A Realization

I. Love. People.

It's as simple as that, really. Yes, I've always known it but.... I guess I surprise myself with how deeply I must. have. that. connection.

My father is an introvert, so he doesn't need that connection like I do. I don't think he understands that I need to be around my friends just as much as he needs to be alone.

My friends. Wow, they are truly fabulous people. I thank God every day for them, seriously. I love being around them. Laughing at them, watching a movie, sipping Starbucks, anything. I would love nothing more to entertain them in my home all the time! I'd love to do that. When I have my own home, it will be like that. I promise you. :-)

Maybe it's my artistic tendencies.... Artists tend to feel things deeply, both good and bad. I can't always control my emotions. Sometimes they erupt at the surface before I have a chance to yell, STOP! Although I may not feel like I need to cry about it, I do. Because it's so important for me to be understood, accepted, acknowledged, and listened to. Validated. Maybe because I get frustrated.... Not in an angry way, but because whoever I'm talking with just. doesn't. get it.

My friends matter so much to me that, yes, I guess I would cry for them. They are a part of me. Perhaps it is I that doesn't understand why someone else wouldn't value them as such.

But it's not personal. I must keep telling myself that. For me, the two are one-in-the-same and hard to differentiate between.

Albertine

That's the title of Brooke Fraser's latest CD, which was distributed throughout the U.S. of A. last year, 2008. What a fabulous CD! I've wanted to get it for a long time, and since no one got it for me as a gift, I broke down and bought it myself. :-) Her sound is acoustic, and simple, with great, GREAT lyrics and melodies. It's only just over 45 minutes, and I wish there was more! One song, in particular, that's just beautiful is the last song on the album, simply titled "Hymn." It's become my prayer, and I've shared the lyrics below. Enjoy, and may this be the prayer of all who believe.

Hymn

words and music by Brooke Fraser

~

if to distant lands I scatter

if I sail to farthest seas

would you find and firm and gather

'til I only dwell in Thee?

~

if I flee from greenest pastures

would you leave to look for me?

forfeit glory to come after

'til I only dwell in Thee

~

if my heart has one ambition

if my soul one goal to seek

this my solitary vision

'til I only dwell in Thee

~

that I only dwell in Thee

'til I only dwell in Thee

Burning.... Freedom.... Passion

I just got the book The Barbarian Way by Erwin Raphael McManus, and it's so good! It's about "unleasing the untamed faith within" and rejecting a "civilized" Christianity by instead becoming passionate disciples of Jesus Christ. Cool stuff. Anyways, this is just something I love that's right in the first few pages of his book:

It's hard to imagine that Jesus would endure the agony of the Cross just to keep us in line. Jesus began a revolution to secure our freedom. The new covenant that He established puts its trust not in the law, but in the transforming power of God's Spirit living within us. The revolution of the human heart would fuel the life and vitality of this movement. We would delight in God, and He would give us the desires of our hearts (Psalms 37:4). With our hearts burning for God, we would move forward with the freedom to pursue the passions burning within us. [emphasis mine]

I love that last sentence.... God is so beautiful! His plans - His thoughts - are so magnificent....

Well, enjoy that little tidbit as you go on your merry way. :-)