waiting here for You

It's 3 a.m. and for the third night in a row, I'm up. The past two nights I've woken up sometime during the 3 o'clock hour and been unable to go back to sleep. Tonight's a little different considering I haven't been to sleep yet. I have a song stuck in my head that we sang at church tonight and I just felt like sharing the lyrics.

If faith can move the mountains, let the mountains move.

We come with expectation, waiting here for You.

Waiting here for You.

You're the Lord of all creation, and still you know my heart.

The Author of Salvation, You've loved us from the start.

Waiting here for You.

With our hands lifted high in praise.

And it's You we adore.

Singing Alleluia.

You are everything You've promised.

Your faithfulness is true.

We're desperate for Your presence.

All we need is You.

Waiting here for You.

With our hands lifted high in praise.

And it's You we adore.

Singing Alleluia.

We will wait for You Lord

In step with You Lord

We will sing Alleluia

Singing Alleluia

Alleluia

Singing Alleluia

Alleluia

Waiting here for You.

With our hands lifted high in praise.

And it's You we adore

Singing Alleluia.

Singing Alleluia.

There's a lot of thoughts going on in my head. Mostly how it feels like I've been waiting and waiting and waiting, expectantly, believing God for whatever He has for me and yet I'm doing nothing. I really am desperate for His presence. 

When I was a senior in college I interned in Dallas with the company I'd eventually work for. The first two weeks of our internship consisted of training in an area outside of Chicago. Somehow I had wound up in first class on the flight to training and so we boarded the plane that day, sat down {I was RIDICULOUSLY excited to be sitting in first class, had never done that before, I thought I was some. thing.} and waited. We left the gate and sat out on the tarmac for 2 hours before it was decided we'd head back to the gate. I don't remember exactly why we didn't take off, I think it had something to do with it being January, heading to Chicago, and icy. Regardless, I thought that just might be the worst 2 hours of my life. And I got to enjoy a movie and meal! I can only imagine if I were sitting in coach. {I was a much less patient person back then.}

All that waiting. 

And we. got. no. where. 

That's kind of how this waiting feels. 

I know this time isn't wasted. This waiting isn't for naught. But with no really productive ways to spend my days, let's just say that one day feels more like three. 

I wonder when I'll get to the end of the hallway. 

And until I do, I pray for Him to give me purpose. 

And I wait. 

Knowing that I will eventually see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

**Click here to see Christy Nockels singing "Waiting Here for You" live @ Passion 2011.**

if you like unicorns...

Y'all, IT'S SEPTEMBER!!!!!

That means cooler temperatures and fall-y things and...EEEEEE, I'm excited!

SO...one of my dear sweet youth girls celebrated her 17th birthday yesterday and she absolutely LOVES unicorns. She has a unicorn pillow pet whose name I believe is Veruca LaDome {not sure on the spelling}.

Last year we saw Despicable Me to celebrate her birthday and I thought she was going to die of laughter after this scene.



Yes. So cute.

A picture of what her dream bedroom would look like?

I think that little stuffed unicorn may actually be what Veruca looks like. Maybe not. Hmmm...

So for her birthday this year, I wanted to give her a birthday greeting that she'd never forget. Something involving unicorns. I searched: unicorn, birthday song on YouTube and came up with this. 



YES! Seriously. How can you not like that? I laughed so hard. She loved it. My nephew, however, thought it was stupid. Boo.

I can't decide which of these vids is my favorite:

Your Haircut Is Growing On Me
Sorry You Failed Your Test
Sorry You Lost Your Phone
Thanks For Always Liking My Status Updates

I'm kind of thinking the status update one. Mostly because I have this sweet older lady I go to church with that "likes" almost every single status update of mine. Sometimes nobody has liked it and days go by and I'll get a notification that she just did. It really does make my day every now and then.

I'm not sure what that says about me. :-/

So, what's your favorite? Shall we put it to a vote? 

The real winner? Juicy Fruit. I mean, who comes up with this stuff?

It's almost the weekend!

AND IT'S SEPTEMBER!!

Woot. Woot. 

some things i didn't write

I shared some words back in November that I didn't write and what's funny is that two of the people on that list are on this list today.

1. I shared a few weeks ago how I couldn't get this song and these words out of my head. Ann's words and the video in this post. Just...yes. We are blessed so we can bless. We are loved by God so that we can be His love.

2. Angie's post over at (in)courage on not being Moses. I think this kind of goes along with this post from 2 months ago. It is still stuck in my head that there is no competition when it comes to God's Kingdom. We. I. so often pretend like there is. I used to really struggle {and still sometimes do} with being a missionary's sister. And if it wasn't that, it was being the "most hip" female youth worker. {We all know, that I never will be, but, I aspired...} ;) God made me. Me. Not Sarah. Not one of countless women I call my friends. Me. And if I can't be me and serve Him the way He made me? Then, that's pretty lame. I am a missionary. Whether it says that on my business card or not. Not that I think Sarah has business cards. But you know what I mean. It's just...convicting all over again. Go read it.

3. Annie's vlog about the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. It may seem all fun and games but the last minute or so...yowsa. "God tells way bigger stories than we do." and "What I would have written for myself is far inferior to what has been written for me."

Mind.

Blown.

I think this really struck me for two particular reasons.
{a} Obviously...there's the whole job thing. Do I really need to explain that one?

{b} Some friends of mine had a sweet baby last Thursday. Life doesn't always go the way we thought it would and I know Jordan and Marty weren't necessarily expecting Morgan to be born with all the difficulties that she has been born with. But to know that God knows way more than we do. And He always writes the best stories. This tiny girl is going to change some people's worlds. I'm pretty sure she already has. In ways that we can't even imagine. I immediately thought of this verse:

God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us. - Eph. 3:20, The Message

 We have a choice. To believe that God is telling that bigger story, or...not. What will we choose to believe? 

For updates on precious Morgan Noelle you can check out their blog, this Facebook page that was set up, or follow Jordan and Marty on Twitter. (or the hashtag #PrayForMorgan).

Go.

Read.

Or watch. :)

Take it to heart.

Happy Tuesday, y'all.

P.S. If you can pray for me some sleep? It's 5:04 a.m. and I've yet to be asleep. :( Booooooooo.

this will make your life better.

Here at TMROR, we are all about bringing you the latest and greatest music and other cultural selections.  And by we, I mean me. And by latest and greatest, I mean, your grandma has probably already heard of this band. Or TV show. Or...whatever. But, just pretend with me.

I love music. I was once asked if I had to be deaf or blind, which would I prefer. I said blind because while I can go without seeing just about anything, I don't think I could make it without hearing music. It just speaks to my soul. It's the same in every language. Except not, because it's different, but its abilities to move a person, that's what I mean.

Bad analogies aside, this past week I was watching some television and saw a preview for the 3rd season of NBC's The Sing-Off. To say I was a LITTLE MORE THAN EXCITED is an understatement. I was at Matt and Mo's and since they have a DVR, I rewound it and watched the preview TWICE. Two. Times. I just realized that previews go with movies. Commercials go with TVs. But I'm too lazy to go back and fix it.

If you haven't heard of it, it's basically like American Idol. But instead of one person, it's 12 or so different groups. And instead of instruments, there's no instruments. And instead of semi-bad singers. They're all really really good.  So, in all actuality, it's not like American Idol at all.

Still not convinced? Here are the 5 best things about The Sing-Off.

{1} There's not a single bad group in the bunch. These are the best of the best. You know those CDs that you really love, except two songs, so you skip them? Yeah. Not the case with TSO. It's all good, all the time.

{2} You get to see clever group names. Two words. Pitch Slapped. Highly inappropriate? Yes. But..really. I mean...the first time I saw that, I'm QUITE sure that I laughed so hard. And while I know these guys didn't come up with it, The Whiffenpoofs were on last season.  As in Gilmore Girls? As in Richard Gilmore was a WP and sings with them in that episode where they're at the Harvard/Yale game and Emily is having the maid make a Bloody Mary, and...I've seen Gilmore Girls too much.

{3} Judges that don't make you want to slit your throat. Ben Folds and that really tall guy from Boyz II Men. Shawn I think is his name. They actually know good music. And give constructive criticism. And I'm happy to announce that Nicole SureIsAnnoying Scherzinger  is not coming back this year. There's a new girl. Nicole kind of did make you want to slit your throat, but two out of three ain't bad.

{4} Groups in coordinating outfits. This is every singing nerd's dream. Or maybe just mine. Surely not just me?

{5} Did I mention every single thing you hear is somebody's VOICE?  That some people have that much talent to create an entire song not using anything man-made, blows. my. mind.

Still not convinced? Watch the opener from last season's show.



If you're not toe-tapping and wanting to dance after that??? I'll pray for you.

The new season starts September 19th! YEAH YUH!

P.S. Does anyone else think the first chick that sings from Eleventh Hour (the very first group in the video looks EERILY similar to Whitney Port?

P.P.S. I really don't want to think about how this show and DWTS is on the same night. Can I just live in a dreamland where all my TV viewing selections magically work out? Yes? Awesome.