I'm entitled to 29 thousand favorite songs, right? Good. Because here's another one that I fell in love with as soon as I heard it. It's a hymn, for those who don't recognize it, and if you haven't, I recommend finding some way to listen to it. Like going here, for instance:

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/b/e/bestill.htm
Anway, here are the words:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change, He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake
To guide the future, as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know
His voice Who ruled them while He dwelt below.

Be still, my soul: when dearest friends depart,
And all is darkened in the vale of tears,
Then shalt thou better know His love, His heart,
Who comes to soothe thy sorrow and thy fears.
Be still, my soul: thy Jesus can repay
From His own fullness all He takes away.

Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord.
When disappointment, grief and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past
All safe and blessèd we shall meet at last.

Be still, my soul: begin the song of praise
On earth, be leaving, to Thy Lord on high;
Acknowledge Him in all thy words and ways,
So shall He view thee with a well pleased eye.
Be still, my soul: the Sun of life divine
Through passing clouds shall but more brightly shine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was going through a tough time recently, and one of our song leaders at church showed me this. It took a while before I could sing it without crying... the lyrics are so touching, and perfect for what I was going through. I encourage you, as you read this, to think about what it's telling us.

God is over all. He will take care of you, He will protect you, and one day, He will wipe away all your tears. Praise God!

Well, I was going to restrict myself to one post per day, but I'm really bored, so I'm writing more today. I thought I'd share my favorite quote (favorite as of now; it'll change in a month or two) with you, and see what you think.

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
What do you think about this? Please share your thoughts.

PS I'm experimenting with HTML tags, so forgive me if this looks really weird!

So, just wondering, who likes the 4th of July as much as I do? I used to not like it that much (I mean, hey, you don't get any presents - lol), but in the past couple years, it has worked its way up to my second favorite holiday! What can be more magical than sitting around on comfy blankets, looking up at the star-filled sky, surrounded by family and friends? Then, when it finally gets dark enough, these beatiful bursts of light seem to come from nowhere, illuminating the whole sky. You sit there ooh-ing and ahh-ing with everyone else around you, and it just creates this bond, even if you're in a huge park surrounded by a thousand people you've never seen and probably never will see again, you all have in common the fact that you're sitting here celebrating independence. 200 years ago, this great country defied authority, and fought for what they knew was right, and you're all sitting here in commemoration of those people. Even if you're not an American citizen, and you happen to be here to celebrate our Independence Day, it's so magical! Very few times do I get that feeling like I do on the 4th of July. So, even though it's 8 days later, I wasn't blogging 8 days ago, so I'll say it now: HAPPY 4TH!!!

Hi everyone!

So, this is my first pleonast post. I guess I'll start off with a little introduction..... I am singforjoy, aka Amanda. I live in Washington state, and go to the Church of Christ. I'm sure you'll learn more about me as time goes on.

I ran across this quote that I liked a few years ago, by Mary Pipher: "Your journal is the place where your point of view on the universe matters". I am an avid writer, so I think I'll treat this blog kind of like my journal. I'll be sharing stuff that I'm going through, stuff that I wonder about, stuff that I find funny, pretty much anything I think other people would benefit from.

To all you out there: I can't wait to meet you! Feel free to comment on anything you read, or just say hi. I think this is an awesome place to make friends, even if we never actually meet face to face.

I guess that's all for now, so I'll sit back and see if anyone comments. You'll hear from me again soon!

Amanda