Christmas Music!

Here's a list of 10 of favorite songs that will be on repeat this Christmas season! I love looking for new Christmas songs - songs that incorporate faith and the Christmas story in a unique way - but I also love twists on old classics!

1. Light of the World - Lauren Daigle
2. The Night Before Christmas - Brandon Heath
3. Come Now Our King - Chris August
4. Christmas Must Be Something More - Taylor Swift (I have to say - I was super surprised by this one!)
5. The First Noel - Lauren Daigle
6. Joy to the World - Jeremy Camp
7. Winter Snow - Audrey Assad & Chris Tomlin
8. O Holy Night - Scotty McCreery
9. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing - Carrie Underwood
10. God With Us - Jeremy Camp

** these are in no particular order, but the first one has been on serious repeat since I found it! I love that she's not super well known (she does a killer cover of Love Alone is Worth the Fight by Switchfoot) and that it's definitely a Christmas song, but it can be played all year just because it's such a phenomenal message! Needless to say, I am a Lauren Daigle fan and I can't wait for more stuff from her (she just got signed!)

Architecture

Instead of mentioning for the millionth time how in love I am with Jonathan Thulin's music, why don't you just listen to his latest song instead?

YouTube won't let me put it here - so click on this to go to the video!


My top Christmas songs for the season coming soon! As well as a post on being single. Hope your December starts off well!

Two Trends, One Outfit

Two Winter Trends
1. Winter Lace - - pair a summery lace dress or tunic with thick grey tights, boots, and a colourful cardigan to keep it in season.
2. Equestrian Boots - - these type of boots are popping up everywhere. Try them out with a pair of dark wash jeans and a bright winter sweater for a pulled together but cozy look.

One Winter Outfit
This season its all about juxtaposition (also known as pairing two things together than don't normally go). Like lace and winter, girly and tough, sparkles and tweed. Here's an example of a girly and tough outfit. A rockin' leather jacket can take you far, especially when paired with a cute skirt and a kicking pair of leopard flats.

But if not

I've had the huge privilege this year to walk along side an awesome team of talented, Christ-loving volleyball players. As with all highly competitive teams, their goal is to win the championship, but along side this goal they have a motto: "But if not."

We play to win, but if not we will still give God the glory.
We want to win, but if not life will go on and God will still be good.

Every time this quote is brought up, I am reminded of how powerful this outlook can be in my own life. I may have plans, but if they don't work out, God is still God and He still has a wonderful plan for my life. As David wrote: "In your heart you plan your life. But the Lord decides where your steps will take you" (Proverbs 16:9). 

So let us live with this outlook. That God is in control no matter what and His love is better than anything else. Let's live for His glory, not our own. 

City Harbor Loving

Have I recently mentioned how much I love City Harbor? No? Well let me tell you... I love them! The mix of their voices, their lyrics and their beautiful hearts for God.

Why am I mentioning this? Well, they're new EP came out today that's why! Check it out on iTunes!

What If?

This guy is so great.

A Mosaic

I've been reading Jeff Bethke's book Jesus > Religion and so far it has lived up to all the expectations that I had! He is a phenomenal writer and offers a lot of things to chew on. Here is one of my favorite quotes from the book (I have highlighted too many to count though!):

Oceans

As I mentioned in my last post, the song "Oceans" by Hillsong United has been on some serious replay here in my little world. Today as I belted it out I was reminded of how powerful and how scary the lyrics of the song actually are...

"Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior"

To be lead by God to where our trust is without borders is a HUGE prayer. It means letting down our guard and letting Him overtake our lives.

To be taken deeper than our feet will ever let us wander is a BOLD statement. It means that we have to give up our plans and let His be the only ones that matter.

Maybe you've never heard of this song or maybe, like me, you've sung it a million times... Either way, take some time to dive into the lyrics (for this song and of other praise songs). Take time to understand what you are singing because you may not realize how huge and bold a prayer those words actually are. And if you do, awesome! Sing them like you really mean them.

My challenge for myself this week is to not sing these words because they are a pretty melody, but I want to sing them because that is what I want God to actually do in my life.

Happy weekend!

I Am Mountain

Indie music is not always my thing, but Gungor is always just edgy enough to maybe be considered indie and they have so much depth in their musicality and lyrics that I love listening to them! Check out their new single:

Song: I Am Mountain

Artist: Gungor

**disclaimer: I had to listen to this a few times before I fell in love, and I have had it on repeat (along with Hillsong's "Oceans") ever since!

Powerful Stuff.

Lately I've been really convicted about my prayer life, or rather my lack of prayer life. I don't know what it is, but when life gets busy praying seems to be the first thing that slips my mind. The Bible tells us to pray about everything (Philippians 4:6) and it's our direct communication route to God, so to say it is important is definitely an understatement.

To keep myself from falling into a lack of regular prayer slump I've developed three tricks...

1. If you find yourself getting distracted or lost in the middle of your prayers pull out your journal and write it down. Sure it takes a bit more time, but it is an easy way to stay focused. It's also cool to look back at your prayers and see how they've been answered. And on that note...

2. Write down the prayers you see answered! I used to get really discouraged because I felt like I didn't see God answering my prayers. I started keeping an "answered prayer log" in the back of my journal and I was surprised by how quickly the page filled up. It could be things that you specifically prayed for (like health or doing well on an assignment) or just little praise things (like it being sunny or a text from a friend that you haven't talked to in a while). Doing this has really opened my eyes to the different ways that God responds to our requests!

3. Keep a prayer calendar. Ok, this sounds weird and slightly confusing but all it is is a list of people/things to pray about - one for every day of the month. Write down 31 people or things that you want to pray for/about and keep it someplace that you will be able to find it again, then start praying. On day one, pray for the person/thing on day one and so and so on. I love this because it helps give me a purpose to my prayers. Sometimes I feel like I just ramble on and on, or I have way to many people I could be praying about. Writing down a prayer list helps to focus my prayers and keeps me from getting overwhelmed.

I hope these tips help you out!