of something you've written, the site instantly "analyzes" what material you've given it, and soon a little badge pops up telling you who you write like...
...in theory...
I heard about the site when I got home from Costa Rica, and though I thought the whole concept was a little...or a lot... ridiculous (there are only like 30 famous authors it chooses from. And inevitably, even the WORST writers will end up compared to someone of great skill. I actually read an article the site before I checked it out, and supposedly it was used to find out that Lady Gaga's song Alejandro is comparable to Will. Shakespeare...? To that I say "HA!"), I decided to give it a try.
So, do you want to know who I write like?
WELL, apppareeently I write like several people (Yeah, I tried the thing like 5 times, laughing at the stuff it came up with).
First, I entered in part of a chapter in the middle of my book (hallelujah, I'm 'done' editing and working on the next step!). I write like told me that my several paragraphs, taken out of a high tension scene from my youth fantasy novel, was comparable to...James Joyce!?!?! Hmmm...that is...something... (ps: I don't write like him...)
Next, because I didn't believe the first result, I entered in another chapter segment, a couple pages after the first bit I had pulled, to see what it would tell me. This time I came out as Kurt Vonnegut. (anyone else seeing some ridiculousness here? Same book. Joyce and Vonnegut?)
Then I gave up on "analysis" of my novel and moved onto a short story. The one about the sky falling down came out as George Orwell (mmmmayyybe plausible. I at least LIKE Orwell. And yes, I really do like George Orwell, believe it or not.)
Fourth, I tried some lyrics to a song I wrote years ago. Wanna guess who that came out as? Just try. Oh wait, you never will...
... Stephen King.
I write song lyrics like...Stephen King?! What in the world does that even MEAN!? Lady Gaga is Shakespeare and I am Stephen King...utterly MIND BLOWING. Who knew!? And my name is supposed to NOT be King... (alright, sorry. I'm not funny. Moving on...)
Last, I stuck in a blog post. I chose the one where I went off about my family, adoptions, and people's stereotypes and rude comments. That came out as Cory Doctorow...and I don't even think I know who that is...? (also, I just ran this post through and a couple others, just to assume myself. My blog appears to consistently come out Doctorow-y)
So basically, the site is a load of ludicrisness. I know I pretty much don't write like any of those people, and a fad website really has no authority to tell me anything about me, my writing style, or anything else. But it was fun to try. Check it out. Tell me what you come out with! I would love to laugh along with you as you find out who *YOU* write like.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
What I did on my summer vacation...
I went on a mission went to Costa Rica, with a team 17 people from Merge Ahead. We went as just a bunch of normal people crazy enough to believe that God is who He says He is and we saw Him come through mightily.
QUICK recap:
We arrive in San Jose on Friday night, settled into our hotel and prepared for the next day. Saturday we went to a service at Kingdomtakers (the church we were there partnering with) for the youth group, Takers, of 7,000 kids. Our team of dancers (6 of us) performed a dance a young man on our team had choreographed to a song by Fireflight called "Unbreakable."
Sunday we did the dance again at the 2 morning adult services. Our team also ran the children's church for the morning. We all gathered together with the kids, in a swelteringly hot indoor soccer field, to do some puppet pieces, object lessons and Bible stories (all centered around teaching the children about talking to God as their Heavenly Father). Then we played soccer and jump rope with the children until the adults services were over. In the evening we went to one of the Kingdomtakers/Mana church plants (Kindgomtakers oversee 28 smaller churches. We visited many of them throughout the week.) and ran the service there. Puppets for the kids, 2 dramas (The Exchange- about Jesus bringing salvation into a fallen world and conquering Satan. And The Everything Skit- about a girl who walks away from God and the world begins to destory her. Just when she is at the end of herself Jesus comes to her rescue.) and team members giving testimonies in between. We saw many salvations and healings at the altar call.
Monday daytime: Nicaraguan refugee camp.**Stay tuned for more on this, as it was my personal favorite part of the trip and will be getting a post all its own.**
Monday night we went a did the service at another of the Kingdomtakers/Mana churches in the area. Around 20 people accepted Christ after the service and many people were healed. I was able to pray for a girl struggling with insomnia and night-terrors (I PRAYED IN SPANISH! And I don't speak very much Spanish and was scared to try! But God made up for my lack, just like He always does) and watch the power of God come and touch her life. I am believing she was fully healed and went home and slept with great peacefulness. (When you are obedient to what God says, you see pretty cool stuff go on! Glory a Dios!)
Tuesday: another Mana church to do the service at. This one teeeney tinny, only about maybe 50 people, but we still saw God move powerfully.
Wednesday: We took a 3 hour drive into the mountains (holy windy roads, batman!) to a town called La Fortuna. There we worked with another Mana church, doing a children's service, street ministry and the evening service as well. In between all that we also paid a visit to some crocodiles and came close to an active volcano. Long day but a good one. The people we encountered there, waywayway up on a mountain, were beautifully passionate about God. The whole team loved being with them for they day; truly a blessing.
Thursday we went out (yes, with another Mana church) to do street ministry and invite people to an evening service. We performed our dramas and gave our testimonies, struggling through it as our portable sound system didn't want to cooperate with us. We were slightly bummed, thinking our "performance level" has messed up our chances of touching people, but once again God came through and His strength covered over our weakness. We were able to pray for LOTS of people out on the street and 85 *EIGHTY FIVE!* people came to accept Christ as Savior! Hallelujah, our God is bigger than faulty sound systems!
That night we were back at THE Kindgomtakers to do one last service. Our youth pastor gave a phenomenal message and we watched as God ignited a new passion in the Costa Rican people to reach their city for the Kindgom of God. After the service, Apostle Guido, man of God and head of all Kingdomtakers churches, took us all out to dinner.
Friday was our day off. We zip-lined in the rain forest. 8 line canopy tour for everyone. Some of us also did "The Superman" in which we were zippin' along, horizontally, head first, 240 feet up, going 55 mph. (Sounds extreme, but remember, I did Bungee Jump last year off of a 265 foot bridge. Nothing else compares...) It was mad fun. Absolutely loved it. They taught us how to "brake" before sending us out onto the lines, but I didn't slow myself down at all. Not once. I love heights. Love speed. Love adrenaline. Goooood times.
Saturday we packed it all up and headed for San Jose International Airport. It was over. We were all back home (after a quite interesting plane flight) by 2:00 am on Sunday.
The trip was very, very, very (veryveryvery) different from what I expected, but was still amazing. God came through for all of us. We all were able to be used by Him. We all learned things. And we all, though different in experience and age, came together as a team and saw God use each of us in special ways to further His Kingdom down in Costa Rica. People were saved, delivered and healed. We, some random, crazy people from CT, got to go to Central America and join in what God is doing there. We got to share the love God has given to us and see hundreds of people come into the family of God.
And that is what it is all about.
***remember, check out the mergeahead.com website to see pictures and videos under Missions, Costa Rica 2010 (or you can check out the local team that is ministering to our area this week!) Thanks for all the prayers! You took part in the work God was doing in Costa Rica!!!!***
QUICK recap:
We arrive in San Jose on Friday night, settled into our hotel and prepared for the next day. Saturday we went to a service at Kingdomtakers (the church we were there partnering with) for the youth group, Takers, of 7,000 kids. Our team of dancers (6 of us) performed a dance a young man on our team had choreographed to a song by Fireflight called "Unbreakable."
Sunday we did the dance again at the 2 morning adult services. Our team also ran the children's church for the morning. We all gathered together with the kids, in a swelteringly hot indoor soccer field, to do some puppet pieces, object lessons and Bible stories (all centered around teaching the children about talking to God as their Heavenly Father). Then we played soccer and jump rope with the children until the adults services were over. In the evening we went to one of the Kingdomtakers/Mana church plants (Kindgomtakers oversee 28 smaller churches. We visited many of them throughout the week.) and ran the service there. Puppets for the kids, 2 dramas (The Exchange- about Jesus bringing salvation into a fallen world and conquering Satan. And The Everything Skit- about a girl who walks away from God and the world begins to destory her. Just when she is at the end of herself Jesus comes to her rescue.) and team members giving testimonies in between. We saw many salvations and healings at the altar call.
Monday daytime: Nicaraguan refugee camp.**Stay tuned for more on this, as it was my personal favorite part of the trip and will be getting a post all its own.**
Monday night we went a did the service at another of the Kingdomtakers/Mana churches in the area. Around 20 people accepted Christ after the service and many people were healed. I was able to pray for a girl struggling with insomnia and night-terrors (I PRAYED IN SPANISH! And I don't speak very much Spanish and was scared to try! But God made up for my lack, just like He always does) and watch the power of God come and touch her life. I am believing she was fully healed and went home and slept with great peacefulness. (When you are obedient to what God says, you see pretty cool stuff go on! Glory a Dios!)
Tuesday: another Mana church to do the service at. This one teeeney tinny, only about maybe 50 people, but we still saw God move powerfully.
Wednesday: We took a 3 hour drive into the mountains (holy windy roads, batman!) to a town called La Fortuna. There we worked with another Mana church, doing a children's service, street ministry and the evening service as well. In between all that we also paid a visit to some crocodiles and came close to an active volcano. Long day but a good one. The people we encountered there, waywayway up on a mountain, were beautifully passionate about God. The whole team loved being with them for they day; truly a blessing.
Thursday we went out (yes, with another Mana church) to do street ministry and invite people to an evening service. We performed our dramas and gave our testimonies, struggling through it as our portable sound system didn't want to cooperate with us. We were slightly bummed, thinking our "performance level" has messed up our chances of touching people, but once again God came through and His strength covered over our weakness. We were able to pray for LOTS of people out on the street and 85 *EIGHTY FIVE!* people came to accept Christ as Savior! Hallelujah, our God is bigger than faulty sound systems!
That night we were back at THE Kindgomtakers to do one last service. Our youth pastor gave a phenomenal message and we watched as God ignited a new passion in the Costa Rican people to reach their city for the Kindgom of God. After the service, Apostle Guido, man of God and head of all Kingdomtakers churches, took us all out to dinner.
Friday was our day off. We zip-lined in the rain forest. 8 line canopy tour for everyone. Some of us also did "The Superman" in which we were zippin' along, horizontally, head first, 240 feet up, going 55 mph. (Sounds extreme, but remember, I did Bungee Jump last year off of a 265 foot bridge. Nothing else compares...) It was mad fun. Absolutely loved it. They taught us how to "brake" before sending us out onto the lines, but I didn't slow myself down at all. Not once. I love heights. Love speed. Love adrenaline. Goooood times.
Saturday we packed it all up and headed for San Jose International Airport. It was over. We were all back home (after a quite interesting plane flight) by 2:00 am on Sunday.
The trip was very, very, very (veryveryvery) different from what I expected, but was still amazing. God came through for all of us. We all were able to be used by Him. We all learned things. And we all, though different in experience and age, came together as a team and saw God use each of us in special ways to further His Kingdom down in Costa Rica. People were saved, delivered and healed. We, some random, crazy people from CT, got to go to Central America and join in what God is doing there. We got to share the love God has given to us and see hundreds of people come into the family of God.
And that is what it is all about.
***remember, check out the mergeahead.com website to see pictures and videos under Missions, Costa Rica 2010 (or you can check out the local team that is ministering to our area this week!) Thanks for all the prayers! You took part in the work God was doing in Costa Rica!!!!***
Monday, July 19, 2010
Home again, home again...
Hey Bloglandria! I'm back home, safe and sounds, more or less caught up on sleep, now seated at my desk, miles away from Costa Rica.
I got back to CT early yesterday morning. The trip was...phenomenal. Eventually I will get around to posting more about it, and trying to give a small snapshot of all that I saw God do there. Right now, I need continue to process it all, as it is a lot to put into words in a blog post.
And I need to unpack, a lot a lot.
Hopefully you were following along with us and were checking up on the team on the website. If not, go to mergeahead.com and follow the links to Costa Rica 2010 updates. There you will find some pretty powerful pictures (I took a whole bunch of them this year! I told a falsehood though when I said I was the one who would be doing the writing for the trip, like I did last year. I think this time around I only wrote one day...Forgive me, I have sinned) and a whole bunch of video clips that will mess you up. Check those out! Thank you for all the love and prayers! I'll be back on soon to tell you more about the goodness of my awesome God!
I got back to CT early yesterday morning. The trip was...phenomenal. Eventually I will get around to posting more about it, and trying to give a small snapshot of all that I saw God do there. Right now, I need continue to process it all, as it is a lot to put into words in a blog post.
And I need to unpack, a lot a lot.
Hopefully you were following along with us and were checking up on the team on the website. If not, go to mergeahead.com and follow the links to Costa Rica 2010 updates. There you will find some pretty powerful pictures (I took a whole bunch of them this year! I told a falsehood though when I said I was the one who would be doing the writing for the trip, like I did last year. I think this time around I only wrote one day...Forgive me, I have sinned) and a whole bunch of video clips that will mess you up. Check those out! Thank you for all the love and prayers! I'll be back on soon to tell you more about the goodness of my awesome God!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Costa Rica, 2010
IT IS ALMOST HERE AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'M GOING TO COSTA RICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am giddy with excitement. After all of our preparations and practices (3 dramas...6 puppet pieces...1 group dance...VBS lessons...workshops...) it is finally time to DO IT! I might not sleep tonight. I am THAT amped up about the whole thing.
My suitcase is (mostly) packed with all the necessary clothes and rain gear (it is rainy season and street ministry doesn't stop just because it rains ever afternoon). I have lots of snacks (chewy granola bars, pretzels, sour gummi worms, pringles, gatorade...). I have been running over my VBS lesson all day ( I have to do a Bible Lesson, with kid participation, through a translator on Jesus feeding the 5,000. In five minutes...?) I have been brushing up on my Spanish for weeks! My knees are bruised from hours of drama/dance/and puppet practice (yes, literally bruised. Very ugly knees, have I...). My team and I have done everything we can to prepare, now it is all in God's hands.
I JUST WANT TO LEAVE ALREADY!!!!! I miss the people (beautiful, beautiful people. By the way, something like 70% of the country's population is under the age of 30. So lots and lots of youth! I can't wait to see some of the people I met last year again!), I miss the food (gallo pinto-aka black beans and rice, with like every meal. amazing fish. pineapple grown within miles of where you eat it. coconut everything! and the best: COFFEE!), I miss the church we will be working at, and...well, no, I don't miss the hot and sticky humidity. There has been enough of that here. It was 105 degrees yesterday here in Connecticut, and stickystickysticky. I am absolutely thrillllled to be able to go back (and I am especially thrilled that this time one of my best friends- the wonderful MoPeeps- is going to be on the trip with me!) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Make sure while I'm gone you check up on me and my team on this site (or friend "MERGE AHEAD" on Facebook!) Click "Costa Rica 2010 Team Updates" and it will be like you are there with us! (and yup, that is me on the opening page, with my messy wind-whipped, bus window down in the rain forest for 5 hours hair. Gorgeous, I know...) Pictures, written recaps, and hopefully some video testimonies will be going up daily! Powerful stuff will be going on! We will mostly be doing church services and street ministry, but will also be involved in a Vacation Bible School, conference workshops, and children's church. We will also be visiting a Nicaraguan refugee camp on Monday, where we will be handing out a buuuuunch of clothes we gathered through a clothing drive. Don't miss out on what God is using some CT youth to do down in the nation of Costa Rica!
Couple things you could be praying for:
* one more flash back to Costa Rica trip in July of last year.*
I leave at 4:00 in the morning on Friday (I know...ouuuucccch). My team will meet at our church, drive to the airport, take off at 6:00 am, land in Miami a couple hours later (where we all get our last cup of Starbucks for 10 days!), and then by 1:00 we will have flown into San Jose, Costa Rica!
I am giddy with excitement. After all of our preparations and practices (3 dramas...6 puppet pieces...1 group dance...VBS lessons...workshops...) it is finally time to DO IT! I might not sleep tonight. I am THAT amped up about the whole thing.
My suitcase is (mostly) packed with all the necessary clothes and rain gear (it is rainy season and street ministry doesn't stop just because it rains ever afternoon). I have lots of snacks (chewy granola bars, pretzels, sour gummi worms, pringles, gatorade...). I have been running over my VBS lesson all day ( I have to do a Bible Lesson, with kid participation, through a translator on Jesus feeding the 5,000. In five minutes...?) I have been brushing up on my Spanish for weeks! My knees are bruised from hours of drama/dance/and puppet practice (yes, literally bruised. Very ugly knees, have I...). My team and I have done everything we can to prepare, now it is all in God's hands.
I JUST WANT TO LEAVE ALREADY!!!!! I miss the people (beautiful, beautiful people. By the way, something like 70% of the country's population is under the age of 30. So lots and lots of youth! I can't wait to see some of the people I met last year again!), I miss the food (gallo pinto-aka black beans and rice, with like every meal. amazing fish. pineapple grown within miles of where you eat it. coconut everything! and the best: COFFEE!), I miss the church we will be working at, and...well, no, I don't miss the hot and sticky humidity. There has been enough of that here. It was 105 degrees yesterday here in Connecticut, and stickystickysticky. I am absolutely thrillllled to be able to go back (and I am especially thrilled that this time one of my best friends- the wonderful MoPeeps- is going to be on the trip with me!) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Make sure while I'm gone you check up on me and my team on this site (or friend "MERGE AHEAD" on Facebook!) Click "Costa Rica 2010 Team Updates" and it will be like you are there with us! (and yup, that is me on the opening page, with my messy wind-whipped, bus window down in the rain forest for 5 hours hair. Gorgeous, I know...) Pictures, written recaps, and hopefully some video testimonies will be going up daily! Powerful stuff will be going on! We will mostly be doing church services and street ministry, but will also be involved in a Vacation Bible School, conference workshops, and children's church. We will also be visiting a Nicaraguan refugee camp on Monday, where we will be handing out a buuuuunch of clothes we gathered through a clothing drive. Don't miss out on what God is using some CT youth to do down in the nation of Costa Rica!
Couple things you could be praying for:
- The safety and health of my team and I. On planes, in buses, or out and about, be it in the city or within the rain forest...
- Unity for our team of 17 youth/leaders. We have a very diverse group as far as age, experience and skills (which is GOOD!!!). Pray that God would bring us together and that we'd flow as a body and not 17 separate parts...
- The heart's of the people we will be ministering to, that God would begin to prepare them, even now, before we get down there. There is a lot of depression and an overall feeling of hopelessness that looms over the nation. We want to see that broken off by the power of God's love.
- The team's flexibility and sensitivity to what God is doing.
- and most of all, THAT GOD WOULD BE GLORIFIED.
Friday, July 2, 2010
I Want To Be Used By You...
Sometimes a song really stands out to me, or "just-so-happens" to fit into what God is speaking in my life, and my iPod stays on 'repeat one' for hours. Or all night (I sometimes listen to worship music before I go to bed and then accidently fall asleep before I shut it off). Or even for days at a time.
I really, really love good music and I like to try and appreciate its crafting, as a trained musician and vocalist. But I need to confess: what really gets to me are LYRICS (*I am a writer, after all...). The music doesn't so much matter to me anymore if the lyrics are well-crafted. (unfortunately, on the flip side, not so-well-crafted...or inappropriately-crafted...words also powerfully effect me. I only need to hear a song about twice before I can sing the whole thing...so I try to be reaaaalllly careful about what I listen to.) Words are powerful. Music is powerful. Words + Music = one of the greatest things ever invented. I'm a music addict. If I think about my brain capacity in terms of something like computer memory space...a whhhhhhhhole lot of my mind is filled with songs and their (complete) lyrics...I have a song for just about any situation. And I am known to sing out loud, in any situation, the song that comes to my mind. (As my best friend would say "I'm a dang walkin' musical!")
But back to the point: me listening to certain songs on repeat.
I've been doing that lately with a song called "I Want to be Used by You" (by Deluge {Jonathan Stockstill} off their latest album, Unshakable.) I fell asleep to it twice this week. I recommend to you this song, this album, and Stockstill/Deluge in general.You want some worship music? Look no further. The lyrics --especially the pre-chorus--echo my prayer for God to use me in Costa Rica...and through my entire life...despite my human weakness and inabilities.
Here tis;
"You are calling me I can hear it clearly
To stand for purity and what's pleasing to Your heart
You are showing me I can see it clearly
A sense of destiny a change from everything around
Take me by the hand and show me what You're planning
I wanna be a part of Your design
Guide me by the heart and show me what's the future
I wanna leave a mark on history
I wanna be used by You
I wanna be used by You
So don't look me over
I'm waiting for You broken
I wanna be used by You
So have Your way
Have Your way"
**Anybody else freakishly good at remembering lyrics? Anyone else able to sleep with earbuds in? Anyone else love this song as much as I do?
I really, really love good music and I like to try and appreciate its crafting, as a trained musician and vocalist. But I need to confess: what really gets to me are LYRICS (*I am a writer, after all...). The music doesn't so much matter to me anymore if the lyrics are well-crafted. (unfortunately, on the flip side, not so-well-crafted...or inappropriately-crafted...words also powerfully effect me. I only need to hear a song about twice before I can sing the whole thing...so I try to be reaaaalllly careful about what I listen to.) Words are powerful. Music is powerful. Words + Music = one of the greatest things ever invented. I'm a music addict. If I think about my brain capacity in terms of something like computer memory space...a whhhhhhhhole lot of my mind is filled with songs and their (complete) lyrics...I have a song for just about any situation. And I am known to sing out loud, in any situation, the song that comes to my mind. (As my best friend would say "I'm a dang walkin' musical!")
But back to the point: me listening to certain songs on repeat.
I've been doing that lately with a song called "I Want to be Used by You" (by Deluge {Jonathan Stockstill} off their latest album, Unshakable.) I fell asleep to it twice this week. I recommend to you this song, this album, and Stockstill/Deluge in general.You want some worship music? Look no further. The lyrics --especially the pre-chorus--echo my prayer for God to use me in Costa Rica...and through my entire life...despite my human weakness and inabilities.
Here tis;
"You are calling me I can hear it clearly
To stand for purity and what's pleasing to Your heart
You are showing me I can see it clearly
A sense of destiny a change from everything around
Take me by the hand and show me what You're planning
I wanna be a part of Your design
Guide me by the heart and show me what's the future
I wanna leave a mark on history
I wanna be used by You
I wanna be used by You
So don't look me over
I'm waiting for You broken
I wanna be used by You
So have Your way
Have Your way"
**Anybody else freakishly good at remembering lyrics? Anyone else able to sleep with earbuds in? Anyone else love this song as much as I do?