Happiness...

As some of you may know, my girlfriend Julie recently lost her mother after a courageous 9-year battle with cancer. And even though I never got to meet Linda, I got a great appreciation for what kind of person she was just from talking to folks who knew her best and from hearing the stories they shared about her. They definitely spoke of a woman who was greatly loved and who shined the light of Jesus for all to see.

As you might imagine, this past week has been a time of reflection in my own life in many ways. For one thing, I have definitely come to appreciate my own parents more. I will no doubt find myself accepting more invitations to spend some quality time with them than I did before.

But Linda's amazing life and legacy as a Christ-follower also caused me to reflect on the way I reflect Christ in my own life. It was amazing to travel with Julie this last weekend and to really see what matters in life. It's not how popular you are, what you own, or the money you make. It's the fruit that is born from you through Christ. I was amazed at the number of people whose lives were touched by Linda just through her amazing example of her unshakable faith in Christ.

This weekend, I am planning on being baptized again. I was previously baptized when I was 13, but over the last year and a half I have come to understand what it truly means to be a Christ-follower in an entirely new way. I had made this decision a few months ago, long before Linda passed away. But following the events of this last week, this decision has a little more meaning to me now. So I have chosen to be baptized again to symbolize and declare for all to see that I am a follower of Christ and a Son of God. I am looking forward to it because it symbolizes the transformation in my life that God has brought to me through Christ Jesus. As The Word says, I am a new creation!

II Corinthians 5:17 -- "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." (ESV)

Recently, Julie bought me the new Fray CD. And I absolutely love it! But there is one song that has a lot of meaning to me (and I'm sure to her too). The last song on the CD is entitled "Happiness." And the lyrics are powerful given the events of the last few weeks and the way that God has totally transformed my life over the past year and a half. I think you will appreciate the thoughts on happiness outlined in the song. But to me, in a way, it reflects that true happiness is found through Christ. And that if you try to capture happiness on your own, you will fail. No one was a better example of that than Linda.

Live your life and leave it... Then one day you'll wake up and she'll be home.

____________________________________

"Happiness"

Happiness was just outside my window
I thought it'd crash blowing 80-miles an hour
But happiness is a little more like knocking
On your door, you just let it in

Happiness feels a lot like sorrow
Let it be, you can’t make it come or go
But you are gone, not for good but for now
And gone for now feels a lot like gone for good

Happiness is a firecracker sitting on my headboard
Happiness was never mine to hold
Careful child, light the fuse and get away
‘Cause happiness throws a shower of sparks

Happiness damn near destroys you
Breaks your faith to pieces on the floor
So you tell yourself that’s enough for now
But happiness has a violent roar

Happiness it's like the old man told me
Look for it and you’ll never find it all
But let it go, live your life and leave it
Then one day you'll wake up and she’ll be home
Home, home, home

Mario Paint Composer...

So I rediscovered this really cool game awhile back and I wanted to share some of the fun that I am having with everyone.

Some of you might remember a game from a few years back for Super Nintendo called "Mario Paint." I never owned it, but I vaguely remember when the game came out simply because it was so original. Part of the originality was that the user interface was a mouse instead of the controller pad. But even more original was the concept of the game. This game allowed you to compose your own songs by placing icons that produced different sounds onto sheet music. Basically, each icon sounds like a different type of instrument, such as piano, trumpet, guitar, bass, drums, etc.

The original game was somewhat limited since you could not even select flats or sharps. But recently, this game has resurfaced among die-hard fans for use on the PC. And there are some new features. Someone incorporated a new soundboard, adding four new instruments. And now you are able to use flats and sharps and even arrange song files into one large song.

So by now, I'm sure you are realizing that I jumped on this bandwagon!! I always thought it would be cool to compose my own music, so how could I resist? But while I am no Beethoven, I can read sheet music. So I've unearthed a few sweet songs and composed them "Mario Paint Composer" style. But one limitation remains... you can only have 5 icons on the sheet at one time for any given beat. So I had to be creative to get around that in a few places.

I'm sure that some of you will recognize this first song. It's one of my all-time favorite songs and was just a fun piece to compose. So here is my first ever Mario Paint composition.

I'm working on a few more songs, but they're not yet ready for public release. So check back for updates!

Enjoy!!