To: All In Need of Spiritual Surgery

I'm writing before the storm breaks through (read: I've got four essays to write in three days, and one presentation/interview to start & complete in two days :\ Have I mentioned I love to procrastinate?? ;) So, if I'm online within the next couple of days, call me up, and tell me to get my butt into gear! In other words: I'm not allowed to blogify, as per my own guidelines [for success..nah...to graduate is all I care about hahaha].

This week has been an especially blessing-filled week (although, in reality, every week is a blessing-filled week if you look at it) in terms of music & opportunity & hearing some great stories about God's love and what He's doing in the Christian music field.

Tuesday: My wonderful, wonderful, amazing best friend got me birthday tickets to go see Hillsong United in Sunny-D! I loved the entire day! Went to school in the morning, then drove to La Jolla, went down to the beach (goooorgeous), then up to the Best's dorm to reacquaint myself with her life, visited with another friend going to Best's school (we all got some ice cream, courtesy of the Best), went to the Best's house (which I haven't been to in what seems like forever), and then drove over to the concert. It was great!!!! It was awesome to have these little moments, where the crowd would be singing louder than the band, and I'd look up & look around and see nearly a hundred some people praising with all their hearts! It was just great!! And then of course, comes time for some In & Out. Because, let's face it, what is a day without In & Out? Animal fries anyone? ;]

Friday: My dad works with a man who's fiance used to by Point of Grace's manager at Word Records. Point of Grace, for those who don't know, are like the Dixie Chicks of Christian music. There used to be four of the ladies in the group, but one left, and now there's three. In any case, no matter how many there are, their harmonies on each song and intricate melodies are so refreshing. You listen to their music and think "Now that's good singin!" That's real music! Their songs always remind me of my high school choir director - he was a master of harmonies. One song we performed, senior year, had such a complex pattern of contrasting thirds and then they'd slide into a perfect chord it was jaw-dropping! It was in 8 part harmony and it just made you putty in the director's hands. =] Well, that's exactly how Point of Grace is! In fact, here's one of their more complex acappella pieces which I adore, you can take a listen and you'll hear how in tune they are with each other in tone, vowel positioning, just everything!! =]
This song is called All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name

So my dad's coworker has been very good friends with some Word Records people such as (don't mean to name drop) Amy Grant & Vince Gill, Micheal W. Smith & Point of Grace. These are people that I loved ever since I grew up singing their songs! In fact, Best & I used to want to be Point of Grace, "after they died" is what we'd say! =] haha. And he's given us a few CD's autographed by his friends, which we're so grateful for! But recently, he got my family some tickets to go see Point of Grace this passed Friday near my valley. We also got the great honor of getting to go backstage during intermission & meet the ladies and take a few pictures (up on my book of the face, if you're interested in sneaking a peek!) They have this great new song called "Heal the Wound", which I'll post the lyrics to. And it's just about how no matter how great your sin, there's a God who loves you, who's grace is greater than you could imagine.

"'Come now, let us reason together', says the Lord. 'Though your sins are
like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.'"

Isaiah 1:18

The song says "Heal the wound, but leave the scar". After all of our sins, we're left wounded & in need of love & mercy, the kind of redemption that only Christ can give. But if we were given this grace by God, and we went on living in our sins, what good would that do? Christ's love is much more powerful than that, He's freed us from a life of sin, so that we are no longer slaves to sin, but are given new life through Him. By leaving scars of the things we've been through, we can remember how incredibly merciful He is. And it doesn't matter how deep, how scarlet our sins are, our scars are, our lives have been, He makes them white as snow. =]

I used to wish that I could rewrite
history

I used to dream that each mistake could be
erased

Then I could just pretend

I never knew the me back then

I used to pray that You would take this shame
away

Hide all the evidence of who I've been

But it's the memory of

The place You brought me from

That keeps me on my knees

And even though I'm free

Heal the wound but leave the scar

A reminder of how merciful You are

I am broken, torn apart

Take the pieces of this heart

And heal the wound but leave the
scar

I have not lived a life that boasts of
anything

I don't take pride in what I bring

But I'll build an altar with

The rubble that You've found me in

And every stone will sing

Of what You can redeem

Heal the wound but leave the scar

A reminder of how merciful You are

I am broken, torn apart

Take the pieces of this heart

And heal the wound but leave the
scar

Don't let me forget

Everything You've done for me

Don't let me forget

The beauty in the suffering

Heal the wound but leave the scar

A reminder of how merciful You are

I am broken, torn apart

Take the pieces of this heart

And heal the wound but leave the
scar

From: Me