ummm...can you keep singing....like, for forever?!

i love music. i love listening to people that can sing their little hiney's off. and i especially love listening to powerhouse women that sing their little hiney's off. and tonight, glee indulged one of my very favorite things by providing an INCREDIBLE duet by these two women above: lea michele and the wonderfully talented idina menzel.

you may recognize idina from the original cast of 'rent' as well as the movie cast. she also originated the role of elphaba in 'wicked', winning a tony award for best female actress in a musical. told you. talented. plus, the woman is married to taye diggs. come on.

often when listening to songs like this one, i find myself wanting to somehow crawl into the song and let the melodies swirl all around me. i love the harmonies, the deep vocal tones that come from a woman in complete control of her voice, and the ownership a woman displays when she is rockin' it...and she knows it. absolutely love it and could sit and watch someone like one of these two women sing all the live-long day.

so thank you, glee. you just keep letting idina and lea sing like that. i'll keep watching as long as you put that on television.

give it a listen...

the change continued...

continued from the post below...

I had gone to Texas A&M with every intention of participating in a very popular idea: the typical college experience. I had always been a rule-follower and I saw this as my chance to “live a little”, or so they say. It was never in my plan to join a Christian sorority, and yet in that moment during that first meeting, I began to understand that my college experience was not going to look at all like I’d thought and there was nothing I could do about it. 

As the evening and weeks progressed, I began to grow familiar with ASC, but it all still felt very foreign to me. The language these girls used sounded strange, the fact that they were always so sweet and loving threw me off, and I couldn’t figure out why they cared about getting to know me at all. But one thing I was sure of: there was a passion and quality about their lives that was unlike anything I had ever been around, and I wanted my life to be the same.  

I know now, as I learned then, that what I was seeing in their lives that I was so attracted to was the transformative power that comes from knowing Jesus. These girls were confident and loving not because of some innate ability to be that way, but rather because the Gospel had moved in their lives and allowed their minds to be transformed. The book of Romans commands this of us, instructing us to not be conformed to the world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. As I walked with and observed the lives of these women that had been placed around me, I grew more and more encouraged and began to feel safe for the first time in my life. 

In the Lord’s gracious providence, He placed me in a small group that year made up of entirely juniors and seniors. My sweet friend, Emily, and I were the only freshmen in the group and over the course of that first year those women taught me what it looked like to walk daily in pursuit of knowing Christ better. He went from being someone I believed in but didn’t really know to being the song that I was singing in life. Through study of Scripture, times of prayer, serving together, and a great amount of encouragement, I began to understand what it meant to know Jesus and it changed my life.

The Lord continued to move in my heart and mind for four years and minister to me through the organization of Aggie Sisters for Christ in numerous ways, but one of the sweetest nights and memories is that first night. It was the night of changed assumptions. It was the night of a path being set. It was the night of the change.

and so it begins...

For those who know me well, and maybe those who know me well on Facebook, it is common knowledge that I'm a fan of Shauna Niequist's work. She's a writer who makes you feel like you're having a conversation with her as you read. Basically, she's brilliant.

I have always wanted to write a book and her style of writing has been an inspiration in helping me to find my voice. The way she writes is similar to how I write and I feel like her books have given me permission to write the way I want.

So I've started. It will be a while and even then I'll have to see if anyone will even publish it, but it's worth a shot. Here's a little glimpse...

-The Change-

I had no intention of joining. I was just attending the meeting because the girl at the booth seemed nice. It was my first week of college and I found myself at the first informational meeting for Aggie Sisters for Christ, feeling extremely out of place as I walked toward the meeting. In my experience, girls weren’t nice, couldn’t be trusted, and would rather talk bad about you than encourage you, so needless to say I was a bit nervous. My preconceived notions were about to be turned upside down.

As I approached the meeting, a sweet girl named Brynne Bryant walked up with a beaming smile on her face and said, “Are you here for the meeting? Great! Just stick with me tonight. I’ll take care of you.” Immediately, thoughts of panic and confusion hit. What?! Why is she being so nice to me? What’s in it for her? Is there something wrong with me that I need someone with me all night? I followed Brynne into a large conference room that was filled with HUNDREDS of girls, many looking just like me. Nervous. 

I sat with Brynne as the meeting started, listening to the president of the organization, Kimberly McNutt, talking about ASC, the purpose behind the fellowship of women, and the goal to glorify Jesus Christ in their time together. And as I listened to Kim talk, something very strange started to happen. I began to hear this whisper, not audibly, but a whisper in my soul that I had felt very few times in my life at this point. It was this kind of confirmation that I was exactly where I was supposed to be, that these women would be my friends, and that there was something important for me to learn in my days with them. It was a strange feeling at the time, but one that I’ve grown more and more accustomed to the more I’ve learned to listen for it. It was the sweet whisper of the Lord, and He was saving my life that night.