Hungry Hippos

I love this time of year - springtime!  It reminds me of a fresh, new start.  After a long cold winter, I hear the birds chirping and see the green grass growing again.  The world seems so full of life; so full of hope.  The snow storms and icy, frigid weather were here, but now we can bathe in the sunshine.  And isn't that the promise of Easter?  Hope.  Yes, there may be suffering and death in this world, but Jesus shows us hope.  We are loved by an amazing God who gives us the promise of new life.  He loves us so much; much more than we can even imagine.  And He wants us to be happy.  He has given this life to us as a precious gift.  He wants us to live, to love, to laugh.

It amazes me how fast time goes.  We all feel it in our lives; especially if we have children.  One moment, they are sleeping peacefully in our arms, clenching our finger for dear life.  And the next, they are begging us to chase them all over the house.  We all say to each other, "it goes so fast" and "where did the time go?"  So we must cherish every moment.  We must live and love and laugh and not waste any time.  But how?  This world is so demanding; we have jobs, bills, taxes, activities, and so many distractions. 

I think the challenge is to cherish the moments.  There are millions of moments that pass througout our day.  Can we just stop occasionally and cherish them?  Can we take a moment to call our husband or wife and say, "You are so precious to me"?  Or take 2 minutes to play 'Hungry Hippos' even though we haven't made lunch yet and are a hungry hippo ourself?!?  Or take 1 minute to write a sentence on a card and send it to a loved one?  Or stop by a nursing home on our way home from work to sit 5 minutes with a lonely stranger?  Or open up the Bible and read for 3 minutes before we turn out the lights?  It is these small moments that will change our lives and help us to live life to the fullest.

The truth is, we don't need to wait for Easter or spring for a fresh, new start.  Every single day is a new start.  Actually, every moment is a fresh start.  We can decide an any moment in our lives to start again; to change our attitude and choose to be better.  This is the message of "Live," the first song on my album.

Do you have any ideas of how to cherish the moments?  If so, please share them as a comment to this blog so we can all learn from each other and start living each day to the fullest.

And in the meantime..."cherish every moment you are given..."

How I Write Songs...

Often, people ask me how I write my songs.  Well, first of all, I don't feel like they really are MY songs!  I give our sweet Lord all the credit for every word.  I truly feel that I am the vessel, and God's words and music are poured through me.

I wrote my first song (with my co-writer Jesus Christ) when I was a sophomore in high school.  I was practicing my songs for my piano lessons and needed a little break from Bach and Beethoven, so I just started to doodle and make up a song on the piano.  As I sat there playing, I heard words and melody to the song in my head and in my heart.  I grabbed the closest piece of paper I could find and wrote down what I heard.  I quickly wrote down the chords that I was playing on the piano too.  It was an amazing and humbling experience, which occurred multiple times throughout the rest of my high school years.  It always happened so fast, and I felt that I must be obedient and write down what I heard.

I continued to write down the songs I heard in my head and heart throughout college.  But as my faith matured, the experience of writing songs became even more powerful.  There were so many nights I sat in the chapel on campus and scribbled what I heard through teary eyes.  I think some of those songs were just for me, to help me make it through what I was struggling with at the time.  And there were some songs I wrote about and for other people.  I think God wanted them to hear His words, and that is part of the reason I feel so compelled to share these songs with the world.  They are His words; He is writing us all love songs.

I must admit that there were (and still are) multiple times when I thought I was too busy and didn't take the time to stop write down the words and music God wanted to give me.  I think that is the challenge for all of us.  God speaks to us all day long in many different ways.  But do we always take the time to drop what we are doing and listen to His voice?  It is difficult, especially in our fast-paced world. It is hard to hear God's voice when we have headphones in our ears, the radio or TV on, or when we have an on-going dialogue of worrying going on in our head.   Sometimes it may mean that the socks don't get folded and the dishes have to stay on the table awhile longer, or we may have to miss an episode of our favorite show or get up a few minutes earlier,  But it will make a huge difference in the quality of our lives and in eternity.  God wants to speak to us, and He DOES.  We just need to listen.

My challenge to you (and to myself) is to really listen for God's voice in your head and in your heart.  And may God bless you...