uncontainable joy.

today has been a crazy day. i've been babysitting since Thursday and tonight i asked Dad if i could just come down to my room by myself. i got to and my day turned completely around about 2 hours ago. woo, no more stress. well anyways, i thought about how i hadn't blogged yet today but i didn't really know exactly what to blog about. now.. i know! i have so much joy inside me right now. so much happiness and gratefulness. God, i trust you. i trust that this passion inside of me for music and its connection to other people, its connection to me won't be wasted. it will be for Your glory.. because i just wanna bust i get so happy.

in September Switchfoot came to Belhaven. but it wasn't an original Switchfoot show that they perform all the time. it was a show dedicated to the John Perkins foundation. John Perkins is a slavery abolitionist and was/is involved in the civil rights movement. he is an incredible man of God and has so much passion inside of him for God's people. he created a foundation in Jackson, MS for kids and teens in the community. and this foundation is a community of people and houses all in the movement together. it's a beautiful thing and John Perkins is the most adorable, passionate, courageous and strong 80 year old man i've ever met! i got the pleasure of meeting him that night.



it was such a beautiful night. the Holy Nation Band sung and they were just great southern gospel. so happy and really just inspiration.



then John Perkins spoke about the JPF and who he is as a follower of Christ.



after that Switchfoot came out and sang some of their songs with the Holy Nation as their backup singers. ohmygosh, it was incredible. they fit together so well and it gave a whole new feel to Switchfoot's songs we've all heard 1000+ times.



then Switchfoot sang songs from their newest album Hello Hurricane. best Switchfoot show i've ever been too.






(and i was really lucky to be able to capture these photos.)

overall, it was just great! i was so impressed. i just left there so happy and touched. now i'm getting all mushy and gooshy. but really, i'm so serious! i could see the passion. heart. TRUTH. meaning. seriousness. all of it. it was real. yeaahh buddy.

well anyways i got wayy off track. the point of this post was that while i was at the show i got this book of Switchfoot and in it was a DVD with the making of Hello Hurricane on it. tonight, i finally got around to watching it. some things they said really stuck out to me.

The guys talked about how before they wrote this album they sat down removing all of who Switchfoot was or used to be or even "is" and started asking themselves questions. Jon said, "The question became, 'What's worth singing about? What's worth.. THIS?" That really stuck out to me. They would ask, "Who are we singing for?" Just think about that yourself. who are you living for, drinking for, playing music for, learning for, going to school for? i don't wanna sound preachy, i'm just sharin what's on my heart and what i've been thinking about. who am i skipping a semester of college for?? that's crazy. ya know?!

well anyways, Chad went on to say, "As a band we spent a lot of time on the road.. away from home. It's a challenge in existence at times and the motivation for us is often these moments of connection with an audience, these moments of communication. Where there's a two way dialogue happening and the soul of the song comes to life. The challenge of Hello Hurricane was to capture that soul and put it on a record." well my dear, Switchfoot friends, you've accomplished that goal. you've put communication, connection, soul, truth, love, and more onto this album successfully. as Jon says, "Hello Hurricane.. you can't silence my love."

i hope to die with meaning some day. i don't even care if i'm noticed. i just hope to die knowing that i contributed in this life. in a way that's meaningful and helpful.


on a completely different note, i've been doing this devo off of an app on my phone. the devotion plan is called Deep Dive 14. i got behind and missed about 3 days. well tonight i got caught up and the verse that i should have read yesterday, i actually read yesterday. didn't even know that i was actually right on track with my devo plan. pretty cool how God works. well turns out that that same verse is the one that The Sleep Design uses in their song The Woman. it's Acts 2:17-21. beautiful words right there.

and then today i read another verse in Hebrews 10 which connects with a song by Ascend the Hill.. it's called Come Lord Like You Promised. Hebrews 10:37 - "For, 'In just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay."

"Come Lord like you promised, just like you said you would.. do not delay." God is just so cool in the ways He works.


i just spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to get these pictures to work. so whoever is out there reading this.. ENJOY. or at least act like you do. ha.