She Laughed- Dana Parish

For a princess and her Daddy. 30 years ago today....I miss you Dad

Sweetie, let me tell you a story

A little fairytale just for you
About a princess and her daddy:

She was flyin' on her magic carpet
A little stardust in her hair
Till her daddy took the lead
And he said follow me up to the moon
I promise we will be there soon
And we can dance and play all through the night

And she laughed every time she cried
She could feel you lift her up
All your love she has inside
She laughed throughout her life
She could hear the words you said
As you tucked her into bed, goodnight.

Baby, you'll grow up in a heartbeat
The boys will stand in line
All waitin' just for you
And I know you'll be home past midnight
Just creepin' up the stairs
But I'll be waitin' there for you

One thing you should always know
Is I will always love you so
You will always be my little girl

And she laughed every time she cried
She could feel you lift her up

Take it from me, I'm a daddy's girl too
His whole world stops when I walk into the room
There's no greater love and there's no in between

Now she laughs every time she cries
She can feel you lift her up
All your love she has, she has inside
She laughed throughout her life
She could hear the words you said
As you tucked her into bed, goodnight

Goodnight my angel, goodnight my darlin'
Goodnight, goodnight my love, goodnight..

Songwriters: Hollander, Andrew / Parish, Dana

She Laughed lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

God, Thou Art Love

 

GOD THOU ART LOVE

If I forget,
Yet God remembers! If these hands of mine
Cease from their clinging, yet the hands divine
Hold me so firmly that I cannot fall;
And if sometimes I am too tired to call
For Him to help me, then He reads the prayer
Unspoken in my heart, and lifts my care.

I dare not fear, since certainly I know
That I am in God’s keeping, shielded so
From all that else would harm, and in the hour
Of stern temptation strengthened by His power;
I tread no path in life to Him unknown;
I lift no burden, bear no pain, alone:
My soul a calm, sure hiding-place has found:
The everlasting arms my life surround.

God, Thou art love! I build my faith on that.
I know Thee who has kept my path, and made
Light for me in the darkness, tempering sorrow
So that it reached me like a solemn joy;
It were too strange that I should doubt Thy love.
by Robert Browning

Grown and Flown

On the day we got new carpet installed, my mom messaged me and said, “Big day for you!”
This is because moms care about the things no one else cares about.
Not about things like brushing your teeth and whether you’ve had a vegetable lately, although moms do generally care about those things.
But about the minutiae of daily life. The little details that make up the big picture. The things that, if you told most anyone else about them, they’d think, “And this is supposed to interest me how?”—but that your mom follows like it’s a page turner and she’s hanging on every word.
It’s not that there’s anything wrong with everyone else; it’s just that people in our lives are on a need-to-know basis, and moms are the ones who NEED TO KNOW.
So, for instance, if you’re getting new carpet, that’s all anyone else wants to know about it, if they even want to know that much. But your mom wants to know what color and if there are any flecks in it and if you got new padding and does it have a pattern and how plush is it and when can she come see it? And the morning it’s supposed to be installed, you get an “it’s a big day for you!” text from her.
The mom interest factor isn’t nosiness or overstepping or being too clingy; it’s just that, from the moment we enter our moms’ lives, it’s their job to pay attention to every detail. Every kick, every cry, every bodily function, every bite of food, every development, every milestone, every need.
This is a switch that’s hard to turn off. So when they no longer need to know everything, the best moms still want to know a lot.


And what a gift this is. Those of us who are blessed to have moms like this still with us on earth already know one of the many things we’ll miss when they’re gone is having someone we can share the fine print of life with—the back stories and the follow-ups and the plot twists.
Given the chance, we vow to try to repay our moms for all their years of rapt attention the same way way we plan to try to repay most everything else they’ve done for us: by doing the same for their grandchildren.
So kids, down the road, when you get a great deal at T. J. Maxx or finally pick between “vanilla mist” white and “hand-churned cream” white for that wall you’re painting or, you know, get new carpet, just know this: we’d love to hear all about it.
Thank you Guilty Chocoholic Mama

MercyMe - Dear Younger Me (Official Lyric Video)

Dear younger me,
Where do I start
If I could tell you everything that I have learned so far
Then you could be
One step ahead
Of all the painful memories still running through my head
I wonder how much different things would be
Dear younger me, dear younger me

Dear younger me,
I cannot decide
Do I give some speech about how to get the most out of your life
Or do I go deep
And try to change
The choices that you’ll make cuz they’re choices that made me
Even though I love this crazy life
Sometimes I wish it was a smoother ride
Dear younger me, dear younger me

If I knew then what I know now
Condemnation would’ve had no power
My joy my pain would’ve never been my worth
If I knew then what I know now
Would’ve not been hard to figure out
What I would’ve changed if I had heard:


Dear younger me, It’s not your fault
You were never meant to carry this beyond the cross


Dear younger me,
You are holy
You are righteous
You are one of the redeemed
Set apart a brand new heart
You are free indeed

Every mountain every valley
Thru each heartache you will see
Every moment brings you closer
To who you were meant to be
Dear younger me, dear younger me.

Ryan Stevenson - Eye of the Storm

In the eye of the storm, You remain in control
And in the middle of the war, You guard my soul
You alone are the anchor, when my sails are torn
Your love surrounds me in the eye of the storm

She Is Clothed in Strength and Dignity

 "There is a distinct difference between those who live for God, and those who simply go to church, and call themselves "Christians." Living for God is a life of self sacrifice. He begins to live, move, and breathe in and through us. It's a life of doing His will above our own. Its a life of love, kindness, compassion, gentleness, integrity, and boldness. It's a life that bears FRUIT! It's not a self-seeking life that follows only its own selfish desires, even at the expense of others. It's a life that can be seen in our home, work, and relationships... both publicly and privately. It can be evidenced by the way we talk to people, the way we forgive people, the way we treat people, the way we handle their feelings and deal with their actions toward us. It's a life of humility, not pride. It's a life of forgiving others and ourselves. It is not a life of perfection, but it IS a life of accountability; to God, and to others. It's a 7 day a week life. Not a 1 day a week, when certain people are looking, kind of life. If we live for God, people will know it. They will see it, as they come to know us. If not, we need to ask ourselves if we might just be going to church, and going through the motions. Are we trying to change the Word, or are we allowing the Word to penetrate and change US? Because the closer we draw near to a loving and powerful God, the more He changes us. We don't remain stagnant. We don't remain hard. We soften, and we grow."

-"She Is Clothed in Strength and Dignity" blog post

Rainbow Tears

 "The soul would have no rainbow had the eyes no tears"
-John Vance Ceney

Climax Blues Band - I Love You

                         

When I was a younger girl
I hadn't a care
Fooling around
Hitting the town
Growing my hair

You came along
And stole my heart
When you entered my life
Ooh, babe
You got what it takes
So you made me your wife

Since then
I never looked back
It's almost like living a dream
And, ooh
I love you

You came along
From far away
And found me here
I was playing around
Feeling down
Hitting the beer
You picked me up
From off the floor
And gave me a smile
You said
You're much too young
Your life ain't begun
Let's walk for awhile

And as my head was spinning 'round
I gazed into your eyes
And thought, ooh
I want you

Thank you, babe
For being a friend
And shining your light in my life
'Cause, ooh
I need you

As my head was coming round
I gazed into your eyes
And thought, ooh
I want you

Thanks again for being my friend
And straightening out my life
'Cause, ooh
I need you

Ode: Of Imitation of Immorality - Splendor In The Grass

What though the radiance which was once so bright 

be now forever taken from my sight. 

Though nothing can bring back the hour of splendor in the grass, 

of glory in the flower, .we will grieve not.

Rather find strength in what remains behind.

what remains behind in the primal sympathy of having been 

must ever be in the soothing thought that spring out of human suffering.

Beneath the Sweater and the Skin

Silver


"How many years of beauty do I have left? she asks me.

How many more do you want?

Here. Here is 34. Here is 50.

When you are 80 years old and your beauty rises in ways
your cells cannot even imagine now,
and your wild bones grow luminous and ripe,
having carried the weight of a passionate life.

When your hair is aflame with winter
and you have decades of learning and leaving and loving
sewn into the corners of your eyes
and your children come home
to find their own history in your face.

When you know what it feels like to fail ferociously
and have gained the capacity
to rise and rise and rise again.

When you can make your tea
on a quiet and ridiculously lonely afternoon
and still have a song in your heart
Queen owl wings beating
beneath the cotton of your sweater.

Because your beauty began there
beneath the sweater and the skin,
remember?

This is when I will take you
into my arms and coo
YOU BRAVE AND GLORIOUS THING
you’ve come so far.

I see you.
Your beauty is breathtaking."

~ Jeannette Encinias

Bee Gees - Words

Ever have one of those days when you hear a song and your just stare off into space and smile?