May the Lord FInd Us Faithful

God has not given us the spirit of fear,
But has given us the strength to obey.
With power and sound mind, with love, the unfailing kind,
O be not ashamed of His way.

May the Lord find us faithful,
May His Word be our banner held high.
May the Lord find us faithful
Every day, thought we live, though we die.

No man that seeketh after things of this life,
Is a soldier who passes the test.
Be faithful, bw working, be running, be serving,
Be searching His Word for His best.

May the Lord find us faithful,
May His Word be our banner held high.
May the Lord find us faithful
Every day, thought we live, though we die.

Living or dying, may honor be Thine,
From this wretched life, You loved and forgave.
A life that is on fire, be only our heart's desire.
Be faithful from now till the grave.

May the Lord find us faithful,
May His Word be our banner held high.
May the Lord find us faithful
Every day, thought we live, though we die.

Sara Fellows' maiden name rhymed too well with "Lotta-Booty" to stay away from it. It was eventually shortened to Booty and added to Sara's list of nicknames.

The nickname was set in stone one night during one of those pass it along music games where one person starts a beat and then everyone moves around a circle adding something new. Before we knew it, we had spent a couple of hours singing and chanting "Booty was good" (besides the nickname, no idea where it came from) and now it's forever etched in all of our brains.

Sara is an awesome person. And her new husband Andrew is a really cool guy. Both of them have recently spent time overseas doing mission work and I wouldn't be surprised if they ended up living in some remote village in Africa. Sara will flutter in, flutter out, make you laugh, and always be late. I've seen Sara grow quite a bit in the last few years, and I'm excited to see what her and her new man will do in this world.

Cheers to a wonderful women and her hunky new husband.

(P.S. Kudos to anyone who can guess how many times the word "Booty" is used in this song without looking at the lyrics.)

Himbe Jou Wa - Sara's Song

[audio http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/5/11/1907570/Himbin%20Jou%20Wa.mp3]

Since I was young I've been very hard to please
And, I don't know wrong from right
But there is one thing I could never understand
Some of the sick things that a girl does to a man,
So, I'm just sittin' on a fence
You can say I got no sense
Trying to make up my mind
Really is too hard I find
So, I'm sittin' on a fence

All of my friends at school grew up and settled down
And they mortgaged up their lives
One things not said too much, but I think it's true
They just get married cause there's nothing else to do,

So, I'm just sittin' on a fence
You can say i got no sense
Trying to make up my mind
Really is too hard I find
So I'm sittin on a fence

The day can come when you get old
and sick and tired of life
You just never realize
Maybe the choice you made wasn't really right
But you go out and you don't come back at night,

So, I'm just sittin' on a fence
You can say I got no sense
Trying to make up my mind
Really is too hard I find
So I'm sittin on a fence

Click on over to this Facebook discussion to join the experiment! Thanks!

Today, while the older three kids were in class, I swiped the Zen and used it to sing you a quick song.  Toward the end, my dove even joined in.  Considering there was a (normally LOUD) three year old boy nearby, we got off pretty dang easy.

  I wrote this song while making my first steps out from the world of the Hidden Woman, about three years ago now.  The current blogosphere frothings and foamings of those who feel God is always against women in leadership reminded me of the tune, so I sat down this afternoon and hunted it out of a tall pile of notebook-papered scribblings with chords.  I explain more about the song on the recording, a recording which might, er, have the feel of a woman sitting down with a guitar and mulling without having first carefully planned out what she's going to say.   

Leaving patriarchy was very difficult.  Many of the lies are still imbedded in me, even three years after making that first tentative step out.  I am still often very fearful about doing something soley because of my gender.  The message of the church of my childhood, as well as our years in the trenches of a Vision-Forum-style mentality, left deep ruts in the pathways of my brain, causing me to fall into them habitually--things like, "I can't trust what I think, because, after all, I am more easily decieved."--- unless I grit my teeth and take a proactive approach to forging a different road.  Large doses of elbow grease and a brain that stays awake.  Faith.   

The easy way is the way we have been down before.  Even though I know the pain the easy path leads me to, it is still so hard to do the hard thing, to walk down the hard path.  To obey the voice of the Spirit instead of the unceasing voice that whispers, "You can't.  You can't." 

If anything, watching Sarah Palin last night, joyfully being who she was created to be, reminded me to stop bowing at the altar of human opinions (even, and sometimes especially, when they are made in God's name) and to start exalting the fear of God above the fear of man.  The song lyrics (and again please remember that this was written soley for my own personal purposes, highly unpolished and never meant to see the light of day) go like this:

The Woman Question

You have the wrong one, You who flung the stars. This time You're mistaken. "Two roads diverge," but one shouldn't be taken. This time, You've got it wrong.  I have a quiet place here.  I can ignore the nagging questions (the art of practicing oppression, driving wandering doubts away).

And if You make me leave this, who will I be?  Should I dare believe this, what becomes of me?  I know that You are good, I know that You are strong, but they say I have to be here.  They say it's what You want... 

So get the hammers and the nails, girls.  Gather skirts and roll up sleeves.  Fortify the wall now  We're preparing for a siege.  Don't believe the tale, girls, that He comes to set us free.  You know, it's safer in the background (and that's where you were made to be).  

Doug Phillips of Vision Forum recently posted negatively about Hillary Clinton (no surprise), including a quote she gave from Harriet Tubman.  I loved the quote so much, I swiped it for my email signature.  Thanks, Doug.  When we know who we are and what we are called to do, whether it's be a daddy, a mommy, a toilet-cleaning janitor in the local elementary school, a state governor, or what have you, we should do it as unto the Lord.  He is pleased with faith, not with those who shrink back.    

 “If you hear the dogs, keep going. If you see the torches in the woods, keep going. If there’s shouting after you, keep going. Don’t ever stop. Keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.”
--Harriet Tubman    

At the moment, I'm about to start writing a few tracks for an album that I'll be putting out. It will probably take a few months to figure everything out and decide which tracks I'm going to use and even write them for a start. Hopefully I'll learn how to use Audition to maybe produce a track but I'll also collaborate with a few other producers and hopefully singers and rappers :) I can't wait and this really is an exciting prospect for me!

So singers hit me up with your samples and I'll record a little sample for you to listen to :)

Peace,
J.