Have a Little Faith in Me

My most recent song fascination has been the song, "Have a Little Faith in Me," by John Hiatt. Here are the lyrics:

When the road gets dark
And you can no longer see
Just let my love throw a spark
And have a little faith in me

And when the tears you cry
Are all you can believe
Just give these loving arms a try
And have a little faith in me

Chorus:
Have a little faith in me
Have a little faith in me
Have a little faith in me
Have a little faith in me

When your secret heart
Cannot speak so easily
Come here darlin
From a whisper start
To have a little faith in me

And when your backs against the wall
Just turn around and you will see
I will catch, I will catch your fall
Just have a little faith in me


It speaks a lot more than I ever realized; and, it could possibly have two different interpretations from the lyrics. I think that this song was meant to be sung from a guys perspective towards a girl, but it also could mean, and how I see the lyrics now, as God wanting you to have faith in him. Looking at the verses, God fulfills all our desperations and heartaches. When we're in the dark and cannot see, he gives us light. When our eyes are filled with tears, we know we have his loving arms to turn to. When our heart's lost for words, you know you can always pray to him. When you feel like there's no way out or no one to catch you, God is there. All you have to do is have a little faith in him. But what's faith? Faith, as I have heard it defined, is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we cannot see. Even though we can't see God, we have faith in knowing he is still there with us. In the movie, "A Walk to Remember," they phrased it as, "It's like the wind, you can't see it, but you can feel it and you know it's there." As Christians, faith is inevitable and essential. We don't need to have proof that Jesus is real because we put our entire faith into the Bible. And ultimately, if we put all our trust and faith in our Savior, then in return we will no longer worry about what lies ahead, for God has our futures set and He is always in control.

"And we know that in ALL things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." ~Romans 8:28~

praise you in this storm

This past week has been one of the toughest weeks I have had to go through in a long time. It just hits you like a smack in the face and no one could have ever been ready for it. But, nobody ever expects to go through life without feeling some sort of heartbreak or have to go through some sort of suffering. I guess I haven't really had to experience this kind of suffering before in my life because nothing like this has ever really happened to me. In just a matter of seconds, some news you recieve could change your future forever, that's a scary thought. My friend says bad things happen to you in three's and that's exactly the number of things that happened to me and people around me this week. In an instant, a dear friend from our church passed away from cancer, a friend found out she's moving in a matter of three months, and another friends' parents are moving away which means my friends home is no longer in Ohio. All this news was extremely hard to hear at once and I wasn't sure how to handle it. My first thought was to ask God, "why?" Why do these things have to happen this way? Why can't You fix this hurt? Why do people have to move away? Asking all these questions, I knew that I knew the answers but still felt angry and upset that I had to question the reason behind everything. I know that God has a plan and he knew this would happen from the beginning and "He works everything together for good, who are called according to His purpose." Life is hard, but I know I need to still trust that He knows what's best for me and for all of us. Even though, at first, we might not think this is what's best for us at this time, God knows exactly what we can handle and He wouldn't have it happen unless He didn't think we were strong enough to handle it. My thoughts and feelings about this whole thing are evidently seen in one of my favorite Casting Crown songs entitled, "Praise You in this Storm."


I was sure by now,God, that You would have reached down
and wiped our tears away,
stepped in and saved the day.
But once again, I say amen and it's still raining
as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain,
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away.

And I'll praise you in this storm
and I will lift my hands
for You are who You are
no matter where I am
and every tear I've cried
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry to You
and raised me up again
my strength is almost gone
how can I carry on if I can't find You
and as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away

I lift my eyes onto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth
I lift my eyes onto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth

all i need

So this past weekend my church hosted a concert for Bethany Dillon to perform as well as PW Gopal. If you havent heard of Bethany Dillon, she's originally from Ohio and has been writing songs since her early teenage years and has used her talent to as of now have three cd's and have two of her songs be in well-known movies in the theatre. Being at the concert, it was awesome to see not only her singing her songs for us, but for the main reason she writes her songs, and that's for Jesus. By the end of the night, she had asked everyone in the audience to sing worship songs along with her. As I closed my eyes and began to sing, I heard all these voices around me and it was so amazing to experience the body of Christ coming together. At first, we came to hear a singer perform, but then left worshipping our Lord and Savior. One of the reasons I look up to Bethany Dillon so much is because she can speak of her faith and struggles so well through her songs and has a real heart for serving our God. She humbles herself by making her concert not about her, but about Jesus and honoring HIS name. One of my favorite songs of hers is entitled, "All I Need," and after hearing her sing it and listening to it again, I feel like this song is where I am at this point in my life, trying to realize my need needs to be found in Jesus, and Jesus alone. Here are the lyrics:

When the day is done
And there's no one else around
While I'm lying here in bed
You're in my heart, You're in my head
You're all I need, You're all I need
There are a million voices Calling out my name
But You're the One I want to hear
So make the others disappear

You are all I need when I'm surrounded
You are all I need if I'm by myself
You fill me when I'm empty
There is nothing else You're all I need

When the morning comes
And Your mercy is renewed
There's a fire in my bones
I'm not afraid to go alone
You're all I need You're all I need
The sun on my face I hear You whisper loud
You're still the God that opens seas
Every flower, even me
You're all I need You're all I need

I'm drawn to everything that You do
Nothing compares with You

This song best describes how we, as Christians, have the great privelage to know that Jesus is all we need in this life and he will fill us when we're empty and he'll be right by our side when we're feeling alone. And when there are so many other voices calling out to us, telling us this or that, or what to do, we realize God's voice is the only voice that matters. As broken people in a fallen world, we have a need to feel whole and to feel loved, which is sometimes hard to find. The good news is, God offers us his Son so He can fill that emptiness, brokenness, and that all encompassing need. And nothing and noone else can satisfy that need except Jesus.

..take my hand..

This is one of my favorite songs and tonight I finally began to really dig deeper into the words and understand it and how it applies to me and can apply to all of us. It's really simple truths that I need to live by. Jesus offers us his hand and if we choose to accept it, we can be with Him forever. I have struggled with truly needing Christ and find myself relying on other people to satisfy that need, whether it be going to my best friend for advice or comfort or my parents to talk about things. I need to realize that, yes, these people will be there for me, but God's the one who I need to come to first and who truly hears my prayers. Sometimes I feel alone or unhappy about certain things in my life and it's been a struggle for me lately but this song reminds me that I am never alone with Jesus and he will always and forever be there when I need to call out to Him and He loves me unconditionally. At the end of the song, Shawn McDonald, who wrote and performs the song, asks if God will change him and make him new from the inside out. In a way, I feel like a lot of us have that same desire, a desire to be changed from the inside out and to be made new. We yearn for a change in appearance or more importantly a change of the heart, mind, and soul. Thankfully, Jesus can and will answer your prayer for renewal and change to be more like Him. It's simple, all we have to do is take His hand...


Take my hand to the promise land
And on You I want to stand
‘Cause I cannot do it on my own
You're what I need and I need to be
Right by Your side ‘cause I cannot hide
Lord, I know that I need You
Na na na na na na na na na, I need You
Na na na na na na na na na, I need You

Without You I'm so alone I am weak but You are strong
You pick me up when I'm falling down
And I am crying Out to You inside of my heart
I need You, Lord, oh so, for the part
I want You to have my life, Jesus

I fall to my knees And I'm begging You, please, oh, Lord
Won't You change me
Make me new from the inside out
I want to shout out Your name



On another personal note, tonight I went to a girls youth conference called Revolve Tour with my youth group. My parents were hesitant to let me go because I have been sick for a while, but I convinced them that I had been feeling better and they eventually gave in. I'm glad they did because it was great to experience the Revolve Tour, even if it was for a couple hours. Natalie Grant played and her songs were moving and touching as usual. But, the main part of the conference is tomorrow when they have speakers and singers all day. I had originally only planned to go for the one night of it and not go the next day since my parents thought I had to get better. But, being me and wanting to always ask for more, I really wanted to go to the next day of it, but my parents still didn't give in. I, at first, felt bitter towards them and wished I could decide things on my own since I am an adult now. And my selfishness got in the way of obeying them and failing to see the good side of me not going. There was another girl in the youth group who realized she wanted to go now and she wouldn't have gone tomorrow, but since I had my ticket from tonight, this will allow her to go. I realized that this is probably how it was supposed to happen and that she's supposed to go and I hope she grows in her faith because of it. So, a simple lesson I learned tonight is that, yes, parents sometimes do know what's best for you, and to put my selfishness aside and put others before myself and accept that everything happens for a reason, and the reason tonight was to not think of only me but to put others needs before my own.

my trip to Haiti

I went on my first missions trip this past summer to Haiti. It was such an eye opening experience, I wish you all could have seen it. Before, whenever I saw pictures or videos of third world countries and kids who needed to be loved or fed, yeah I felt sympathy for them and wanted to help them but I don't think I ever really understood the seriousness of it. I would go to Christian concerts and they would tell the audience all about these countries who need our help or our financail support and we maybe feel compelled in the back of our mind to take action but never follow through with it. Now, after being there and actually seeing their faces in real life and getting to know the people of Haiti, I have grown to love them as brothers and sisters in Christ and realize that it's up to us to make a difference. We can sit back and watch that video talking about what we can do to help, and we can feel sorry for them but what are you actually doing to put that feeling into a reality? As Americans we are so blessed with everything we have, the least we can do is use what we have been given by the Lord and give it back to Him by helping those less fortunate than us. Even now, I still find myself wondering what more I could do.

Above all, seeing the people worship the Lord like they did down there was the most beautiful thing I experienced there. They were so real and genuinely filled with joy about Christ, even in the midst of pain, heartache, and poverty. It was truly incredible to see them so on fire for their King. How passionate and on fire are some of us about worshipping and thanking our Father who gave us everything we have? Sometimes we're so caught up in the busyness of our life we forget to take a moment and thank God, me included. I find it harder for us to develop a deep and meaningful time consuming relationship with Jesus because we have so much other "stuff of life" that gets in the way.

The point I'm trying to get across is: if God is calling you to sponser that little child you see at Christian concerts, make it happen, if He's calling you to something bigger like a missions trip, then by all means, try to make it possible for you to go...God put us in this world so we can develop a relationship with Him but also help out those in need and who need to also hear about the Gospel. I'm not saying you can't be a missionary in your own town, because we can preach the Gospel to anyone in our daily lives, what's a struggle is to get past that barrier and be bold in your decision to be a disciple for Christ. Here's a paper I wrote for English class about Haiti, which is the best way for me to describe it all (it also had to be in all one-syllable words):

One trip: one truth
There's a far land that lies close to the sea. I could not have ever known such a place could change me, but it did. With me was my mom, my dad, my sis, and four friends from our church. When I took my first glance at the place which would be our home for the next eight days, I felt shock and knew this view would open my eyes to real life and not just still frames. Trash laid in the street while all these feet walked on by. As the group drove on the torn roads, each eye drew to mine and I could not help but feel out of place. Still, all I thought was how they must live their lives day to day and how it is not the same as ours.
I taught grown kids from a youth group how to play chords and strum six strings. We taught them new praise songs in their own words as well as in ours. Each one had such a strong want to learn and made the most out of their time with us. All the guys and girls were so warm and fun to hang out with. Each day was spent to pass on our skills to them so they can keep on with what we taught them, which can then be used to give praise to the Lord. Our group too would share in their form of praise through song, dance, and games. As each day passed, we grew to love each one of them plus share in the love of Christ.
Our last night came to a close and, slow to say our byes, we told them we’d hope to come back and see them next year. With few hours left, I stared in the eyes of one whose heart is torn in two. Not able to speak his words, all I could do was hold his hand and pray he’d find peace and hope for the days in front. As tears rolled down each face, I did not know one heart could feel this way. We all did not want this time to ever fade and knew it took a lot more than just fate to bring us here. They taught me key ways of life: to live for God day by day, to have joy with your life, to not fret on small things, and to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, and mind. Now, I do not look at the world as I once did, I don’t think one still could. Even though what I saw, heard, and felt might not be known to the rest of the world, I will do my best to show them through words, songs, and speech. I will look back at the time spent, the tears cried, the shared laughs, the songs filled with joy, each face still in my thoughts, and think how I could not have been any other place at that brief glimpse in time.

Musical Linguistics

"The art of losing myself in bringing you praise..." refers to a line from one of my favorite worship songs, "From the Inside Out." The words in the song so accurately describe my life I feel compelled to share my thoughts and feelings on certain things and to also improve my writing skills because I thoroughly enjoy writing when it comes to writing songs, writing papers (only when I like the topic) and writing here I guess! I chose "The art of losing myself in bringing you praise" as the title because it's what I try and at least want to live my life by. After all, It's not about me, it's about God and I hope my insights can help others in their journey through life. Looking at losing myself as an art form is pretty deep stuff...I look at it as we only have one life to live and I feel I was called to live a life not for myself, but most importantly for my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the only response that should come with that is bringing him praise. That's how I am going continue to live my life, or at least try the best I can. But, unforunately, it's not that simple. I'm the first to admit that I don't lead the best Christian life or at least where I think I should be at in my walk...but the thing is we're all sinners and we make mistakes, we forget to read the Bible, or we forget to think before we speak, or we choose to do other things with our time. And I'm only hoping and praying I can take the necessary steps in order to grow in my faith and I believe these next couple years of my life and possibly where I end up for college will hopefully help me with this desire in "coming back to Christ". So, this simple, yet very complex phrase, suggests we forget about ourselves for a second and choose to live lives that will bring praise to the Lord.



Probably wondering why I chose Musical Linguistics for my name, here's why:



A good majority of my time is spent listening to music. Whatever I may be doing, you can usually always find me with my ipod, or listening to music in my car, or having music playing in my room. As you can infer, yes, I love music! It's all around us, wherever we go we cannot escape it. Whether it's playing in stores or restaurants, in movies, tv shows, commericals, we are a soceity which focuses a lot of media around music. Music can advertise many things and what I want to try to point out is how music can be used to worship and bring glory to God. Yes, some music that we listen to doesnt always have the best message, but we listen to it anyway, right? We like the beat or how it sounds..but is what we're listening to really the best thing for us to hear as a Christian? Hearing about sex, drugs, profanity, and lust isn't exactly what we're called to do...but, I won't deny that I don't listen to certain music like that, but I suggest to listen with a discernful ear. That's why I started to love Christian music a lot more...it's so uplifting and encouraging and safe to listen to.

It's called Musical Linguistics also because whenever I listen to certain songs, I somehow always find myself relating it to something going on in my life or how I'm feeling then. I love to merely sing along and think about the words being sung and it helps me through difficult times or joyous times. Also, music tells us a story, whatever it may be, with words and instruments, appealing to our thoughts and feelings. It's a unique and sometimes intimate way of expressing ones honest opinions about life. And music is a big part of my life...it can be used in so many different ways; either listening to it, playing music, or giving praise to the Lord. And that is what I'll mainly be writing about on this blog...showing the importance of music in our lives and how it can help us through life...with the exception of Jesus, of course.

Music is it's own language.