So, obviously I'm still on the YouTube kick. I love the song, "God gave me you." Most people know it because it is a fairly new release from Blake Shelton. But I loved it long before he recorded it.
I had heard it several times a while ago on the radio and just didn't know who sang it. I'm so glad that I decided to look it up. It is this guy, Dave Barnes. I'm sure many of you have heard of him before, but I'm a mommy of two little girls who insist on listening to their music when we are in the car. After I drop them off, I am only in the car by myself for a few more minutes before I get to the shop. So I never really have an opportunity to keep up with all the new music. But once I found him, I listened to some of his other music, and I didn't hear anything that I didn't love!
Here is his version of "God gave me you." I love the video. And, yes, I know that I'm "such a girl."
Swoon, right?
Then there's this one.
Think it can't get any better? What about his version of "My Girl," one of the greatest songs ever?!
Possibly the best cover ever.
With all of these sweet love songs, I can't help but think of mine and Mr. Wonderful's wedding song. We didn't really have a song when we were dating....we had more of a "thing" we did every time we heard a sappy love song or just a song we loved...we would sing to each other in the most theatrical voices and dance :) So, when it came time to narrow it down to just one song for the wedding, we had a LOT to go through. When we finally listened to this one, the lyrics just said it all. This song could have been written about us. Although I don't particularly care for the artist singing it in this video, the friend who sang it at our wedding has an amazing voice. I actually told his wife once that I were her, I would never let him stop singing to me!
Love, love, love that song. Can't do anything but picture Mr. Wonderful when I hear it.
Okay, so I completely admit that this song is totally dorky. But at the same time, it is so true! I came across it as I was searching YouTube for something else, and I just had to post it as a shout out to all the awesome mom's who take time out of their super busy schedule to read my blog :)
For this next song, be prepared to listen closely. His singing is silly and there are a few times he is hard to understand.
Okay, so that one was totally dorky, too. But, also, so true! I saw it, loved it, laughed out loud, I listened to it again, and decided to share it as a warning for all the husbands who read my blog :)
Okay, for this one you REALLY need to listen closely. And be prepared to read quickly as you listen!
This one I had heard before, but forgotten about. I am so excited that I found it again! Another awesome shout out to the mom readers!! If you don't know who Anita Renfroe is or have never heard her comedy before, you have got to find her! She is great!!
This next one doesn't have a video to go with it. Just a picture of three goofy guys with amazing voices. This song has amazing lyrics.
This is the song I was searching for that caused all the chaotic YouTube video posting. Did you notice that these are the same guys who sang the "Mom Song"? Yeah, super talented, aren't they! I've always loved this song. It is just so sweet. I feel as if this is a song just for me from my Heavenly Father. I just brings me to tears every time I hear it. It is an amazing reminder that God has a plan and a purpose for us all.
Of course, this song also makes me think of my sweet little girls. I love them so much and I only want the very best for them. I hear a great amount of disapproval from others about the way Mr. Wonderful and I choose to raise our girls. We feel that it is extremely important to shelter them from the world, and we do everything we can to do exactly that. The most common criticism we hear is that our girls will not be able to "fit in with the world." I understand where people are coming from when they say that. But what they don't understand is....that is exactly what I want! I realize that one day my girls will have no choice but to deal with the world and it's ways, and that will be for the rest of their lives. So why wouldn't I want to protect them from it now while they are still so young and innocent?
Another reason I have been searching for this song is the same reason that I haven't been blogging lately and have been so busy. Mr. Wonderful and I have been taking GPS classes for the past 6 weeks because we would like to become foster parents. I didn't want to mention it before because we have to be "selected and approved" to be able to do this. So if there were some chance that things wouldn't work out, then I just didn't want to have to answer a lot of questions about it. But I feel so strongly that this is exactly what God is calling us to do. He has given me a heart for children and I know that He intends for me to use it for this purpose. As I look back over the years, I can see all the ways He has been preparing Mr. Wonderful and me for this. Foster parenting is not something we are approaching lightly. We are very aware of how difficult it will be and how much it will change our lives. We have felt led in this direction for many years and have always kept the option of adoption open. We have spent much time in prayer and feel that now is the time.
The reason I wanted to hear this song again is that I think all of the children entering foster care need to have someone say this to them or make them feel this way. No matter what they have been through or how they act, they need to know that someone loves them and cares about them. They need to know that love is not just an emotion. They need to see that love is an act. They need to see love in action. They need to see love the way that God loves them. This song represents the message that I hope to bring to every single child who enters my home. This song represents the message that I hope to get across to their families. The message that God can take what is broken and He can make it whole and that He loved them enough to die for them. Please pray for us and for our girls as we get deeper into this journey.
I hope you enjoyed these videos as much as I did. Isn't laughter a wonderful thing? Oh, and if you didn't bother to actually watch the videos or listen to the songs, do yourself a favor and go back and check them out! They are so worth it :)
If you only knew what my house looked like right now, you would be doing any or all of the following:
screaming at me to get off the computer and clean,
cringing and being thankful that your house doesn't look like that,
calling the tv show "Hoarders" to let them know you found someone for their next episode,
or locking me up in a pink padded room.
"Why a pink padded room," you ask? Well, AvieLu's birthday party is this Saturday. Yup. I decided to paint, swap bedrooms, swap closets (including reorganizing & cleaning them out), build a dining room table, paint dining room chairs, and completely reorganize the toys one week before I have tons of people over for my sweet little girl's birthday party.
"What were you thinking," you ask? Well, I was thinking that I have tons of stuff to do and not much time to do it...so why not start now?! We still haven't completely finished our family room and dining room makeovers. But they really only need a few finishing touches. I know that it is crazy to start another project before we finish the others, but when it comes to organizing or remodeling, you just can't work on one room without messing up another. So, since everything was already a mess, and most of the finishing touches involve Mr. Wonderful having time to get to them, I decided to go ahead and move on.
When I said, "tons of stuff to do and not much time to do it" I was referring to my own timeline. We have a lot of things going on right now (I'll have to tell you about them later) and we are trying to get ready for those things. I told Mr. Wonderful last week that I felt like I was "nesting." And, even though we are not expeting and do not plan to be, I guess that I am nesting in some ways. In the way that I am preparing for something. Something that I feel will take up lots of time. Something that I am anxiously excited about. Something that I don't really know what to expect from. Something that makes me feel a strong need to have all things in order to prepare for.
I am hoping to finish up all of these crazy projects by tomorrow so that I can start working on birthday party stuff! I know I've left you wondering, but I'm short on time today. I will try to post again next week, with pics of everything and details about our journey as we attempt to follow God's plan for our lives. Until then, please keep us in your prayers.
