Camp Shamineau

There is this great place up in Motley, MN.  Camp Shamineau.  Granted, I may be biased since I have worked there for a few years now.. but I’m telling you, this place changes lives.  Not only have I experienced personal growth like I have never seen, but camp has given me the opportunity to touch the lives of others.

This is not me saying, you should head there right now (although you may want to..), but rather I just want to share a few moments that have forever changed my perspective that may begin to challenge yours.  As background, Camp Shamineau is a christian camp where campers K-8th grade come each summer for a week to have fun and experience God.  At said camp, I am referring to times when I was basically one of two counselors for a cabin of about 8 girls.

One of the most powerful moments at camp for me was when I was talking one-on-one with one of my campers.  At one point, I asked if she had any questions.  After a silence, she timidly asks me a question (of which I won’t share) and of course I answer it.  But then she very sincerely thanks me because as she then shared, she had been wanting to ask that question for many years, but was too afraid to ask anyone until then.  

Another camper, a different age, a different year, but still very sincere, thanked me at the end of the week for giving her the best week “ever”.  She shared that she had never before been able to gather the courage to go anywhere especially a camp, without any friends, for a week.  In fact she shared that she even had trouble leaving her house and was terrified to go to camp.  So she thanked me, for giving her one of the best weeks of her life.

And last, but definitely not least, I was able to help two campers accept Christ into their lives for the first time.  Through all of these things, I feel so blessed to have been given the opportunity to touch these children’s lives because ultimately, it is Christ who is touching their lives, and I just get the amazing chance to be used by Him.  

And yes, camp can be extremely tiring and difficult at times, but God is really working there.  And through these experiences, He has been working in my life too.  I hope and pray that I can just submit to His will for my life and let Him take control, because through Christ, anything is possible and He does amazing things if we relinquish the illusion of control and self, and just let Him work.

Until next time.

Laura

*You can check out Camp Shamineau @ http://shamineau.org/CampShamineau/Main.html

Group 1 Crew

Another great group - Group 1 Crew.  My previous favorite song of theirs, which is still really good, is “He Said”, but my new favorite, which is obviously really good, is “Dangerous”.  These songs are definitely more upbeat and “Dangerous” has more of a Lecrae/Trip Lee kind of feel - sort of.  I love that it sounds more like a hip hop/rap song-ish but that lyrics really have meaning that resonates.

So enjoy these songs and go check out some of their other music too!

Dangerous

He Said

Until next time.

Laura

MercyMe

I feel like everyone has heard of MercyMe.  I know I also first heard of them as soon as they came out with “I Can Only Imagine”, but they have continued to put out more and more new music too.  One of my favorite songs by them is a slower [kinda sad] one: “Homesick”.

Homesick - MercyMe

And in case you have not yet heard it → I Can Only Imagine - MercyMe

Until next time.

Laura

Matt Maher

Another new song: Matt Maher’s “Hold Us Together”.  So it may not be new, but I just heard it for the first time the other day, and I love it.  And as I listen to it again, It seems familiar.. so maybe I have heard it.. but either way, it is still a great song.  I love the feel of it; starts off a little more relaxed and gradually gets more upbeat and “foot tapping” :)

So check out the song below and I have also included another one of Maher’s more popular songs, “Lord, I Need You”.  Such a classic song, and the lyrics are a great reminder of how much we need the Lord.

Hold Us Together

Lord, I Need You

Until next time.

Laura

The Epiphanies of a Blonde

Just a quick shout-out to one of my best friends who also has a blog.  I’m pretty sure I have talked about it before, but it’s called “The Epiphanies of a Blonde” and it is really really good.  Here is what she says it’s all about:

“We've all heard the stereotypes and jokes targeted towards blondes. Well here's one who has decided to write a blog. Sometimes, I feel quite normal. Sometimes, I feel like I perfectly fit the stereotypical "dumb blonde". And yet other times, I have what's called an "epiphany". Here is a blog to record thoughts that fall into all three of these categories, at one time or another. They could concern my day-to-day life and/or thoughts about my family, friends, self, and Savior, Jesus Christ.”

So if you want to check it out, you can go to http://theepiphaniesofablonde.blogspot.com/p/about.html or just google The Epiphanies of a Blonde.  

Until next time.

Laura

The Almost

Throwing it back to a song I just heard the other day that I haven't for a long time is “Hand Grenade” by The Almost.  I love this song.. the chorus is soo catchy and is really a great praise that is sometimes so needed to just bring to God!

The songs I have included below are a bit more relaxed, but they still have a great beat to them!

Hand Grenade

Your Love Is Extravagant

Until next time.

Laura

Tenth Avenue North

Tenth Avenue North is such a great band.  I have been listening to their music for a while now, and while I take breaks from listening to their music specifically, I keep finding more and more songs of theirs that I really love.  On pandora today, their song “You Are” came on.  I was really liking it so I decided to check and see who it was by - them of course.

Some of their songs have also gotten me through some tough times too.  One song in particular has really spoken to me and many different points: “By Your Side”.  Whenever I am feeling completely overwhelmed and lost, I have blasted this song and just spoken to God.  Works every time :)

Here are a couple of my favorite songs of theirs, including the new one I heard today:

By Your Side

You Are

Worn

Until next time.

Laura

Newsboys

If any of you have seen the movie, God’s Not Dead, you may have noticed that the Newsboys were featured in it.  And while I do not want to go into if you liked the movie or not, I do love the Newsboys :)

I think this band has always just “been there” when I think about music.  When I think about a song I like, sometimes I am surprised that it is by them.  For instance, I forgot that the song “God’s Not Dead” was by them… until the movie of course.  Other songs of theirs that I sometimes forget about are “He Reigns”, “Born Again”, “Something Beautiful”, etc. I really like that their music is so upbeat and fun while still providing the really meaningful lyrics. It is sometimes hard to find that combination is newer artists today.

Here are a couple of the already mentioned songs of theirs if you want to check them out:

God’s Not Dead

He Reigns

Until next time.

Laura

RED

Over time I have realized that I listen to many different kinds of music.  I do not think people should be confined to only being able to really like one genre.  I listen to rock, country, alternative, acapella, pop, etc. as well as some more “extreme” music…

One such artist I listen to is a christian group called: RED.  I really enjoy one song of theirs in particular, Breathe Into Me.  This song is definitely a little more intense than the other music I have posted so far.. just as a warning.

RED - Breathe Into Me

Until next time.

Laura

Port Harbour

As I just returned from visiting my friend in Virginia, I was recommended a great band: Port Harbour.  After hearing just a small portion of one of their songs, I immediately downloaded their EP - Dawn.  As of right now I have been listening to it on repeat for the last hour or so.

I love the feel of their music! I think I can most closely relate it to a Rend Collective kind of a sound, but ultimately it is a Port Harbour kind of feel :).  I love that the music on Dawn has a fun, catchy feel, but the lyrics are also really powerful!

You can check out their music at https://noisetrade.com/portharbour or http://portharbour.bandcamp.com/ [NoiseTrade or BandCamp].  

Until next time.

Laura

P.S. Sorry that there are no videos, I had a hard time finding them on YouTube.  So be SURE to check them out using the links or by just looking them up, trust me, it is worth it.

2 Kings

Who says the Bible is boring?  Not me, that’s for sure.  There are so many places in the Bible that I have stumbled across that really surprise me.  One of my favorites is is 2 Kings.  Just from that, some of you may already know what I am referring to..

So lets start off with the verse because that is where all truth stems:

From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some boys came out of the town and jeered at him. “Get out of here, baldy!” they said. “Get out of here, baldy!”  He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys.

2 Kings 2:23-24 (NIV)

So, wow.  There are so many things to look at in this verse.  I think it is really cool first of all that we have the power of Christ with us and with God all things are possible, even bears mauling 42 children who are mocking you.  To me, I also think these verses are a weird but good example of how the Lord may answer our prayers in unexpected ways.  Although I obviously have no idea, I would like to assume that Elisha was not necessarily asking God to maul 42 children that were mocking him using two giant she-bears. [The “she-bear” part is how it is worded in different versions.]  But God was faithful and defended him in His own way.

I also think this verse should remind us of how powerful our God we worship is.  Sometimes I think we forget that our God is not only loving and forgiving, but also is very powerful and should be feared.  There are SOOO many verses that talk about fearing the Lord that I couldn’t decide on just one to share.. so here are just a couple:

- Proverbs 1:7, 19:23, 28:14

- Psalms 33:8-9, 18-19, 111:10, 147:11

- 1 Chron. 16:25-26

- Job 28:28

and there are so many more, but I think it is important to remember that since God is a just and powerful God who can send 2 bears to maul 42 children for calling Elisha “baldy”, how much more do we deserve be punished for our sins.  

To not end on a bad note, however, this is why it is so incredibly important to know that God loves us more than we can even fathom.  For while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  He gave His perfect life that we may be saved from death and separation from God which is the ultimate punishment.  So while we still need to be reverent of God’s great power, we can also remember that God wishes to to dwell within us and he has always and will always love us unconditionally.  

Until next time.

Laura

for KING & COUNTRY

I was listening to for KING & COUNTRY the other day, loving it of course, and I was bummed that I had already talked about them on my blog because they are SOO good.. until I looked at my blog and realized I haven’t..  I just cannot believe I have not talked about them yet!

These two Australian brothers have amazing voices and love for God.  You can see this through all of their songs and it really shows when they talk [concert]. During one of their songs, The Proof Of Your Love [which will be down below], they include a spoken bible verse which is incredibly powerful. Even without the context of the song, this verse really gives you something to think about:

If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love. 

[1 Corinthians 13:1-7, The Message]

I am having a hard time deciding which songs of theirs to put below, but you can always look up all the rest of their music too [which I strongly recommend].  Until you look up the rest of their music, here are a couple of my favorite songs of theirs:

The Proof Of Your Love

Busted Heart

Until next time.

Laura

4 Steps to Learning Guitar

This post is for anyone who has wanted to learn guitar, but hasn’t been able to get it done.  I would like to start off by saying, I am in no way an expert, but I have taught myself guitar and am pretty decent to good at it.  So here are 4 steps to learning guitar.

1. First off you need a guitar.  I feel like this should be fairly obvious, but go find a guitar.  Mooch a friends, siblings, random old guy off the street, or just break down and buy one. [Disclaimer: Let’s be clear.  I do not actually want you to go steal one.  So don’t.]

2. Learning to play is really frustrating when you cannot see improvement or do anything with you new fangled skills, so you need to find a song that you want to learn to play.  As a hint, it’s a really good idea to pick a really easy song with few chords and a simple strumming pattern.  [I would consider the basic/easy chords to be G, C, D, and Em]

3. Next you are going to need to look up the fingering [where your fingers go on the guitar] for the chords in the song you picked.  You can just google the chord or here is a link to some of the basic chords displayed: http://www.all-guitar-chords.com

4. Now all you need to do is keep trying to play the chords with the song until you get faster and faster at switching between them.  When you want to play new chords something else, go pick another song and any time there are new chords, go look them up!

Good Luck! And I wish you all the best with your guitar endeavors.

*If you are looking for songs, a GREAT website where I find most of my chords is http://www.ultimate-guitar.com

*If you are having trouble with strumming patterns or the basic concepts of how to play guitar, check YouTube.  There are many videos showing how to play songs, different strumming patterns, etc.

Until next time.

Laura

In The Light - Anthem Lights feat. Jamie Grace

I, of course, was listening to Pandora the other day and I came across this song: In The Light by Anthem Lights ft. Jamie Grace.  To be specific, I am referring to the acoustic version… I actually do not think that I have even heard the “non-acoustic” version. [I should go look that up]

This group is REALLY good.  Honestly I do not know a whole lot about them, but I will definitely be looking up more of their stuff after hearing this song!

In The Light - Anthem Lights feat. Jamie Grace (Acoustic)

Until next time.

Laura

Some Great Verses

Out of the 31,173 verses in the bible (depending on the version), there are many that have caught my eye and really speak to me.  Out of all of these verses, here are a couple that I can remember at this moment…

2 Timothy 1:7 → For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self discipline.

→ I love this verse because it always encourages me to be bold in my faith.  God did not intend for us to fall into the shadow, but just as we are to be the light for the world, we also were intended for power, love and self discipline.  I also think it is really cool to note that not only are we to have power, but we need to remember not to use that to just crush everyone down because we are also made for love and self discipline.

Philippians 4:13 → I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

→ Considering this is the title of my blog, I obviously love this verse.  This verse has gotten me through every “scary” situation life has thrown my way.  It is the verse I repeat (often out loud) anything I do not think I am strong enough to get through something.  Whether it be a somewhat trivial situation like heights to horrible events like the death of someone close, this verse has always gotten me through it.

→ Side-note on this verse: I recently read something that explained the more “true” way of looking at this verse.  This source explained how this verse in context is actually explaining how to be content in every situation [With Christ’s strength you can be content in every situation]. So now I have a more full understanding of this verse and like it even more :) (You can check out the article here: http://4simpsons.wordpress.com/2011/09/15/a-commonly-misinterpreted-verse-philippians-413/ )

Isaiah 40:31 → ...those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

→ I look to this verse whenever I am exhausted physically, mentally, or spiritually.  It always reminds me that those who look to the Lord for strength will find it.  He will renew our strength and we will soar.  While reading this I am continually reminded that the Lord will provide us with the strength and energy to continue on as long as we look to him for it.

There are so many more verses that I love and that really speak to me, but I need some for later, right?  If you have any more verses that speak to you, feel free to leave them in a comment below.  

Until next time.

Laura