Today was my first day of school. My schedule this semester is FANTASTIC!!!! Monday and Tuesday, I don't have to be at school until 2:30, I have to be there at one on Wednesday, and Thursday is my only morning class!!! It works out sooooooo well. I just hope I don't flake out again this semester. I'm very worried about that. However, I think the key for me is to talk to people.
Last semester, I didn't tell ANYONE I was having problems of any kind until the end of October, when it was really too late to do anything about anything. I never talked to anyone about school - I'd just nod and say it was fine. And I hardly talked to anyone about anything anyway! I hardly ever saw people. I was so alone last semester. This semester it will be different! I will make an effort to see people and talk to people. I WILL e-mail and text my friends who are out of state, and really talk to them and let them back in. I was so isolated last semester! It was so awful! That CANNOT happen EVER again!!!!!
And my spiritual health must be attended to this semester. Lord, give me the strength to do what I must in that regard. Jesus, fill my mouth again with Your Holy Spirit's breathing, that Your sovereign Word would resonate just like the trumpet's call!
I am really trying to have Proverbs 31 in my mind this semester....all about the wife of noble character. "She is clothed with strength and dignity - she can laugh at the days to come." I want to be able to laugh at the days to come, and be ready for them! I will not flake out this semester!!!!!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Sunday, January 3, 2010
comparisons
I received Taylor Swift's first CD (very aptly titled "Taylor Swift") for Christmas. When I unwrapped it, I was very happy because I really like Taylor Swift and her songs. Or so I thought.
Let me first start off with a disclaimer. I very much still like Taylor Swift. I think she is very cute and very sweet, and I do still love a select few of her songs. And I know, I know, this is just a CD, it's not...something more meaningful than a CD?
But when I put her CD into the CD player in my car and started really listening to it, I heard something I wasn't expecting. I heard country bubblegum pop, sugary-sweet music that if you ate it, you would get a cavity immediately. I heard Taylor Swift complaining, longing after things that won't make her happy. In fact, one of her songs is titled "I'm Only Me When I'm With You," which I think is awful! Why can she not be herself when she isn't with this guy? That is very problematic, and not a good thing at all. Taylor Swift spends her whole CD lashing out at guys who broke up with her, and longing after guys who for whatever reason can't see that she is absolutely perfect for them and could make them so very happy and fulfilled!
Examples of lyrics from the CD, "Taylor Swift":
"So watch me strike a match on all my wasted time / as far as I'm concerned, you're just another picture to burn!"
"He says he's so in love, he's finally got it right / I wonder if he knows he's all I think about at night"
"Cause I'm not your princess, this ain't a fairytale, / I'm gonna find someone who might someday treat me well"
Her songs basically all sound the same, and I feel angry and discontent when I listen to them. Which is sad. I wanted to enjoy Taylor Swift's music. I like her voice a lot. But when I compare her CD to, say, Sharon Tedford's.......
Sharon Tedford's CD, "Speak," is one of the best CDs I've ever listened to. Her music is amazing. She wrote, co-wrote, and/or co-arranged every song on there. Her first track is called "There's a Pageant of Triumph and Glory," and it is a song of praise. It praises the triumph and victory of Christ over death, sin and Satan. She goes on to sing "Blessed Assurance," "Amazing Grace," "We Stand and Lift Up Our Hands," and "Great Is Thy Faithfulness," and she somehow makes every single word come straight from her heart. She didn't write the words to those songs, but she proclaims them with every fiber of her being.
And the songs she wrote..."Fix Your Eyes on Jesus," "Freedom," "Speak," "Where Are You, God?", and "What Right Have I?", speak of her incredible love for her Savior, and her realization that there is a world who is desperate to hear the gospel, and she and we must all take it to them. Her songs speak of everything but herself. They speak of humility, of Christ, of mercy, grace, love, suffering, missions, and the importance of putting Christ first.
Examples of lyrics from Sharon Tedford's CD, "Speak,":
"Your truth brings freedom from the shame of sin, freedom from the hurt within, / captivate us, Jesus, and bring us freedom!"
"Gladly with obedience, I will answer You with all I am, / Savior now with readiness, I'll respond by living in Your plan"
"Neighborhoods made up of worlds behind doors, / comparison cripples the young, / differences seem to be something to hide, / there is no warmth anymore. Where are You, God, of the heavens above? / Why do You hide from our pain? / With questions and weeping, I call on You now, / in anguish I beg to be heard. / Your presence is all that I need."
"How I love to hear You speak and feel the comfort of Your blessing, / spending time with God my Savior with His family in His house, / but today I'll choose to remember beyond these walls of worship and over, / there's a world of desperation starving, / dying to be free!"
Every single track of Sharon Tedford's CD has her own personal touch all over it. Every song is carefully crafted as an act of worship to her Savior.
Every track of Taylor Swift's CD sounds the same, speaks of discontent and disappointment, and has a mass-produced, Pottery Barn-esque feel to it.
Which one do you think is currently in my CD player?
Let me first start off with a disclaimer. I very much still like Taylor Swift. I think she is very cute and very sweet, and I do still love a select few of her songs. And I know, I know, this is just a CD, it's not...something more meaningful than a CD?
But when I put her CD into the CD player in my car and started really listening to it, I heard something I wasn't expecting. I heard country bubblegum pop, sugary-sweet music that if you ate it, you would get a cavity immediately. I heard Taylor Swift complaining, longing after things that won't make her happy. In fact, one of her songs is titled "I'm Only Me When I'm With You," which I think is awful! Why can she not be herself when she isn't with this guy? That is very problematic, and not a good thing at all. Taylor Swift spends her whole CD lashing out at guys who broke up with her, and longing after guys who for whatever reason can't see that she is absolutely perfect for them and could make them so very happy and fulfilled!
Examples of lyrics from the CD, "Taylor Swift":
"So watch me strike a match on all my wasted time / as far as I'm concerned, you're just another picture to burn!"
"He says he's so in love, he's finally got it right / I wonder if he knows he's all I think about at night"
"Cause I'm not your princess, this ain't a fairytale, / I'm gonna find someone who might someday treat me well"
Her songs basically all sound the same, and I feel angry and discontent when I listen to them. Which is sad. I wanted to enjoy Taylor Swift's music. I like her voice a lot. But when I compare her CD to, say, Sharon Tedford's.......
Sharon Tedford's CD, "Speak," is one of the best CDs I've ever listened to. Her music is amazing. She wrote, co-wrote, and/or co-arranged every song on there. Her first track is called "There's a Pageant of Triumph and Glory," and it is a song of praise. It praises the triumph and victory of Christ over death, sin and Satan. She goes on to sing "Blessed Assurance," "Amazing Grace," "We Stand and Lift Up Our Hands," and "Great Is Thy Faithfulness," and she somehow makes every single word come straight from her heart. She didn't write the words to those songs, but she proclaims them with every fiber of her being.
And the songs she wrote..."Fix Your Eyes on Jesus," "Freedom," "Speak," "Where Are You, God?", and "What Right Have I?", speak of her incredible love for her Savior, and her realization that there is a world who is desperate to hear the gospel, and she and we must all take it to them. Her songs speak of everything but herself. They speak of humility, of Christ, of mercy, grace, love, suffering, missions, and the importance of putting Christ first.
Examples of lyrics from Sharon Tedford's CD, "Speak,":
"Your truth brings freedom from the shame of sin, freedom from the hurt within, / captivate us, Jesus, and bring us freedom!"
"Gladly with obedience, I will answer You with all I am, / Savior now with readiness, I'll respond by living in Your plan"
"Neighborhoods made up of worlds behind doors, / comparison cripples the young, / differences seem to be something to hide, / there is no warmth anymore. Where are You, God, of the heavens above? / Why do You hide from our pain? / With questions and weeping, I call on You now, / in anguish I beg to be heard. / Your presence is all that I need."
"How I love to hear You speak and feel the comfort of Your blessing, / spending time with God my Savior with His family in His house, / but today I'll choose to remember beyond these walls of worship and over, / there's a world of desperation starving, / dying to be free!"
Every single track of Sharon Tedford's CD has her own personal touch all over it. Every song is carefully crafted as an act of worship to her Savior.
Every track of Taylor Swift's CD sounds the same, speaks of discontent and disappointment, and has a mass-produced, Pottery Barn-esque feel to it.
Which one do you think is currently in my CD player?
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