hard things

           So I was thinking. Actually I've been doing that often. But God's showed me something. Doing what is right and staying away from temptation and evil is not about being better than other people, it's not about judging them; it's about be becoming closer to God. It's a sacrifice. It shows my love for God.

           I don't take part in certain things, not because I'm better than other people and I want them to feel lower than me. I'm just as low. It's because I love God and I want to live for Him and those things don't help me become closer to Him.

           And when people ask 'why,' it's okay to tell them that. Maybe they'll think me strange. But it's the truth, and I'm not ashamed of my God. So why not?

More guitar

 I haven't practiced guitar yet today. And it's almost tomorrow. Hm. I'll have to hurry.

           I looked at one of the videos of I Saw the Lord/You are Holy by Chris Tomlin. The rhythm I strum is a little different than what it's supposed to be. That was a little disappointing, but my best friend says that you kind of just make it up. I'd like to be at least close to what it's supposed to sound like. I like it though.

          But I've definitely been strumming too fast. It is a really slow song. A really, really sloooow song. I'd like to video it once I get it down. But I don't know if the video thing on the laptop works very well. :P And singing while playing is out of the question. Though I don't really sing anyways.

           I'd like to learn Lord I Lift Your Name on High. That is one of my favorite worship songs. We used to sing it often when I was in kids church, but we don't seem to sing it much anymore in worship service.

           Here's a video of Coffey Anderson playing it. He's awesome. I can't do all that fancy stuff he's doing; I don't even know what he's doing! But I'd like to be able to do it one day. It sounds amazing.

          Do you play an instrument? What is it and what are you presently learning?
         

Hi again

           I'm sorry it's been a while since I lasted posted. I had gone out of town for a while and had no access to internet.

           Now, I don't really know what to say. I've been trying to learn how to play "You are Holy (I Saw the Lord)" by Chris Tomlin. It's such a beautiful song. The music and the words. Especially the words. I read Isaiah 6, the chapter the song is based on. It's interesting to me that when God asked who would speak for Him, Isaiah volunteered. God specifically had people go and do things so many times in the Bible and often they were like "No thank You" at first. But Isaiah volunteered. He wanted to be used by God. And he was often rejected for it. But he did it for God, it didn't matter to him what others thought or said or did. As long as he was who God wanted him to be.

           And I guess that's it for now. I know, it's a short post, but I can't think of anything right now.

           Night.

Oh, sweet madness! and an Anthem Lights song

source

So my best friend has also decided to commit to learning to play the guitar. As of yesterday. Her brother has showed her a few chords, like, years and years ago. So she knows a few things. Today she came over and we played and practiced and were all over google and youtube learning things. All. Day. Long.

           It's been total madness!

           We did bake cookies though. So, small break, yes. Small break.

           One day. Two or three songs. Too many chords. Brain-over load! How does she remember all this stuff?!

          I'm glad though. Really, I am. It's nice to have someone to play with. It's motivating too. I learn something and then I show her. And then she learns something and she shows me. It's very, very motivating actually. I've been wanting someone to practice with.

          Now I have someone. In my best friend. Who can't put the guitar down for anything.

          Oh, I was going to take a picture of my guitar (his name is Antony Rogue, by the way, and, yes, Antony, not Anthony). But the camera has gone A.W.O.L. Very rude of it. It will return. . . some time.

           My brain is close to mush. Sleep is what it needs. And better nutrition than chocolate chip cookies. It needs to write also. When I don't write in my WIP, I've realized that's when I start making up odd stories, that aren't quiet legitimate stories.

           For instance, I texted my mom. While she was with her friends at dinner. I do believe I made a nuisance of myself. Hey, I had to amuse myself somehow. Word for word:

           me: Oh, wonderful an wise mommy, where might the megamind movie be (since you are the only one who knows where anything is in this house)?

           mom: I don't know

          me: I was hoping for a more specific answer. You can't even give us a map or anything?

          me: You are holding it for ransom. I'm sure of it.

          me: Well, let me tell you, oh, wonderful and wise mommy, we will not pay your ransom demands, no matter how petty they are, in the name of principle.

          me: Instead we will! We will- uh, simply, welll. . .Go without watching the movie.
                 Yeah, that's the best i've got.

          mom: It's possible in the van  (gives me loads to go on, doesn't she?)
   
          me: And you call that an ANSWER!!!!?
                No. No fulfilled ransom demands for you. We are quite content with our treasure planet, thank you.


          So if you think me rather odd, it's been like that all day. Unfortunately for my mother dearest.

          On the side though, I've been considering changing the background and layout of the blog. As well as the title. "little nothings" seems fairly popular. Along with my username. It's kind of popular too. :P So what do you think? Any ideas about the coming change?
For the fun of it, an Anthem Lights song. Because I like Anthem Lights and, well, it's been awhile since there's been one on here. And I will learn a B chord. And I will learn this song.

Can't Get Over You by Anthem Lights

         

                 

Holiness

The holiness of God always confused me. Because I never could understand the definition of 'holy.'

            You hear sermons about how we are supposed to live a holy life. To be holy is to be set apart from the world.

           So holy means set apart?

           So when we sing 'You are holy, Lord,' we're really saying, 'You are set apart, Lord"? Set apart from what? It didn't make sense to me. I figured I had it wrong. I used to pray about it often that God would reveal to me what His holiness was.

           At one point, God showed me that it was His love. It was His love that set Him apart from anyone else. No one can love like God. His love was His holiness.

           Lately that hasn't resonated it with me. It's still true that His love is His holiness. But there's more to it. Whenever I would sing that God is holy, I knew that I was still missing part of the picture. It's like when you read the Bible, God will point something out to you that relates to you in that time in your life. And then later in your life, you read the same passage in the Bible, but this time God shows you something different. What He showed you before was true, but what He shows you now is true also and what He shows you now relates to your life now. I think maybe, we just can't handle all the information at once. It's too overwhelming, too broad, too unfocused. So God shows us the one thing that will stick in that moment in our life.

          This morning I read the first chapter of Hebrews. It talked about how Jesus is higher than the angels. He is not angel; He is in authority over the angels and everything on the earth. I thought, "Okay, God. I've known this most of my life? How does it relate to me now?"

           Tonight in church we sang a 'holy' song again (there's only a million and one of them, you can youtube "You are Holy" and come up with twenty songs all with different lyrics.).

           And I got it. God told me. Or showed me. I'm so slow.

           God is holy. He is set apart from the angels, the animals, the humans. He is higher than them, in thought, in  deed, in knowledge, and so on. God isn't separated from us because of Jesus' blood and grace. But God is a Being who is set apart from us, in that He is not human, He's a spirit. He's set apart from the angels as in He is not angel, He is God. He is set apart from other gods, because He is the One God. There is no other. He is set apart from everything as in He is higher and in authority over everything. He is the one in control. He's supreme.

           To know that God is higher, and is the highest, that is very. . . comforting to me. To know that  He knows everything I'm ever going to go there. That I don't have to worry about that, I don't have to know right now; He has it under control. It's nice. To know I have a friend like that.
\
           I hope that makes sense. :P

           So now a song maybe? Or two. You are Holy (I Saw the Lord) by I'm not really sure. I don't know who originally wrote it, or who's singing it below, honestly. I tried to find one where Coffey Anderson sings it (because he's really good) but the computer is being goofy and will not load one. And on the spur of the moment, since I wrote the phrase I thought of the song add in: Friend Like That by Hawk Nelson.

          

F chord

    
           I got my guitar back yesterday! It feels so much better now that the action is lowered. The best part is that it sounds better too. And, AND-

           I played an F chord!

           I'm so excited! The lower action did make it much easier and I was able to get all the strings down without any of them buzzing. I might just get more attached to my guitar. I don't think I'll be wanting a new one soon.

           I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while. Our internet was down yesterday, or else you would have already read this. :) I was very excited. Not that it showed much on the outside (mostly because there's no one around who I could tell and they would care, but that's okay, I'll tell you).

           I should take a photo of my guitar to show to you. That would be neat. I'll work on that.

           What have you been up to? 

My guitar and the Anthem Lights Covers album

           I'm a little sad. I still have not been able to purchase Anthem Lights' new album, Covers. Our small town doesn't have it. I've considered purchasing it from their site. That might be better. I'll look into that in a second here.

           I would love to go to an Anthem Lights concert. That would be awesome. I never been. A friend of mine told me about them. So I youtubed Anthem Lights. And (obviously) I found them marvelous. Or I wouldn't be going on and on about them. :)  Anyhow. Maybe I'll end with one of their songs. I have a hard time choosing a favorite. It used to be Where the Light is. That is an awesome song. But Can't Get Over You is really good too. I like the acoustic version best. All their acoustic versions are amazing! I wish I could play guitar like that.

           Speaking of which. My guitar. My beaten-up, needs-a-case-but-I'm-considering-getting-a-new-guitar-instead, guitar. (I really don't know why I'm specifying which guitar, since I only have one?) It's string broke Friday. The bottom one. The other E. (Why is there two E strings? I still haven't figured that out.)

          So I went to get new strings and while I was at it I asked the guy at the music shop if they can lower the action on my guitar. (It's amazing our town even has a music shop.) He said, "Yeah, we do that all the time." So I'm going to take it to get the action lowered tomorrow. I'm so excited. I'm hoping that will help me with the F chord. I've been trying to play it for a month or so now and still haven't gotten it down. I was wondering if it was because my action was so high and if lower it would help. I don't know if it would help. And I don't really want my ability to play an F chord (or any chord) to rely on the height of the action, but perhaps when I get better, it won't matter at all.

 

         But I'm even more excited, because then I'll be able to practice again! The music shop guy said I should wait to put the strings on after they lower the action, because they normally put new strings on it anyways since they have to take the old ones off. Which is nice. Except for the part about being unable to play guitar all weekend. And I had planned to get a lot of practice in. *sighs* Oh, well. Only tomorrow stands in my way now.

           And don't misunderstand me. I just started learning to play guitar. So am I good? No. My fingers are still clumsy. And I have a hard time knowing if I have the rhythm of a song down or not. Or recognizing chords by ear. Can't do that either. But I will get there. One day. . .

           Okay, back to Anthem Lights. Actually, I think I'll give you the In the Light. It's a cover featuring Jamie Grace. It's beautiful though; I like it better than the original. And one day I hope I can play that song on my guitar. I'm not sure if they have it on album or not. But here it is In the Light covered by Anthem Lights and Jamie Grace.


                           

More Building 429

So the last two pictures! Building 429:
   

     
           This one isn't centered very well.

This one's a little better.
We saw Skillet too. I don't have any pictures, but they were really good, as always. Their guitarist and drummer each got a solo. I like it when they give them their solos. Especially the guitarist; he's really good.

And, I think that's about it for the Six Flags concert. I can't think of much else. It was fun though. I don't often have the chance to go to concerts so I had a lot of fun.

I'm still hoping to go to an Anthem Lights concert one day. Haven't been yet.

So one more Building 429 song? This was one of my favorites that Building 429 played that day.

           But I think this one was my favorite one was probably Bonfire. I'm sorry I couldn't find a good video to post.

 

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More for King & Country and some Building 429

  So those photos that didn't make in the post yesterday? Here they be:

       
           I actually got all of them in one photo! It was amazing. They really did move around a lot. Especially for such little room that they had. A lot of energy for thirty minutes. It was awesome. But maybe that's boring you. I kind of did say all that in yesterday's post too. Apologies.

          
   
           I'm not a particularly good photographer though. :P I always seemed to catch them with their mouths open. Although it was a concert. Maybe it's to be expected. Oh, well. I was rather proud of my pictures for a smallish time. They're the best ones I've ever taken of people. Objects are easier to photograph; they don't move.

          And for some Building 429:

That's the stage. Uh, as if you can't tell for yourself. :P The poster in the back was for Kutless. Just in case you wonder why it doesn't go with the rest of the stage.

I didn't get many pictures of Building 429. They did really amazingly though. I had never really heard much about them until I saw them in concert at. . . I think it was Winter Jam. Yes, because that was the first time I had for King & Country also. I really enjoyed them. And had meant to look up some of their songs. But I forgot. :P

Then I saw them again at Six Flags and liked them even more.

And now my computer is once again not allowing me to upload my photos. This is slightly frustrating.
Oh, well. I have two more for you. Not the best ones, just one of the best ones. Sort of. But that's okay.

I'll leave you with some of Building 429's songs.

for King & Country

           
            I know it's been long awaited. Or maybe not necessarily "awaited," just over-due. Does Blogger accept late work? Because I blame college for my absence and terrible internet for the delay in posting the pictures of fK&C.

           But no more of these. . . excuses. Pictures of for King & Country!


          

It was a good concert. I really enjoyed it.

I told my mom, "I like their piano; that's pretty cool."
Then Joel climbed on it often and jumped off it a couple times during the performance.
Afterward my mom and I looked at each other. "That's not a piano. It's a prop."

At times it did seem like they were trying too hard. But they only had, if I remember correctly, about thirty minutes. And I think they had to leave for another show afterwards, because they didn't stay for the whole show later. Very understandable.

I almost got them all in that picture. Almost. They moved around quite a bit for the small space that they had.

for King & Country
opened so, as I said before, they didn't have a lot of time. I was sad they had to shorten some of their songs because of the time frame. And they didn't sing 'Crave.' But that's okay. They didn't have time; not their fault. I was just so happy to see them in concert again, and I hope to do so again eventually. That was a lot of fun.
When they finished, my mom had told me they were by their booth talking to people. She said, "You can go talk to them if you want." And I kind of did want to. But I didn't know what to say. I'm not a talkative person, especially to people I don't know well. So I didn't. Which I kind of regretted. But again, it was great to hear them sing in concert. They did really good especially considering the little time and space they had.

I do have two more photos. The best two. I was saving them for last, but the computer is being a little difficult. So later, I'll show them too you. Along with the photos of Building 429.

For now, I shall leave you with for King & Country's song, 'Busted Heart.'