hello everyone, it has been lil while since ive blogged but, in case you were wondering we DID make it south africa. almost a month ago already. We started the new year off, on the beach in jeffery’s bay, where we are working with global leadership academy. As I leave 2018, reflecting on it being one of the best and most challenging years of my life, I decided to put together a blog with songs that have meant a lot to me the past year. Songs that have allowed me to see jesus, press on, and pursue him even when i ‘don’t feel like it’.
so will i (100 billion x) by hillsong united
I had loved this song from the first time I heard it. But it gave a whole new meaning when it was played on the last night of my youth group’s mission trip to a little town called rushville missouri this spring break. creation has always been one ways that I feel the most peace and most connected to god. it’s kind of funny to me that in a place as simple and as medicore as rushville missouri, i felt this song had the most meaning. I was able to reflect on the way that god made creation, to worship him. creation glorifies god by being creation. even in rushville missouri, the trees stand and the stars are aligned just as he intended them to be. I find so much beauty in that every mountain and every hill is just as he wanted it to be, just as we are exactly how he wanted us to be.
head to the heart by united pursuit
this is another song that i have always loved. i feel as if this song can pretty well just go off about any day any time. it really has been where my heart has been the past year. i found myself in a place where i was finding brand new meaning in things that i had intellectually known for years. the christian faith is all about taking head knowledge to heart knowledge. it says “more than words more than good ideas, i found your love in the open fields” and thats just it. jesus doesnt need big facts or any sort of proof to captivate your heart. in the moments where we truly are falling in love with jesus we find ourselves in a place of total freedom and awe in front of the father. a place of big open fields. and thats a place that i pray to be in more than i am.
god of miracles- live by chris mcClarney
THIS ONE. this was also introduced to me on my spring break youth group trip. i loved it then. BUT i found a new and greater meaning to it in july. my best friend, was in a bad jet ski accident and due to complications had to be rushed to mayo clinic and taken immediately into surgery. the surgery was supposed to be 4 hours but ended up being 14. i was texting her sister, until 3 am. i felt so extremely helpless in this situation, because as much as i wanted to just fix things i just couldnt. i found myself sobbing, praying earnestly to god. i listened to this song until i knew she was out of surgery and going to be okay. it gave me comfort. i knew in those moments that god had all the control. and i just knew that she was going to be okay. “we need your supernatural love”. i prayed for his supernatural love do something. and he did. i remembered that ellie and i had listened to this song together and it was one of her favorites.
tremble-live by mosiac MSC
ooooooo baby this song. i first heard it at training camp. we went OFF to this song at training camp. then the week after training i was on a youth retreat with my youth group where we also went OFF to this song.it was one of the ones that made me feel at peace. the way this song is sung is with such passion. passion in the way that the person who recorded it believes without a doubt that god is not darkness. that god is above all darkness and has already conquered the darkness that we find ourselves admist. there is no room for darkness where god is and we should not let darkness have a hold on our lives. “your name is alive forever lifted high, your name can not be overcome”. to me, this song is that even though we can find ourselves among darkness, we don’t have to walk in it. because we know that god has already overcome it. he has fought the battle for us and is fighting with us and will continue to fight for us until the very end.
do it again by elevation worship
this song is one the makes me feel at home, no matter where i’m at. this song talks about mountains, one of my favorite things ever. it says “i’ve seen you move, you move the mountains and i believe i’ll see you do it again. you made a way when there was no way”. a few friends and i went on a roadtrip to colorado this summer. just as we were getting into the mountains, and coming up over a hill to a b e a u t i f u l view of the mountain range, that part was playing. we all just got kind of silent and took in everything that was around us. it was such a pure moment, one that i will never forget. when i finally looked over at my friend, katerinne, we both had tears in our eyes. in that moment, everything the song was saying felt so real and heaven felt within reach. this song is a reminder to remember the things god has done in your life. he has done things, is doing things, and will continue to do things. even when we are stagnant, he will continue to work and we will always find ourselves back under his wing.
let it happen (live) by united pursuit
this song is all about letting your faith be childlike, and the freedom and abudant life that is found when you walk with jesus. it’s all about letting jesus continually captivate your heart and being just as on fire for him as the first time you ever really met him. “so take me back, back to the beginning where i was young, running through the fields with you” i love that it says running through the fields. when you let jesus in and have his way, you find yourself running to him and with him. its not a walk or even a jog. you find yourself in complete wonder of the father and what he has done. i pray that i never lose that wonder. but if in some time, i find my wonder to be dwindling, i pray that i find myself captivated by how jesus pursues us because he will find me wherever im at.
not in a hurry by will reagan/ united pursuit
i mentioned this song in one of my first blogs since being on the field. it was one that really helped me push through the “i have no idea what im doing or why im here” phase of the race. it talks about being present and learning to find rest with the father. this song has helped me lean into the fact that jesus is always close, and he’s always pursuing me. and that i dont need to rush ahead of him, when he is the one leading me. and when we look for him in the present, we start to find him in the little things.
these songs are all ones that i hold close and have helped me get to experience my faith in new ways. i would really reccomend listening to these songs, and listening for what jesus wants you to hear from them. for it might not be exactly what i hear, but it’s probably just what you need.
