Okay, so this is my lame-ish comeback attempt to my blog. I have dozens of thoughts rolling around in my head, and more than a few things I want to blog about, but I'm going to cheat and settle for a lovely, uplifting video for today.
His name is Peter Hollens and he's a gifted a capella musician. He also happens to be singing my favorite song from Josh Groban's newest album. It's my pick-me-up for those bad days we talked about last time. Or a boost for the already good days. :)
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
10 May 2013
04 March 2013
Speaking of Dancing...
Okay, we weren't speaking of dancing (though I went to one this weekend). But I needed an excuse to post another TWard video.
Yep. I have a crush. It's true.
28 February 2013
New Favorite
On a lighter, more inspirational note from my last post, this is a video from my new favorite YouTuber.
I might have cried. And I might be a little bit in love with him.
I might have cried. And I might be a little bit in love with him.
25 October 2012
New Happy Song
The thing I love about music? It usually sums up my life. This is pretty much how I feel right now.
I like the hopeful tone of the song. I'm pretty happy already, even if I'm still waiting for my clumsy mailman. But that'll happen someday, too. To quote a friend:
I like the hopeful tone of the song. I'm pretty happy already, even if I'm still waiting for my clumsy mailman. But that'll happen someday, too. To quote a friend:
"One day a guy will walk into your life and show you why it never worked out with anyone else."
17 October 2012
Madness
Favorite song + favorite cover artist = favorite thing in the whole world.
Yes, I've posted his stuff before. What can I say? I'm smitten. This cover is too amazing not to share.
Yes, I've posted his stuff before. What can I say? I'm smitten. This cover is too amazing not to share.
15 July 2012
Favorite Hymn
So, after many years of deliberation, I think I finally have a favorite hymn.
This is, incidentally, also one of my favorite arrangements of it.
I love this hymn for many reasons. For one, it brings back some very beautiful memories of Tunnel Singing at BYU (yes, yes, I did it. Just not as a freshman). For another, we sang a simply gorgeous arrangement of it for the Davis County Conference. I was singing in the choir, and we had the once in a lifetime opportunity to sing from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir seats in the Conference Center. Singing this song to all of those people was a sacred experience. That was also the day that the Lord let me know that it was time to go through the temple, so everything about that day has become so much more special to me.
Through all of my ups and downs, this song has always brought me peace. It has also always filled me with a profound sense of gratitude for a Heavenly Father who is constantly trying to draw me nearer to Him. I am so blessed.
This is, incidentally, also one of my favorite arrangements of it.
I love this hymn for many reasons. For one, it brings back some very beautiful memories of Tunnel Singing at BYU (yes, yes, I did it. Just not as a freshman). For another, we sang a simply gorgeous arrangement of it for the Davis County Conference. I was singing in the choir, and we had the once in a lifetime opportunity to sing from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir seats in the Conference Center. Singing this song to all of those people was a sacred experience. That was also the day that the Lord let me know that it was time to go through the temple, so everything about that day has become so much more special to me.
Through all of my ups and downs, this song has always brought me peace. It has also always filled me with a profound sense of gratitude for a Heavenly Father who is constantly trying to draw me nearer to Him. I am so blessed.
24 June 2012
Beautiful Heartbreak
A good friend of mine just had her heart broken, so I've been thinking about a favorite song of mine a lot recently.
What surprised me when I listened to it this morning, though, was that I suddenly realized that I was on the other side of heartbreak. I'm on the top, looking around at things that I never would have been able to see before.
For those of you who don't already know, I'm finally, finally going through the temple in August. It's something that I have wanted for so many years. And it means so much more to me than all of my other achievements combined. Graduating last year has nothing on how deeply I feel about this goal.
I feel like flying.
To be quite honest, I feel like this song:
Incidentally, Brave is a fantastic movie. I highly recommend it. :)
What surprised me when I listened to it this morning, though, was that I suddenly realized that I was on the other side of heartbreak. I'm on the top, looking around at things that I never would have been able to see before.
For those of you who don't already know, I'm finally, finally going through the temple in August. It's something that I have wanted for so many years. And it means so much more to me than all of my other achievements combined. Graduating last year has nothing on how deeply I feel about this goal.
I feel like flying.
To be quite honest, I feel like this song:
Incidentally, Brave is a fantastic movie. I highly recommend it. :)
31 May 2012
Filling In the Pieces
I got into a conversation at work the other day about the contingency plans that many single adults have. Because let's be honest, we all want to find love. One mistake I've been guilty of making is settling for my current career path as my Plan B, because Plan A---having a family---still hasn't happened yet.
But recently, I've been trying to focus on making my life as it is my Plan A. After all, it's definitely God's Plan A for me. And while I can't control how everything happens in my life, I've discovered that I can do a lot to fill in the missing pieces. It's as much my responsibility as it is the Lord's.
Which is why I simply love this music video. It's so sweet and profound.
I've been on a kick of following self-made musicians on YouTube, and it's been great, because I find gems like this. :)
But recently, I've been trying to focus on making my life as it is my Plan A. After all, it's definitely God's Plan A for me. And while I can't control how everything happens in my life, I've discovered that I can do a lot to fill in the missing pieces. It's as much my responsibility as it is the Lord's.
Which is why I simply love this music video. It's so sweet and profound.
I've been on a kick of following self-made musicians on YouTube, and it's been great, because I find gems like this. :)
08 April 2012
Easter
I know I haven't been blogging very often. There are a lot of reasons for that, many of them having to do with personal struggles. But today is Easter, and it means more to me this year than I think it ever has.
I've never been much into the chocolate, bunnies, and eggs for Easter. You can probably credit that to my parents, who have never been big on it either. Because of that, Easter has only had one prominent meaning for me: the Resurrection. I didn't usually have chocolate or baskets to look forward to, and it did mean that Easter didn't hold a ton of significance for me as a kid, because I didn't really understand the Atonement back then.
But as I've gotten older and come to understand how much I need Christ, Easter has started to become one of my favorite times of the year. This year, I've been thinking a lot about how my Savior sees me.
That may sound a little odd. But I know how I feel about Him. And the more I study the Atonement, the more I realize that I am absolutely nothing without Him. But that often leads to those terrible feelings of not being good enough to deserve that kind of love, especially when I've been struggling in other areas of my life.
But this whole weekend, I've been trying to forget how inadequate I feel and focus on how the Lord feels about me. It helps that my wonderful, amazing missionary brother seems to be having the same feelings of inadequacy that I have. It's easy to see how the Lord feels about Brian, because it's a magnification of the love I feel for him. I would move heaven and earth to lighten my brother's load and show him that he hasn't given me any reason to be disappointed in him. Even his struggles have made me love him all the more. I know the Lord's feelings about my brother are unfathomably deeper than my own.
If I can see the Lord's never-failing love for my brother, doesn't it make sense that He feels the same about me, inadequate though I am? I wish I could explain how I feel. For a girl who has made words her life, this is one subject that I can never do justice to. Words fail me every single time.
But I know this. That it's okay to look up at heaven and cry out, "I can't do this anymore." It's okay to be like the father of a stricken boy who looked up at the mortal Christ with pleading eyes and begged, "Help thou my unbelief." Faith was a prerequisite to the miracle that father sought, but he knew he was weak. When Jesus asked him if he had faith, he answered yes. But there seems to be an unwritten exchange in that moment, in which the father reevaluates himself and then says some of the sweetest words ever uttered, "Help thou my unbelief."
What I love most about that story is that Christ heals the boy, knowing that weak as it was, the father's faith was still enough.
It's okay to ask the Lord to be our strength because ours has run out.
That's when He wraps His arms around you and lifts both you and your heavy load. And at His touch, you suddenly realize that the warmth of His closeness is utterly familiar to you, because He's always been right there, hands outstretched to brace you at the slightest stumble.
The weaknesses we feel, the self-doubt, and inadequacy, are our own feelings, not His. No amount of trial and error or personal failings can ever make Him turn away from us. Think of a person you dearly love who has struggled. Would you, even for a second, really consider giving up on them? Never. You may let them make their choices, but would you be there in an instant if they asked for your help? I hope the answer is yes. It certainly is yes when it comes to the Savior's attention to each of us.
You know, I have studied literary figures and heroes practically my whole life. And for all of their virtues, no hero ever comes close to being able to do for the people they serve and die for what Christ has done for every. single. person who has ever lived on this earth. For you. For me. Every day.
I love this song, and I think it sums up many of my feelings about the Savior on this most sacred and beautiful of days.
I love my Savior. I am nothing without Him, and yet He has made everything of me. I hope you all feel His love today especially, and every day.
Happy Easter
I've never been much into the chocolate, bunnies, and eggs for Easter. You can probably credit that to my parents, who have never been big on it either. Because of that, Easter has only had one prominent meaning for me: the Resurrection. I didn't usually have chocolate or baskets to look forward to, and it did mean that Easter didn't hold a ton of significance for me as a kid, because I didn't really understand the Atonement back then.
But as I've gotten older and come to understand how much I need Christ, Easter has started to become one of my favorite times of the year. This year, I've been thinking a lot about how my Savior sees me.
That may sound a little odd. But I know how I feel about Him. And the more I study the Atonement, the more I realize that I am absolutely nothing without Him. But that often leads to those terrible feelings of not being good enough to deserve that kind of love, especially when I've been struggling in other areas of my life.
But this whole weekend, I've been trying to forget how inadequate I feel and focus on how the Lord feels about me. It helps that my wonderful, amazing missionary brother seems to be having the same feelings of inadequacy that I have. It's easy to see how the Lord feels about Brian, because it's a magnification of the love I feel for him. I would move heaven and earth to lighten my brother's load and show him that he hasn't given me any reason to be disappointed in him. Even his struggles have made me love him all the more. I know the Lord's feelings about my brother are unfathomably deeper than my own.
If I can see the Lord's never-failing love for my brother, doesn't it make sense that He feels the same about me, inadequate though I am? I wish I could explain how I feel. For a girl who has made words her life, this is one subject that I can never do justice to. Words fail me every single time.
But I know this. That it's okay to look up at heaven and cry out, "I can't do this anymore." It's okay to be like the father of a stricken boy who looked up at the mortal Christ with pleading eyes and begged, "Help thou my unbelief." Faith was a prerequisite to the miracle that father sought, but he knew he was weak. When Jesus asked him if he had faith, he answered yes. But there seems to be an unwritten exchange in that moment, in which the father reevaluates himself and then says some of the sweetest words ever uttered, "Help thou my unbelief."
What I love most about that story is that Christ heals the boy, knowing that weak as it was, the father's faith was still enough.
It's okay to ask the Lord to be our strength because ours has run out.
That's when He wraps His arms around you and lifts both you and your heavy load. And at His touch, you suddenly realize that the warmth of His closeness is utterly familiar to you, because He's always been right there, hands outstretched to brace you at the slightest stumble.
The weaknesses we feel, the self-doubt, and inadequacy, are our own feelings, not His. No amount of trial and error or personal failings can ever make Him turn away from us. Think of a person you dearly love who has struggled. Would you, even for a second, really consider giving up on them? Never. You may let them make their choices, but would you be there in an instant if they asked for your help? I hope the answer is yes. It certainly is yes when it comes to the Savior's attention to each of us.
You know, I have studied literary figures and heroes practically my whole life. And for all of their virtues, no hero ever comes close to being able to do for the people they serve and die for what Christ has done for every. single. person who has ever lived on this earth. For you. For me. Every day.
I love this song, and I think it sums up many of my feelings about the Savior on this most sacred and beautiful of days.
I love my Savior. I am nothing without Him, and yet He has made everything of me. I hope you all feel His love today especially, and every day.
Happy Easter
10 March 2012
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