Grace - Then Sings My Soul

This week's song is one that may not be familiar to many. It doesn't get wide airplay, except maybe on a local Christian station, if you are lucky to have one, or if he has been in or near your town in concert. This particular video is from a station in OK, where he visited and performed live on air. But all that is secondary to the song... Grace. In this song, Jason has anthropomorphized grace into a girl who loves him even though he doesn't deserve it. Not a stretch from the truth of the matter, is it?

Just a little more about Jason... He has a speech impediment (stuttering) and uses his weakness to glorify God. He writes some of the most intense and personal lyrics I have ever heard. Please check him out. If you are blessed enough to get a chance to hear him in person, go. You will be blessed. He is real and approachable; it isn't like seeing one of the big name artists in an arena. It's almost like a living room singalong.

For more songs, visit Amy's.

Grace

Jason Gray

Sweet Grace amazes me

The way that she can see

Beyond the man I am

To the man that I could be

She’s bringing out my best

While she covers all the rest

Some say her love is blind

But I say her love forgets

She don’t like it when I try so hard to impress her

‘Cause when I do that, it’s a lie that makes her love look the lesser

The truth is I know

I’ll never be, I’ll never be good enough

I’ll never deserve her love

I’ll never be, I’ll never be good enough for Grace

But she takes me anyway

I am the cheatin’ kind

But she’s changing my mind

The way she takes me back

Though I fail her every time

She’s got friends who tell her that she

Is much too good for me

Well, I’ve told her that myself

But she refuses to leave

I’d like to think my strength won her affection

But the truth is it was my weakness that caught her attention

I’m grateful to know

When my tears fall down like rain

She wipes them from my face

She tells me that I’m lovely

And if I am, it’s all because of Grace

This love turns my inside out

And my world upside down

Grace is changing me…

Painting Pictures of Egypt: Then Sings My Soul Saturday

I'm enjoying participating in this weekend meme, "Then Sings My Soul Saturday," hosted at Amy's. I have been reacquainted with old favorites and made some new ones as well. If any of you have visited Amy's to see the other songs posted each Saturday, I hope it's been worth your time as well, and that you've been refreshed by it.

This week's song is one I came across a year or so ago. It was a free music download somewhere (I'm thinking probably Itickets.com). I didn't know at the time how much the lyrics really applied to my life, but I like to listen to it occasionally to remind me of my tendency to be like the Israelites sometimes and look backward at where I've been...

Painting Pictures of Egypt

Sara Groves

I don’t want to leave here

I don’t want to stay

It feels like pinching to me either way

The places I long for the most

Are the places where I’ve been

They are calling after me like a long lost friend

It’s not about losing faith

It’s not about trust

It’s all about comfortable

When you move so much

The place I was wasn’t perfect

But I had found a way to live

It wasn’t milk or honey

But then neither is this

CHORUS:

I’ve been painting pictures of Egypt

Leaving out what it lacked

The future seems so hard

And I want to go back

But the places that used to fit me

Cannot hold the things I"ve learned

And those roads closed off to me

While my back was turned

The past is so tangible

I know it by heart

Familiar things are never easy to discard

I was dying for some freedom

But now I hesitate to go

Caught between the promise

And the things I know

BRIDGE:

If it comes too quick

I may not appreciate it

Is that the reason behind all this time and sand?

If it comes too quick

I may not recognize it

Is that the reason behind all this time and sand?

Big House - Then Sings My Soul Saturday

Seems only fitting to have this song on my mind lately. God is blessing us with a "big, big house" in Huntsville, but it's nothing compared to what he has waiting for us in eternity.

Big House

Audio Adrenaline

I don't know where you lay your head

Or where you call your home

I don't know where you eat your meals

Or where you talk on the phone

I don't know if you got a cook

A butler or a maid

I don't know if you got a yard

With a hammock in the shade

I don't know if you got some shelter

Say a place to hide

I don't know if you live with friends

In whom you can confide

I don't know if you got a family

Say a mom or dad

I don't know if you feel love at all

But I bet you wish you had

Pre-chorus

Come and go with me

To my father's house

Come and go with me

To my father's house

Chorus

It's a big big house

With lots and lots of room

A big big table

With lots and lots of food

A big big yard

Where we can play football

A big big house

It's my father's house

All I know is a big ole house

With rooms for everyone

All I know is lots a land

Where we can play and run

All I know is you need love

And I've got a family

All I know is you're all alone

So why not come with me?

It keeps getting better

So I haven't really had time to do much more than post a meme every weekend lately (and I missed that last weekend... but as you will see, I had good reason!). Time to bring folks up to speed on the plans to move on to a new place and a new phase in our lives.

Brian is currently on leave and is back in Alabama, working at the job that will be his post-Air Force career position. He's been there since the beginning of the month, and aside from a quick trip back for a couple of days this coming week (Halle's birthday is Monday), will be there till the middle of November.

Halle and I flew to Huntsville last Friday so that I could help Brian look for a house. Last weekend was really the only free weekend he would probably have, so we jumped at the chance to get started on the hunt. We flew into Nashville, where my sister met us at the airport for the short (at least when you spend the whole time talking) drive south.

We hit the ground running Saturday morning.... between 9:30 and 4:30 we looked at 6 or 7 houses. The following day, we had 3 or 4 more to look at in the afternoon, including a return visit to the one house from the previous day that would not leave my head. We took my sister and her husband along as well; they were invaluable in pointing out things we hadn't seen or thought of as we looked at the houses. When we returned to the house that was becoming my favorite, we realized it really was the one we wanted. Even better than the fact that it has all the rooms and space we wanted is that the location is awesome. We can get to my sister's house in less than 20 minutes, and it is less than 30 to Brian's work. There are a nearby grocery store and fast food restaurants, plus it isn't far to the Arsenal for my main grocery shopping and also healthcare there.

We made an offer on the house shortly before Halle and I left town to come home, and got a phone call from our buyer's agent about 3 1/2 hours later with the counteroffer. We accepted it, and then marveled at how easy it was. The home inspection was yesterday... no huge problems to take care of. We are set to close by the 20th of next month, but probably will not get to move in till the end of December.

I am still in awe that we found something so quickly. I am really looking forward to the move and setting up housekeeping in a place where everyone has his/her own room and plenty of space to keep their things. We have room to put our school things in a separate space, there is a bonus room upstairs for video gaming and hanging out, and we have enough space to have folks over without having to sit in each other's laps. (And a driveway that will hold all the cars, too!) I don't have pictures, but will put some up when I have the chance.