Matt Kearney's new album "Young Love"...

Where shall I begin? There is so much to say but I don't want to bog you guys down with a novel so I will just hit the major points. Matt Kearney has once again succeeded in writing a beautifully thought out and lush collection of songs that speak directly to a collective personal experience. His music has a way of finding a direct line to the heart. From the pop feel of "Hey Mama" to the intensely personal story woven through the streets of "Rochester" this album is a spectacular follow up to his 2009 album "City of Black and White".
 
It might be argued that Mr. Kearney took quite a chance departing from his usual fare of acoustic guitars and simple orchestrations in exchange for a more modern electronic production but he never got lost in the shuffle, so it worked! His strengths, which are melody and wonderfully written hooks, shone brilliantly in the midst of the busier sound and it proved to be a lovely marriage. It is in this humble writers opinion that "Young Love" is one of the best albums of the year so thank you Matt Kearney for an all around great experience and BRAVO! I can't wait to hear what you will bring us next!

Layla and her endless supply of highly inappropriate and random questions.

 (This one was posed to her paternal grandmother, "Grammy", during her bday dinner this week)...

"Grammy were you alive when Michael Jackson still had brown skin?"

 (This was asked in passing and out of the blue yesterday)...

"If I am supposed to get married one day then why do I hate dresses so much? I know! I'll just get married in pants!"

 (This was in reference to over hearing me talking to a friend about her cheating boyfriend)...

"If you castrate a man does that mean you broke something, like his leg or his arm, and he has to wear a cast now?"

 (This was during bedtime prayers a while back)..

."If someone goes to heaven do they wear clothes or do they get to walk around naked? I vote for being naked!"

 (This is when she was in the bathroom while I was getting her little brother out of a bath)...

"Mommy how come things on my body don't shrink up when they're cold?"

 (She asked this while walking behind a very LARGE woman in the store)...

"How does she sit down in chairs without getting stuck?"

 (Witnessing a heated argument between two neighbors)...

"Do you think one of them needs a tic tac?"

I love my unintentionally hilarious child. She makes my day:)

I am not ruined.

Why is it that when I have something important to say to someone it is the last thing I want to talk about? More specifically when I am sticking up for myself within a relationship. And I could be referring to any type of relationship in my life...(Save for my mother and sister. I can tell them anything which is actually quite nice.)...I chicken out when it comes to saying things that matter to my heart. I have this pesky lie that likes to pop up (more often than I would like to admit) and that is the lie that because of what I have been through I am a ruined woman. I/My feelings, am/are of no consequence because I blew my chance at a normal stable life with my past behavior. That line of thinking by the way is a HUGE load of crap but the thought still likes to stick to the bottom of my shoe and haunt me with it's stink. I can't tell someone what I want from them without a huge lump in my throat and tears because I am convinced that I have no right to ask for anything for myself and that I should just be grateful someone is willing to be close to me.

I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE THINKING AND YES THAT'S NUTS!

But...it's what goes on in my brain. UGH! Sometimes I wish for a way to disconnect my brain from my heart. Unfortunately I am a woman and it isn't possible so I must learn to think around the large boulder of BS sitting between me and my self-esteem. God has called me "daughter", "loved", and "beautiful". That should be enough and it is. It's just remembering that is the trick!

This is you.

Dear Friend,

You my love are a priceless piece of eternity. A temple built to house and commune with the creator of all living things in heaven and here on earth. There is worth in your existence and purpose in your path. You were summoned from a supernatural spark that rests in the hands of the one who has called you by name. A name that only he knows, a designation meant only for yourself that is written on a white stone and kept in glory until the day you meet him face to face. This is you. Please consider these things my sweet and most precious friend. You are beautiful, chosen, wanted and important.

Hammers don't work on dust.

I heard an interesting and somewhat disheartening statement today. A fellow Christ follower, whom I love dearly and hope that they reconsider their statement after reading this, called the devastation in Japan a "Judgement from God" and a "Wake up call for America and the American church". I do not mean to be argumentative but I think this line of reasoning needs to be addressed and in a loving way so I will do my best to do so.

I think Paul puts it best in Roman's 11:34.


Romans 11:34  “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” 


We do not know what the reason's were for the devastation in Japan all we know is that it happened and that we as Christians (who have been given the mind of Christ: 1 Corinthians 2:16)  should be on our knees praying and doing whatever else we can possibly do to alleviate the Japanese people's suffering. God calls us to action and compassion but never judgement. That responsibility is God's and God's alone. 


These people's lives were reduced to dust in a matter of minutes. Using a hammer to get across to them the message of salvation absolutely will not work in this situation. We were asked to be the hands and feet of Christ. We are to lift up, not beat down. 

Bad traffic and a slippery virtue.

Patience is a virtue...a slippery one...

Sometimes it seems to me that I was born an impatient person. I struggle in this area quite a bit. Always have. I am better than I used to be but this has only improved by the grace of God and hard lessons delivered through situations generally involving either, (A.) My Children, (B.) My Career, or (C.) Relationships...Well (A) is kind of a daily undertaking so I don't know if I  should even include the other two...I have a daughter with extreme ADHD and a four year old son...nuff said....I'll move on.

You don't just wake up one day after praying for patience to find that you have miraculously inherited Mother Theresa's temperament and Christ's never ending love for humanity. People still get on your nerves, kids still nag you to the point of insanity, and those last ten to twenty pounds still taunt you like the obnoxious cheerleader in high school that took special pride in making your life a living hell...Oh!... 

(Here comes a random example about impatience. I'm sorry but I have to get this one off my chest.)

And let us not forget those traffic induced fits of impatient rage. God regularly taps me on the shoulder about this one. Seriously though, there is no amount of counting to ten that helps when you are running fifteen minutes behind and the oldest person in existence decides that today, of aaaallll days, is the one that they choose to dust off their drivers license and take the Buick out for a leisurely spin....and by leisurely I mean a practice run for their funeral procession. (I know I'm not alone on this one.)

So why do we let this stuff get to us? What is it that stands between us and patience? 

Trust.

Lemme esplain...

An absence of trust manifests itself as a control issue, which in turn feeds the problem of impatience. 

When I don't trust that God will ultimately work everything out for my good I try to control the timeline and outcome of the situation myself. Then, when that feeble attempt at control is disrupted by something external (My kids aversion to early mornings, A burnt out hair dryer, The blue hair in the Buick) it causes me to become extremely impatient. 

Hopefully I said all of that well enough to understand.

At the end of the day trusting God is the only thing that will increase your ability to have more patience and a shot at some peace. So chill! God's got this! You will be fine and so will I :)

Intensity

I am not entirely sure what happens in a musician's body when they are struck by music that moves them but it feels something like a mix between a shiver and electricity. It starts at the top of the head and moves all the way down to the toes. It doesn't happen all the time but when it does it's intense. It makes you just want to come out of your skin! I am going through that at the moment. I was inspired by this guitar riff two days ago while the band I was playing with was doing a sound check and it hasn't left me. I don't know why God wired me this way but I like it! So now I am off to create something from that rumbling in my heart. Just thought I would share!