10 songs that i'll listen to for the rest of my life

I know, I know. ((I'm so sorry.))

School is mad. Work is mad. I'm exhausted and that's not a good excuse. 

THE GOOD NEWS is that I have blog posts planned out for the next three months, so I *hopefully* won't be getting this behind again. Yay! 

Today, I decided to post about my top 10 favorite songs of all time (that I will probably be listening to for the rest of my life). I love music almost as much as I love writing, so picking 10 songs was pretty hard, but I finally got it down to 10. Here they are:

10. all too well - taylor swift

   - I just really love this song. It's beautiful and heartbreaking and it basically will always remind me of a certain time in my life. I will listen to it to remember.

9. beside you - marinas trench

   - I don't know what it is about this song really, it's just gorgeous. I love it a lot. It's the kind of love I want with whoever I end up marrying.

8. dare to believe - colton dixon

   - This is my favorite song of Colton's. Hands down.

7. through the dark - one direction

   - Again, I just really want someone to love me as much as this song depicts. I love it. 

6. something beautiful - need to breathe

   - I just will always equate this song to my childhood and the time that I truly fell in love with Jesus. So, yeah.

5. don't let me go - harry styles

   - If you've heard this song, I'm sure you know what I  mean.

4. your love never fails - jesus culture

   - This is my favorite worship song. Ever.

3. something great - one direction

   - This is my favorite song that One Direction's ever released (so far). So what if I just want something great?

2. all of me - matt hammit

   - I want this song played at my wedding.

1. where i belong - building 429

   - I want this song played at my funeral. 

Alrighty, so there you have it. 10 songs that I'll be listening to for the rest of forever. What are your top ten songs? Let me know in the comments.

xoxo, shi

Dare to Believe | CRAVE

So, I'm not quite sure how I want to start this or where this is going to go, so I'm just going to write. It'll probably be very ramble-y and unclear, but that's okay. It's just how this goes sometimes.

The other day on facebook someone I'm friends with made a post. it said:

So these "Christian genocides" taking place are tragic, don't let me give you the wrong impression. BUT that being said its almost as if religion is still causing more problems than its worth. Just a thought.

I didn't say anything at first. I still haven't commented on it, but it has been bothering me a little bit since I first saw it. As you all know, I've been a Christian since birth. Born and raised to believe in the Lord. But The reason that I'm a Christian now isn't just because of my parents. Sure, I was raised with the the ideas of Christianity, but I've realized throughout my life how important a relationship with Christ is.

To be honest, if it wasn't for my faith in Jesus Christ I might not be sitting here writing this today. He has brought me through so much; times of doubt and self-destruction. He's my rock, my best friend, and the only one who will ever truly love me unconditionally.

Right after I read the post, I was listening to one of Colton Dixon's new songs called Dare to Believe. The chorus of the song says:

I will dare to believe You are the savior, living in me. And I know you always will be the God of the impossible, the God of every miracle. Before the world to see I will dare to believe. 

And this was what I wanted to comment on it. I'm going to dare to believe, because for me it's worth everything. He gave up his life so that I would be free from my sins. So that I could live and love fully. He's the God of everything, and I believe in it with my whole heart.

The thing is is that the world we live in is broken. Sin came in and took over; it's running ramp-id right now. There are bad things because of sin.

If You were just some carpenter from nowhere, an ordinary man with ordinary news, than we would not be here, still claiming You all these years. We believe the stories because their true. Some might call me crazy but I'm no fool. 

And I think that pretty much sums it up for me. It's more than stories, more than myths. It's truth. He's lived and died for me and he's still living. He will defeat the bad. The sin won't win. The terrible things that are going on in the world will not prevail. And because of that I have hope. Because I dare to believe.

I know that this wasn't the most thought out, orderly post, but it's been on my heart for a while so I needed to get it posted.

xoxo, Shi.

| In Oceans Deep

One thing that you all must know about me is that I love Jesus. So, therefore, I will post about him quite regularly. If you don't like posts about him then I suggest you just click the little 'x' right now. 

Today, I wanted to share this song with you all and kind of talk about what it means to me. It's called 'Oceans (Where My Feet May Wander)' and it's by a worship group called Hillsong. The line of the song that originally drew me in was the one that said "take me deeper than my feet could ever wander," but the more I listen to the song, the more I get from it. 

Tonight, I was really focusing on a line from the first verse of the song that says: "In oceans deep my faith will stand." And to be completely honest with you all: I'm still trying to figure out what it means to me. (That's probably what this post will turn into--me figuring it out). I know that we need to get out into the ocean; the unknown, if you will. That's where God uses us, that's where he teaches us. I know that once we're out there in the deep waters that's where we grow. We lose fear. We learn to love. 

I want to be out in the oceans. In the deep. I want to be taken to a place that is deeper than my feet could ever wander. I want to be some place where my faith can stand. Because, I'll be real with you all for a moment, I've been struggling lately. It's getting harder and harder for me to just make the time for the Lord that I need to. I know I need to change this, and believe me, I want to. I want to be so on fire that when I walk into a room everyone can see him through me. And maybe the deeper I get out into that ocean, the more my faith will stand. The more I'll be relying on the Lord instead of myself. 

I think that I'm just an eighteen year old girl who is trying to wrap her head around things. Like, I know that I believe in God. I know that with my whole heart, I just don't really understand the world yet. I want to love people with such an unconditional love, and show people how much Christ loves them, but it's so hard to do with judgement and temptation around everywhere. I need to work on myself. I need God to work on me. 

My prayer for tonight is that I will be taken out into the oceans deep. That I will be thrown in head first, so much so that I won't be able to rely on myself, and that I'll have to give it up to God. I want him to use me. I want my faith to stand strong, in the oceans deep. I need to be in that ocean. The ocean of God and his love and his mercy and his grace. I need Jesus. I need him to pull me close and teach me. Show me how to view the world. So my prayer is that I will be taken to oceans deep.