AHAHAHAHAHAHA! This song just makes me happy and giggly, not a bad way to start the work week!  :)  So mi madre (that'd be my Mom for those of you who don't know Spanish) turns 60 this week and I thought for the next few days I would dedicate song of the day to my Mom and the songs she liked or likes.  Today's song is thanks to Wham!  We loved this song, heck we loved Wham!  I have a very clear memory of Sundays in the car with my Mom.  The radio station played the top 50? top 100? for the week and my Mom wrote out the list every week and compared songs, were they going up on the charts or down?  Now that I look back I'm not sure why she did this but this song was in the top for a long time.    Watching the video makes me feel slightly hysterical.  My oldest redhead had a confused look while watching the video and then simply walked away and said, "And that's why I hate 80's music."  AHAHAHAHAHAHA!  Have a happy Monday, this should get you started

Isaiah 26:3 says that when we keep our minds fixed on Jesus Christ then everything about us - our character and our inclinations - will reflect him.  (Amplified Version)  We need the Lord every minute of every day that he gifts us with.  We cannot do this life without Christ.  We were not created to do this life without him but plenty of us try, don't we?  We strive to do it without him and when we get to the end of ourselves and our pitiful efforts then we turn to him.  How much easier would it be if we would just turn to him first?  :)  Gee, what an idea!  He gave you life and that means you need him every hour of the life he's given you.  I Need Thee Every Hour I Need Thee Every Hour (Jars of Clay) I Need Thee Every Hour (Randy Owen - from Alabama! - and The Isaacs) I Need Thee Every Hour (Fernando Ortega)

Ah, hair bands. AWESOME.  :)  Haha, my pre-teen, almost teen, redhead is like "ew".  I just laugh.  Cinderella.  Not a band I listened to a whole bunch but this song everyone knew.  I will say that Cinderella, while not being the most attractive band, was certainly talented.  The lead singer, Tom Keifer, plays piano, he plays guitar, he sings (although I'm not a huge fan of his voice in this particular song.  His voice is way better on songs like Coming Home).  Don't know what you got till it's gone. Doesn't always apply to relationships which is generally when people pull out the saying and use it.  Let's just take freedom for example.  Sometimes you don't realize how good it was until it was gone.  Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone) Bonus Song: Coming Home

This song has been pretty much stuck in my head all week!  I alluded to it in an FB status update earlier this week. Things for me haven't been sunny with a high of 75 in quite a while but this week I feel like I'm climbing back toward that forecast.  I think I'm hovering around partly sunny with highs in the mid 60's.  :)  Definite improvement over stormy and highs in the 20's.  When dark clouds threaten your horizon look for the sonshine.  I did and I was, I am, always able to catch a glimpse of it peeking out from the storm clouds.  The son is faithful to always make an appearance.  Not sure of that?  Let's talk!  Happy Friday! High of '75

While the celebration of Christmas may be over the impact of Christmas goes on and influences each day.  My friend Tracy sent me this song and said it was one of her favorites, especially at Christmas time.  I had not heard it until I clicked on the link!  Tracy sent me the one by Travis Cottrell but I noticed that he was "redoing" it from the original so I searched around and tried to find the original artist but alas, the original artist isn't shown singing it - just talking about worship in general.  I did find a fave singer of mine doing it so I included that on here as well!  What I like about this song is that in about 4 minutes it gives a brief history of the birth and life of our Savior all within the first minutes of his life.  What his Mother and Father could not understand, what the world could not understand but what he knew and what God knew is that he came to die.  Yes, all of us from the moment we are born are dying but Jesus truly came to die and not jus

We love Veggie Tales and my youngest redhead is obsessed with this song currently (if you know her then you are not surprised my this).  She was dancing around the kitchen this morning singing this song and it got stuck in my head so...now I'm attempting to get it stuck in yours!  Veggie Tales are brilliant.  They appeal to the younguns and the adults.  I love how they put the Veggie twist on classic films like Lord of the Rings (Lord of the Beans), etc.  Enjoy (and I hope it gets stuck in your head! haha!)!  Rock Monster

Oh my gosh.  Thank you thank you thank you Jodi Friscic for sending this song my way!  It's great!  And it is true!  For anyone who is an avid, voracious reader this song is probably your new theme song!  I love Julian Smith's humor...look for another of his songs in the near future.  I'm a day behind because, ironically enough, I was wrapped up yesterday in my newest project - transferring my books I have read and books I want to read to Goodreads.com. :)  Virtual Bookshelf on FaceBook wasn't doing it for me so I switched and I've been having fun building my list of books "to read".  I think the number sits around 350 or so.  :)  SIGH.  So many books and so little little time.   A book is intoxicating to me.  The smell of a bookstore or library is one of my favorite smells ever.  I love the smell of books, the feel of books, and of course reading the contents of books.  Books have helped me imagine, escape, learn, define, explore, think, consider, jou

1)  Not a huge fan of Kirk Franklin 2)  Not a huge fan of this video 3)  That being said...I LOVE THIS SONG! In Spring of 2007 I needed to hear this song, the message of it.  It wasn't what my Mama and Daddy did or didn't do, it was others.  I was preparing to pack a suitcase and get on a plane bound for Kenya, Africa and I was struggling with the lies that people I had previously trusted had fed into me.  Those lies were heavy baggage that I couldn't afford to take to Africa with me.  I also couldn't afford to keep carrying them throughout my life and in my days.  Our Worship Director at the time played this song and I connected with it instantly.  It was a huge help in getting me to let go of lies and imagine me as God created me.  Imagine me - free and living the life God meant for me to live.  Imagine YOU - free and living the life God meant for you to live.  Imagine Me (Official Video) Imagine Me (lyrics included)

Here's another favorite hymn from my Baptist church days.  I can close my eyes and almost feel like I am standing in a pew next to my parents hearing my Dad and Mom sing this song.  As I have aged I have come to really appreciate the truth of this song.  God is faithful.  He NEVER changes, he NEVER alters even though we do.  God is faithful to provide us with all that we need to live life each day, starting with the breath we breathe.  He is faithful and as I walk the road of life I see evidence of that more and more.  Praises to our Faithful God!  Great Is Thy Faithfulness Great is Thy Faithfulness (Chris Rice) Great Is Thy Faithfulness (Israel Houghton)

There is nothing like the soulful sounds of the greats.  Ella, Frank, Etta...and many more.  While the artists of today can sing the songs they don't have the soul that the originals did.  One of the things I love about the great artists and their songs from back in the day is that our movies of today have introduced me to a lot of them!  Return to Me has a rich soundtrack, Father of the Bride Series plays some of my favorites of the greats, and other movies feature and highlight the amazing voices from our past.  Love this music, takes me back to a simpler time, a richer time, a well, frankly, better time!  At Last (Etta James) At Last (A Tribute to Etta James by Beyonce)

Confession:  I have NEVER heard a JLo song.  Um, yeah, EVER.  But since I gave Steven Tyler props yesterday I thought it only fair to give her some playtime as well!  :) Picking a song was hard since I don't know any but I landed on this one because it celebrates her culture and the music from her culture, shows her dancing, and is fun for a Friday! :) She's beautiful, talented, and kind.  And I am enjoying watching her as a judge on AI.  Happy Friday!  Baila Bonus Song:  JLo singing in her native language - Qué Hiciste

In honor of Steven Tyler becoming an American Idol judge I thought I would highlight some Aerosmith!  Back in the day I really like Aerosmith despite the fact that I couldn't ever get past Steven Tyler's mouth/lips!  Man they are HUGE!!  If you saw the premiere of American Idol last night then you saw Steven Tyler bringing his skills to the masses.  I'm not an American Idol fan, I'm not sure I have ever watched an entire season but with Steven Tyler on board plus JLo I may be watching this season.  I love both of them - not for their music necessarily but for their knowledge and talent.  I picked a lighter Aerosmith song.  When I was scanning through all the ones I am familiar with from back in my day I realized something I didn't then.  Aerosmith tackled some deep issues!  Janie's Got A Gun is about the response to incest, Cryin' is about broken hearts, and Dude (Looks Like A Lady) while funny on the surface is actually about not judging people just be ex

Ever feel like nobody is on your side?  That nobody is for you?  I do.  And I know you do too.  It's okay to be honest.  :) Love Kari Jobe's voice.  It is angelic!  My daughter heard it this morning and was transfixed.  She can't wait to put some Kari Jobe on her iPod!  Kari has a heart that in sincere and that comes through in her music.  And her honesty is relateable.  We all have times when we feel rejected, alone, floundering.  And it is in those times that God wants us to know that HE IS FOR US.  Our Creator didn't create us just to leave us to stumble through life on our own.  He is with us, whether we recognize him or not.  He matches us footstep for footstep through our life journey.  In fact he is a few steps ahead!  Through the hard days I have had recently I have known one thing.  My God is for me.  It has brought comfort, peace, and a certainty that "this too shall pass".  You Are For Me

Earl had to die.  While I don't in any way condone murder I can't help but really really like this song!  :)  I love early Dixie Chicks and this song was wildly popular when it was first released.  The video is awesome and the lyrics are hysterical.  In all seriousness though.  Domestic violence isn't funny and should always be taken serious.  We all have value as humans and should have enough respect for others and for ourselves to treat each other in appropriate ways.  And two wrongs don't make something right so don't take matters into your own hands, involve people who can help! Now.  Back to this song.  Seriously I just get the giggles every time I hear it!!  Goodbye Earl

Great song!  I had forgotten about the movie "Freedom Writers" and this song was featured in it.  So today is a great day to get your hands on a copy of the movie Freedom Writers and watch it - for the first time or again.  MLK Jr made his speech and made his moves in a time when our Nation forgot what our Nation was founded on.  So primarily he was speaking about freedom or choice for the Aferican American population BUT I love this video and song because Common and Will.I.Am make it a point that it isn't JUST about the black people but it's about any person who is mistreated for their color, religious choices, culture, etc.  They make it a point to highlight the Holocaust and its horrors.  I appreciate that they didn't just stick with proclaiming that freedom should be for just the African Americans but for anyone who is mistreated.  Dreams inspire us to reach out to make a difference.  But a dream can only take us so far.  WE have to make some choices.  WE ha

You know what I love about the hymns?  They are timeless, they cross the borders of generations and their message remains the same.  Nothing alters the truth of God and what he does and has done for us.  The older I get, perhaps I have said this before?, the more I appreciate the hymns and the message of them.  I get it!  Back in the day I just thought they were meant to torture us.  I mean who wants to sing 12 verses of some song accompanied only by a pipe organ?!?  I'm just sayin'.  :) So while some people have become critics about the modernization of hymns I for the most part appreciate it!  Anyway, that is a rabbit trail I don't feel like journeying along right now.  Love this hymn because we AREN'T skilled to understand.  So many think they should and do understand but I have seen from my own life and talking with others that the more we think we understand the more we see we don't!  Face it, God is a mystery.  But he is a mystery to be enjoyed and embraced

I have no explanation except all day on Saturday this song was stuck in my head!  I've said it before, I grew up on this kind of music even though by the time I was listening to it they called it "Golden Oldies".  I woke up on Saturday morning and headed to the grocery store at 7 am.  I didn't get back home from grocery shopping until 11:30 am and was wiped out!  I suppose, even thought the song has to do with love, I was singing about being dizzy with stuff to do!!  AHAHAHAHAHA! I do like this song.  I like the sentiment behind it.  New love does make one a bit dizzy, feeling intoxicated with emotion.  Heck, I just love all the "golden oldies"!  Dizzy

Here's the line that caught my attention, "Whatever you're doing inside of me, it feels like chaos..." YES.  Yes it does!  That is the perfect description for what it feels like when God starts stirring things up in order to clean us up!  It feels like chaos, like there is no order or rhyme or reason to it all.  And it is hard and even painful to surrender what we can't understand.  It's hard to surrender it all to what we can't see or even feel.  But what God is doing is bigger than us, what he is doing goes far beyond us.  What he's doing will impact future generations.  Think you aren't that "important"?  Think again.  God uses each one of us to advance his Kingdom in ways that we may never see or know this side of heaven.  But he can only do that if he is allowed, by us, to stir us up, create some chaos and bring it all to a place of eternal value.  So God whatever you're doing inside of me, well I know it has to be something he

Thanks to last night's message at church and the showing of this video during the message I was handed today's song!  I'm hoping I would have eventually remembered it on my own because I do love this song, love the message of it, and I like Tim McGraw so it's a win-win-win all the way around for me!  How do you live your days?  In safe ways?  Unwilling to take risks because of fear or insecurity or "comfort"?  What regrets might you have if you died today and saw that you lived your whole life safe?  I'm not a risk taker.  It makes me feel uncomfortable.  But in my 30's I have started to learn how to take some risks and enjoy them!  I love this song because it reminds us to take the risks and avoid possible regrets.  None of us are guaranteed tomorrow so today live like you were dying.  Live Like You Were Dying

Today a group of people, some of whom I know and love, are getting on a plane and jetting off to Kenya, Africa.  I stuffed my heart in their suitcases as I was wishing I could have stuffed myself in their suitcases!  I ache to go with them.  I'm so not done in Kenya, Africa.  :)  But what I have learned, in Africa and in America, is that the only good that comes out of me and my efforts is when I let Christ and his power and love and mercy direct me.  It is amazing that he wants to use people so obviously flawed and fleshy.  And yet he wants to infuse us with his power so that great things can happen.  So today's song is for my friends, to remind them that it is Christ's power in them that will be the thing people are drawn to, the thing that changes hearts, the thing that transforms lives.  And when we allow God's power to be ours and we operate out of that incredible things happen!  In Me

I heard the other day of a woman's memorial service.  She died way too young, 26 years of age.  At her memorial service the Officiant asked if anyone wanted to come up front and share anything inspiring about this woman and her life.  The story is that nobody could think of anything appropriate to say.  She had left no inspiring legacy.  The only thing she left behind was a picture of her drunk flipping off the camera while her friends surrounded her stoned.  How tragic.  How incredibly sad that in 26 years of life she had nothing to leave behind that could inspire anyone.  It got me thinking about my legacy.  It's not the first time I've thought about the legacy I leave behind but this was yet another reminder.  What kind of legacy would I leave behind if I died today?  If the Pastor at my memorial service invited people up front would they be able to go up front and share something?  I don't do the things I do just so people will have something to say about me at a

There is beauty in each day.  Don't miss it.  And there's beauty in so many things.  Beauty isn't confined to pretty flowers or scenic views.  Beauty can be and is found in that which on the surface might appear "ugly".  While walking through an East African slum a year and a half ago I saw with my eyes the ugliness of the slum but my heart saw the beauty of the people living in that slum as they carved out meaningful lives for themselves in the midst of the ugly.  Beauty does arise from ashes. Beautiful Day

One of my favorite portions of scripture is Matthew 7:24-26, "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand."  In my many years of life (haha) I haven't had a stronger or more reliable foundation than that of Christ.  He has been a sure foundation in times of turbulence.  He has provided me with wisdom and guidance where there was none to be found.  My gratefulness for his solid presence in my life goes beyond adequate words.  The Solid Rock (4Him) The Solid Rock The Solid Rock

So, it's the 8th day of the new year.  How ya doin' on those "resolutions"?  :)  Saw this song when I was scanning YouTube for videos, took a chance and listened and...LOVED! :) I love Ian Axel's sound, I loved the lyrics to this particular song, I just liked it so it became the song for today.  I fond of songs, etc that promote commitment in relationships - whether they be romantic or friend relationships.  This song easily fits both kinds I think.  And the unspoken message of this song, in my opinion, is that regardless of when you start to fulfill the promises, "resolutions", you make to yourself in a new year it's never too late. Start today!  :) So, whatever "resolutions" you made to yourself and haven't started yet, start toward fulfilling them today with a small step! Small steps will actually get you a whole lot further than a bunch of large ones!! This Is The New Year

I adore Swing music.  Growing up we still had these old-fashioned things called RECORD PLAYERS (haha!) and my Dad had Swing records.  I played them.  A LOT.  Love to watch Swing dance (this white girl can't get the rhythm of it to actually attempt to dance) and love to listen to it.  As an ode to Friday and the weekend on our horizons I thought Swing was a great choice for today.  In fact, I thought it was such a good choice that I have put it on Pandora and it's playing in the Young Life Lobby this afternoon! :)  It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)

So, what have you done today to make you feel proud?  I take this beyond weight loss, which I believe this song was written for.  Did you speak words today that make you proud?  Did you treat people in ways that make you feel proud?  Did you choose to respond in a positive way rather than a negative one to a situation or a person?  I like the line that talks about how you have a choice to be many people.  You do have that choice.  You can be the person that annoys, irritates, inspires, creates, divides, unites, well you get the picture.  Choose who you will be but make sure it will be someone that you can be proud of! Biggest Loser Theme Song (Proud)

My absolute favorite movie of all time.  Why?  Because it is the portrait of a warrior who fights for truth, justice, for love, for a cause bigger than himself and for freedom.  Braveheart

The line that always catches my attention in this song is, " But the beauty of grace is that it makes life not fair."  Boy that lines just strikes a chord with me.  The first time I heard this song I was fixated on that profound statement.  But as I have listened to the song many times since then I appreciate the whole message of the song.  Some other statements that I relate to are the ones that talk about complacency and shaking myself out of it.  It's SO easy, TOO easy to become complacent.  And complacency is a scary place to live.  You have to be vigilant to not let complacency become your way of life.  I can also relate to being locked inside a house of lies and banging on the door to get out while all the while God is there, offering me the key to unlock the door.  I've lived way too much of my life locked up in a house of my own making.  And just in my 30's I started making choices that have freed me from house arrest.  :)  Too often we believe that we h

What's your world view?  Because what ever it is compromised of is how you will interact with people, with situations, with cultures.  Oh and lest you think that you have created your own unique-to-only-you world view, think again.  Solomon was right when he said there is nothing new under the sun.  Your view isn't unique to you, someone has been there and thought it before.  So far in my observations, limited as they have been, the only world view that ends up providing anyone's life with true purpose and meaning and no regrets as they lie on their deathbed is the view that God sets forth and created and then outlined in his word.  Why does the world view that God outlines outlast any others?  Because it is one of compassion, justice, unconditional favor, forgiveness, humility, etc.  No other world view is created of all those characteristics.  Other world views may come close but none have all that God set forth.  So, what's your world view?  My World View

A great way to start a new year, a new month, a new day is to ask the Lord to search you and know you and cleanse you from all that isn't pleasing to him.  How do you know what's pleasing to him?  His word, the Bible, outlines what pleases him!  Warning:  What you read in the Bible may offend you, press on anyway!  The Bible is not for us to be pleased or petted in our flesh, it is meant to offend so that we can rightly align ourselves with God.  I love what this song expounds on.  It expounds on the cries throughout the Bible that ask God sincerely to search and know.  Daily we need the cleansing of God and so daily this should be our cry.  Cleanse Me (Adoration Quartet - whoever filmed it didn't have the steadiest of hands...beware of motion sickness! Haha!)

Happy 2011!  Perfect song for today!  I LOVE THIS SONG!!  :)  How do you measure a year?  Sunsets, sunrises, cups of coffee, acts of love, miles traveled, and the list goes on and on. How will YOU measure this year?  :)  Seasons of Love Seasons of Love (Stevie Wonder)