I Need Thee O I Need Thee

I need thee ev'ry hour,

Most gracious Lord.

No tender voice like thine

Can peace afford.

(Chorus)

I need thee, oh, I need thee;

Ev'ry hour I need thee!

Oh, bless me now, my Savior;

I come to thee!

I need thee ev'ry hour;

Stay thou nearby.

Temptations lose their pow'r

When thou art nigh.

I need thee ev'ry hour,

In joy or pain.

Come quickly and abide,

Or life is vain.

I need thee ev'ry hour,

Most holy One.

Oh, make me thine indeed,

Thou blessed Son!

Text: Annie S. Hawks, 1835-1918

Be Thou My Vision

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light. 

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

Words: Dallan Forgail (8th Century)

Stress Relief (Part 3)

See Part 1 and Part 2

After yesterday's pretty intense posts, I thought I'd take it down a couple thousand notches today :). Stress is such an interesting dynamic in our lives. Everyone experiences it and everyone handles stress relief in different ways. Today I want to talk about MUSIC!

I love music! (Does anyone not love music?) When I was a teenager, I used music to feel like I belonged and that other people could sympathize with my emotions--have I mentioned what a dramatic teenager I was? I'm terrified for J's teenage years because I know I will get everything I did to my parents back X 20! Now days, I feel like music is more of an escape from my everyday stresses. It lets me loosen up and let go of the world around me. I love to jam-out! I'll be so sad the day J doesn't want to dance with me in the car anymore!

Lately, I've been a music buying fiend! Getting new music is so exciting to me. I'm totally that person that will buy a song and then listen to it on repeat until I'm sick of it. Or I'll be a few new songs and listen to all of them on repeat until I get sick of them. Lately, I've been wanting songs I can workout to. You should know, I'm not like most people where they need crazy-fast, adrenaline pumping music when I work out. I like songs that I can either (a) dance to or (b) sing along to. Here are my new buys:

I have been loving Maroon 5, lately! I bought the songs, "Daylight" and "One More Night." 

I loved this movie! I want to download more from this album, but I need to pace myself so I don't download us out of house and home. I bought the song, "Pool Mashup: Just the Way You Are." 

Despite the awkwardness of the 'shower scene' in Pitch Perfect,  I loved the slow version of "Titanium" that she sang. Sadly, it wasn't on the soundtrack, so I bought this version instead. I'd never heard of this singer before, but she has a great voice!

I LOVE Ne-yo! This song is great for wanting your body to just dance and move!

Say what you will about T-Swift's dating life, she sucks me in with her ridiculously teeny-bopper style! I didn't love this album as much as I have some of her others from the past. I downloaded "I Knew You Were Trouble" and "State of Grace." 'Trouble' gets you moving and 'State of Grace' is just fun to sing and listen to.

There's been so much hype lately about Justin Timberlake's new album. Overall, I'm not the biggest fan. By that I mean, I will download individual songs, but I doubt I could just buy the whole album and listen to it on repeat. Don't get me wrong, I've been a JT fan since N*Sync, but this just wasn't doing it for me. So far I've only bought the song "Mirrors" and that is my new JAM!! For the disappointment I felt for the album as a whole, this song is so awesome! It makes me want to sing and dance. I'd be lying if I didn't tell you that this was on repeat at the gym for me today and kept me on the treadmill for about a half mile longer than I was planning on! 

Proof!

I love the way that music can make you feel so happy! For better or for worse, it really can dictate your mood if you let it.

What songs are you loving lately?

Do you listen to songs on repeat and run them into the ground like me? Or do you have more self-control? (ha!)

Thoughts on my new buys? Love 'em or hate 'em? (It's cool if you hate them, I'm secure enough to hear your honest opinion :))