Cozumel, Here We Come!

It's Friday!!  And today, I'm headed to Cozumel, Mexico with these two lovely ladies:

Yep, it's going to be a fabulously fun-filled girls weekend!  Can't wait!!   

Hope you all have a great weekend! 

Giants

For the past couple of days, I’ve been singing this song by Donald Lawrence.

Hearing this song always reminds me of David and Goliath - the story in the Bible about the young shepherd boy, David, who killed the giant, Goliath, with just a sling and a stone.  My favorite part of the story is when David looks Goliath straight in the face and tells him: 

"You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.  This day the LORD will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head.  This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.  All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”  (1 Samuel 17:45-47)

Wow, such boldness that David had!  That's the kind of boldness and confidence that I want to walk in everyday - not a boldness or confidence in my own self or my own abilities, but a boldness and confidence in God, knowing that He fights all of my battles for me.     

I wanted to share this song and this story as an encouragement to you (and to myself).  No matter how big of a "giant" you may be facing in your life right now, God is BIGGER, and he will always cause you to triumph.  You win!!

I Will Win

When I was in the 6th grade, my school held a little raffle just for the students.  There were a ton of different prizes that you could win, but there was only one prize that I was interested in – the New Kids on the Block calendar.  I was a major New Kids on the Block fan at the time.  I had New Kids on the Block tapes, videos, posters, magazines, books, cards, t-shirts, night gowns, blankets, sheets, a sleeping bag, a comforter, and more.  The only thing I didn’t have was this calendar, so I wanted it badly.   

During the week of the raffle, I must have spent at least $5 on raffle tickets to win that calendar.  That was a lot of money for me at the time, but I wanted to get my name into the drawing as many times as I possibly could.  It seemed like every other girl in the school was putting their money towards that same prize, so I started to feel like my chances of winning were very slim.  That didn’t stop me from believing though.  Every night, I prayed that I would be the one to win the calendar.  

As I was praying one night, I came up with this song, I Will Win…

I will win

Because I know
I will win

I love Him so
I will win

‘Cause I believe in Him

On the day of the raffle drawing, everyone in the entire school was in the cafeteria waiting for the principal to draw names to see who won what prizes.  When it was time for the principal to announce the winner of the New Kids on the Block calendar, I was so nervous. 

“And the winner of the New Kids on the Block calendar is….Lori Logan”

I had actually won the calendar!  I couldn’t believe it.  It was a miracle!  God had answered my prayer.

I will always remember this song because of the triumphant story that goes along with it (winning that New Kids on the Block calendar was a huge deal for me at the time).  It was also the very first song that I ever wrote, which makes it even more special to me.  Also, through this song, I was able to find the courage to keep on singing even when I felt like giving up.  For so long, I have felt like my voice isn’t good enough or my songs aren’t good enough, but I believe that I will overcome those thoughts of doubt and fear.  I will win.      

By the way, this is the song that I recorded on my video camera a couple of weeks ago but wasn’t able to download it at first, but over the weekend, I was able to download the video from my camera, upload it to my computer and then post it here on my blog! 

Here is my song, I Will Win.  I really hope you like it!

Waiting for Tomorrow

I can’t live my whole life wasting
All the grace that I know you've given
'Cause you made me for so much more than
Sitting on the side lines

I don’t wanna look back and wonder
If good enough could’ve been better

Everyday’s a day that's borrowed
So, why am I waiting for tomorrow

These are the words to the song Waiting for Tomorrow by Mandisa.  Yep, I’m still listening to my new Mandisa cd, and every day I find a new song to call my favorite.  As I listened to this song in my car today, I was reminded of that song that I recorded on my video camera but wasn’t able to download onto my computer.  (Remember that?  If not, you can read about it here.)

Since writing that post, I haven’t made any effort to try and download that video from the camera.  The camera is still sitting on my bedroom dresser, and every time I pass by it I think to myself, “Oh, I’ll get to that tomorrow.”  I've been saying that same thing to myself for over a week now, and I still have done nothing. 
   
Earlier this week, a lady at my job passed away unexpectedly.  I didn’t really know her that well, but I would see her in the kitchen on a regular basis, so when I heard that she died, I was shocked.  She was very young, only 37 years old. 

It's in times like these when I really begin to realize that I can not take anything in life for granted because tomorrow is not promised to me. 

I already had a lot of stuff planned to do this weekend, but my #1 goal is to figure out how to get that video off of my camera and onto my blog.  I can't let another tomorrow just pass me by because I truly don't know how many more I will get. 

Lifeline

For my birthday, Jason gave me the What If We Were Real cd by Mandisa.  I had been wanting this cd ever since I wrote this post about her song, Stronger, so I was extremely excited when I saw that he got me this cd.  I started listening to it immediately and I'm already loving every single song on the album.  The song I feel most connected to right now is Lifeline.  I love it because it reminds me of all the times when I felt overwhelmed by all the stuff going on in my life, but God was always there to rescue me and give me the strength that I needed to go forward.  He truly is my lifeline.

Have a listen to the song and enjoy!

Birthday Fun!

Well, it's official - I'm 31 years old!  My birthday was yesterday (September 18th), and I had the most wonderful day hanging out at home with my family. We watched football, cooked hot dogs and french fries and ate delicious cupcakes from Crave.  It was a relaxing and peaceful day, which is exactly what I wanted. 

On Saturday, the day before my birthday, we headed out to Galveston Island to go to the beach. It was sunny but not too hot, so it was perfect.  

  

Later in the afternoon, it was really windy outside, which was perfect because we got to fly the kite that my uncle bought for William a few months ago.  It was so much fun seeing the smile on William's face as he was flying his kite.  These are the moments in life that I live for. 

Gifts That Keep On Giving

My birthday is coming up in just three days, and I’m really excited about it.  I have so much to celebrate and be thankful for this year.  I’m married to a fantastic man, I have the most wonderful son, I live in a beautiful apartment, I have a job that I enjoy, and I have a wonderful family and amazing friends. 

One thing I’m very thankful for on my birthday is…presents!  Yes, I always love a good present.  This year, I’ve already gotten some really lovely birthday gifts. 

First, my very good friend gave me this beautiful necklace from Dogeared Jewels and Gifts.  I love the message behind the necklace – it's the little things.  This necklace will always remind me to enjoy and embrace the simple things in life.  And, it will always remind me of what a great friend I have.  {Thanks Candice!}

Second, my dad got me an iPad 2!  Woohoo!  I love this gift not just because it’s an iPad, but because it will always serve as a reminder to me that God knows even the secret desires of my heart.  I had been wanting an iPad for the past few months, but we are trying to spend less and save more, so I didn't think I could get an iPad anytime soon.  Then, about a month ago my dad asked me what I wanted for my birthday.  Only one thing popped into my mind – the iPad.  I was worried that he would think an iPad was too extravagant of a gift, but all he said was, “Sure, you got it.”  And now I have my very own iPad 2! {Thanks Popi!}

Finally, for the past year or so I had been asking my husband if we could have a cleaning service to come over and clean our home once a month.  I am good about keeping our home tidy and making sure that everything is in its right place, but I do not enjoy cleaning the bathrooms.  In fact, the only time I would ever really clean the bathrooms is when we were having people over.  That’s terrible, I know, but there was just never any time!  So, for the past year, I would casually mention to my husband that we should hire someone to clean our home, but he never seemed very interested.  I knew we were trying to save money, so I let it go.  Then, last week, my husband had someone from Molly Maid come over and now we are going to be getting our home cleaned once a month.  I smile just thinking about it!  Now when I'm at home, I can focus on spending time with my family instead of thinking about that ring around our tub!  {Thanks Babe!}

Bad Luck or Bad Timing?

As you may know, I created this blog so that I could have a place to share my original songs.  I have yet to post any of my songs here, but I believe with all of my heart that this dream will become a reality one day soon. 

A couple of weeks ago, I was so excited because I planned to post a video of me singing the very first song that I ever wrote, I Will Win.  I got out the video camera, picked up my guitar and started singing and playing my song.  After singing my song a few times (and by a "few" I mean about 50 times), I finally had a take that I was really proud of and was excited to share it with you.
 
As soon as I was done recording, I took the memory card out of the video camera so that I could download the video onto my computer.  I downloaded about fifty videos from that memory card, but none of them were the video that I had just done.  I checked the video camera again, and it turned out that the video I needed was stored on the internal memory of the camera.  I almost panicked, but regained my composure when I saw a USB cable lying next to my computer.  I quickly plugged the USB cable into my camera hoping that I could download the video onto my computer that way.  Well, that didn’t work either.  The camera just kept saying “Download In Progress…” After about 20 minutes of staring at that message on the camera, I gave up.

I was bummed.  I thought for sure this would be the time where I would finally post a video of me singing one of my songs.  But, for whatever reason, I can’t seem to get that video off of my camera!  I’m starting to wonder why stuff like this keeps happening to me.  Is it bad luck, or is it just not the right time?

In truth, I don’t really believe in “luck,” so I can safely disregard that option.  I’m more inclined to believe that maybe this just isn’t the right timing for me.  Maybe there is a lesson that I need to learn first...I don't know.  No matter what though, I trust that this dream of me sharing my songs on my blog will come to pass one day.  I’m not giving up just yet.

By the way, if you happen to know how I can download a video from my camera’s internal memory onto my computer, please let me know.  I'm sure it's possible, I just don’t know how to do it!

We Remember...

I went to the Houston Texans football game today, and they did an amazing job of commemorating the 10th anniversary of 9/11.  Here are a few photos that I took. 

{Police officers and Fire fighters carry the American flag onto the field}

{Unfolding the American flag}

{The American flag, which is the size of the football field - truly spectacular!}

{Everyone in the stadium had an American flag.  We will always remember...}

Tools

Over the weekend, I spent a lot of time at home hanging out with my husband and son.  On Sunday, my son discovered that his bike was broken.  It’s not really broken; the buttons that you press for the blinking signals and the radio are not working anymore, so it just needs a new battery.  I tried to explain this to my son, but he insisted that it was broken and that he needed to fix it – with tools, of course.  (I love his perseverance!)  Here are a few photos of him "fixing" his bike.

 

 

Never Let You Go

Happy Friday, friends!  Today, I wanted to share a new music video from a beautiful and talented artist, Jemine Leigh (who also happens to be my best friend!).  Here she is singing her original song, Never Let You Go.  I love this video and I especially love the message of this song.  I'm never letting go of you, Jesus!!

Enjoy this song and your weekend!