I’ve been playing this song a lot lately.
Lifehouse - Easier To Be

You make it easier to be
Easier to be me
It’s hard to believe
You make it easy

I went to see Lifehouse in concert earlier this month, and really enjoyed the show. Before the concert, I never really got into Lifehouse much. I do like the song they have out now, “Whatever It Takes”. But, before that song, a few of their songs have been overplayed in my mind, and thus I kinda tuned them out.

But, I gotta say, after the concert I went out and purchased both their old and new album. The new album is really great, and substantially better than the first IMHO.

But Lifehouse is not really the point of this post. The other night at CharlotteOne Dave turned on the house lights and asked people in attendance to stand up and speak about what CharlotteOne has meant to them. I’m not a good public speaker, and I’m definitely not good at speaking on my feet, so I didn’t volunteer to speak. But, after thinking about it for a moment, I realize what this year has done for me.

About 9 months ago I was introduced to a group of Christian friends. Christian friends are ones that I never had much of in the past. I always seemed to have one foot in church life and one foot out. But, these past 9 months have been different. I now have more christian friends than I know what to do with. At first I found this so overwhelming. Being the new kid in the group, I was constantly getting questions about myself, my personal life, my friends, my struggles, and daily life issues. I didn’t know how to adjust to all of this genuine interest. But, over time I did, thankfully.

Looking back over the past years of my life and comparing them to the past few months, I must say that living a better christian life is an EASIER life than before. The support group, the community, the friendships, the mutual desires and aspirations, and the diversity among my new friends are all things that really make a life full. Never having this, you really are unaware of what you are missing. But, now having it, I can’t imagine living without it. It truly is an easier life. The stress is less. The frustrations are less. Your friends, your community, and your confidants are there to support you and most importanly are there to reinforce the great promises and blessing of our God. Thanks be to Him!

Lifehouse - Storm

how long have I
been in this storm
so overwhelmed by the ocean’s shapeless form
water’s getting harder to tread
with these waves crashing over my head

if I could just see you
everything will be alright
if I’d see you
the storminess will turn to light

and I will walk on water
and you will catch me if I fall
and I will get lost into your eyes
and everything will be alright
and everything will be alright

Who would have thought that my best and worst haircuts of my life are now far behind me? And tragically these are by far my favorite pictures of myself. Ha!

The Charlotte Observer has been running a reader response story based on Hemingway’s six-word story (For sale: Baby shoes. Never worn.). The Observer asked for readers to send in their story, limited to six words. Today, the paper posted some of the responses on their website.

I wondered if I would be able to limit mine to six words. So, I took 10 minutes and came up with a few. All are good contenders.

1. Clarity found, partially at age thirty-three.
2. Hope is for those without grace.
3. Grace erases guilt for fresh starts.
4. God’s love will be there always.
5. Loved, lost, will try again soon.
6. Tried it my way, didn’t work.
7. Finding peace with Christ, my blessing.
8. Love is a verb. Give selflessly.
9. To love unabashedly is the goal.

I like the first one a lot. There’s some good imagery in that one. The second one I stole from a TV show. The third is for a brother who asked me once, “what if there are no second chances?”. Four is a reminder to me, family and friends. Five sums up the last 10 years for me. Six is my current realization, and a difficult one to accept. Seven brings me comfort. Eight reminds me to stay humble. Nine remains a question, for now.

Editors Note: (whoa, this was deep. time to go out and have some fun now. TGI FRIDAY!!!)

I’ve written about Blue Merle before. It’s about time I gave you some samples…

Blue Merle - Places

And this bartender is selling a lie
That all of these travelers are buying
Cause everyone’s looking for something to find
But bars, they ain’t nothing but places you hide
They ain’t nothing but places to hide

Blue Merle - Part of Your History

I always knew that you do great things
I didn’t ever want to slow you down
I was there when you learned to use your wings
And I saw you leave the ground
The time spent in your sweet arms
Was the best time that I’ve known
Maybe the reason I was here at all was to see you carry on