hhij iii

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!!!

:)

Here is the third installment of holding hands in june.

If you have been along for the ride for both the first and second year, you probably know I have an affinity for the likes of John Mayer, Corinne Bailey Rae, and Jack Johnson, etc., for they made appearances in both of the older mixes. Well, I went out of my way to not include any of those guys or any others that have been here. The exceptions are Ben Folds (with a dash of Regina Spektor) and Sufjan Stevens (because he is awesome always). This one took the longest to make (I started adding suggestions in the fall), but it is also the shortest (only 14 songs, instead of the usual 20ish. I wish it was longer, but making these lists is more of an art than a science).

Other features:

-Three songs that are covers
-One song that inspired a really famous cover
-A love song that was turned into a rap
-A rapper singing a love song
-The F word, in a singular yet pronounced appearance
-A song whose lyrics consist of two words
-More electro/techno than usual

Song list (preferred order):
I've Got This Friend--The Civil Wars
Lovelier Than You--B.o.B
I'm Into Something Good--The Bird and the Bee
Barbra Streisand--Duck Sauce
Pink Moon--Nick Drake
Happy Together--The Flobots
I'll Hold My Breath--Ellie Goulding
You Don't Know Me--Ben Folds (feat. Regina Spektor)
St. James' Infirmary--Rising Appalachia
He Woke Me Up Again--Sufjan Stevens
Tightrope--Janelle Monae
There Goes the Fear--The Doves
Safe and Sound--Taylor Swift (feat. the Civil Wars)
Valerie--The Zutons

There were some songs that were introduced to me by friends, so if you see one, thanks :) As always, I really enjoyed making this. The next few months promise much change for me (graduation, starting full-time job), but I plan to use this time to playyyyy. I hope you get some play time, too.

go to sleep

I am reading Shadow of the Almighty, a book about Jim Elliot, a missionary who died while he was ministering in South America. It is a really powerful book, for he was such a man of faith. A part that stuck out to me was from a letter to a family member, concerning dating. He was in the college at the time, and he was liked by many girls but he turned them all down. He saw dating as a non-essential, especially when he felt so fulfilled in Christ. He did end up getting married, his widow, Elisabeth Elliot (author of Passion and Purity) wrote the book. Anyway, here is what he said.

No one warns young people to follow Adam's example. He waited till God saw his need. Then God made Adam sleep, prepared for his mate, and brought her to him. We need more of this 'being asleep' in the will of God. Then we can receive what He brings us in His own time, if at all. Instead we are set as bloodhounds after a partner, considering everyone we see until our minds are so concerned with the sex problem that we can talk of nothing else when bull-session time comes around. It is true that a fellow cannot ignore women--but he can think of them as he ought--as sisters, not as sparring partners!

I've been meditating on this, the concept of being asleep in God's will. Not laying down and resting and occasionally opening our eyes to see if God is seeing how diligent we are, but being unconscious, knocked out by our love for Christ that we don't even feel when the opposite sex passes us by....unless God wants us to feel it.

I think the "if at all" part is extremely important, though many times this is the part that we decide to sleep on.

volition

I drive so much these days. I think I am making up for the six years of license eligibility, and I am doing it swimmingly. I have put almost 20,000 new miles on Corinna the Chevy Cobalt, whom I've had for just seven months. This type of constant traveling can give one a false sense of security, of bravado. In the past two weeks I have made three turkey and cheese sandwiches while I was driving (I'm talking deli meat turkey, pepper jack cheese). Slowly but surely,I think I was beginning to believe that I could summon the strength to go 75 miles per hour, with or without a car.

As I drove along this line of thinking, along the Athens outer loop, I heard the screeching tires and I saw the car directly in front of me hopping in between the two lanes. After dancing for a bit, the car made a beeline for the right side median and front-ended the concrete with a sickening crunch. As it came to rest in the opposite direction of traffic, I realized that I was looking at the crash through my rearview mirror. I cannot fathom how I passed by the out-of-control car with nary a scratch, but I did.

My tally of near-death experiences is steadily increasing. My confidence in my abilities is decreasing. The knobs of circumstance have become too slippery and unwieldy for my childish hands. To say I am grateful for God's control would make it sound as though I weighed the options and decided this was the best idea. As the options of luck, serendipity, coincidence, and willpower dissolve into smoke and mirrors, I am confronted with the Truth, and his firm, gentle guiding hand on my life.

I'm so thankful that I'm incapable of doing any good on my own. ~Caedmon's Call

the right question

God, how can I bless you?

send

How does one pray for the nations when they see themselves as a lost cause? So many prayers lack zeal or even belief because the redemption of the world, the won battle for this earth is a foreign concept to our small scale. Jesus' beckoning for his lost sheep consistently includes those who found him, but may have closed their eyes for a spell. May our hope for the world be fruit of our own experience with salvation.

Send revival...start with me.

holding hands in june, too (HHIJ II)

My peeps! Here is the Summer 2011 soundtrack.

This year is considerably different from last year. Not in artists (there are quite a few repeats), but in tone. I think this year is a little more somber than the bounciness of last year. A wise twin sister made the analogy that last year was more for a summer afternoon, whereas this year is more for a summer evening.

Other features of HHIJ II:
--Much fewer Brits on here....but two songs featuring Swedes!
--Three artists named Ben (four songs feat. Bens)
--Four Youtube stars (two songs feat. them)
--Two songs that feature whistling
--More profanity/suggestive themes (sorry)
--A lot of love songs
--My favorite song of all time


Song list (in preferred order):
Wild Young Hearts--Noisettes
Sleeping In--The Postal Service
Sunrise--Norah Jones
High of 75--Relient K
When Did You Fall--Chris Rice
No Sunlight--Death Cab for Cutie
Home--Jorge & Alexa Narvaez
Folding Chair--Regina Spektor
Here Comes the Sun--The Beatles
Daydreamin'--Lupe Fiasco feat. Jill Scott
Gatekeeper--Feist
Call Me When You Get This--Corinne Bailey Rae
Young Folks--Peter, Bjorn & John
Stop This Train--John Mayer
Jesusland--Ben Folds
Rhythm of Love--Joseph Vincent and Clara C
A Change is Gonna Come--Ben Sollee
Your Arms Around Me--Jens Lekman
Daylight--Matt & Kim
You and I--Ingrid Michaelson
The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts--Sufjan Stevens
Do You Remember--Jack Johnson

They should all play just fine.

A lot of the songs on here were introduced to me by my friends, so if you see a song that you contributed, thanks :) I really enjoyed making this, and I hope you enjoy listening. Happy Summer!

leaking

Sometimes when I think about you, all I sense is an ocean wave behind a door...a loud crashing earthquake, a rushing, violent wind that is uncontrollable, unstoppable.

I think about this and I get scared. I think about you wanting to meet with me and I freak out. So I keep the door closed.

I am afraid of you and your love. It is dangerous and untamed, and it seeps into every area of my life. My lack of control scares me, so I refrain from meeting with you. I avoid talking to you because it reminds me of my helplessness.

Sorry. I'm even helpless in this situation.