so far in 2010...

 

1.   Alabama won its 13th national championship, it’s 1st since 1992!
2. Mobile got its first big snowfall since 1996!
3. One of my best friends, Sarah, got engaged!!
4. I've made some great friendships!
5. I’m officially a junior! Which is a little bit scary…

I'm excited to see what the rest of 2010 brings!

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” - Matthew 6:34

 

We messed with Texas!! 37-21

1-School has finally started back. And I’m officially a junior!! Let me tell ya, taking dual-enrollment classes in high school really pays off. Anyway, I love my schedule for this semester-Mondays and Wednesdays, I have aerobics 12-1 and Christian Worldview 1-2:30. Mondays I also have movement education and rhythmical activities from 3-6 and on the first Wednesday of every month I have chapel from 11-12. Tuesdays and Thursdays I have microcomputer applications from 9:30 to 11, Foundations of Education 11-12:30, and Human Growth and Development 1-2:30. No classes on Fridays!! Mmmm…makes me happy.

2-Alabama won our 13th National Championship!!! I’m gonna be honest-I wish Colt McCoy hadn’t gotten hurt. I wish we could’ve played him because it would’ve been a little bit more challenging, and I was also looking forward to seeing a Heisman candidate and a Heisman winner play each other... BUT. To all you Auburn fans who are saying that we wouldn’t have won if McCoy had been in. First of all, he doesn’t make up the whole team. He’s one player. Texas’s offensive line didn’t help their backup QB one bit, so who’s to say they’d have done better with McCoy? And the drives he WAS in, we held them from getting a touchdown. Lou Holtz said, “Alabama would’ve won the game with or without Colt McCoy.” Second of all-you weren’t playing in it, so get over your jealousy. Third, McCoy leaving the game made it somewhat harder for us because our game plan was for McCoy, not Gilbert. All that aside, again, I do wish McCoy had been able to play, although Gilbert played great to be a true freshman in his first ever college football game. He has absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.

3-Why did school have to start so early? I missed all the snow!! :(

RTR!

What a great season for Alabama football!! 

*12-0 in the regular season
*won the SEC Championship, ending Florida's 22-game winning streak and making Tim Tebow cry
*Mark Ingram-sophomore running back-won the Heisman Trophy, making him the 3rd sophomore in a row to win it and the 1st EVER from the University of Alabama.

Next up-Pasadena, California for the National Championship!!  It's our first appearance in about 17 years.  We'll play Texas...hopefully Bama can pull out a victory!!

Here's some highlights of the SEC Championship game:

OK, so I know it’s been over a month since my last blog post. I was having major computer problems, I had to get a new laptop (which I’m also having problems with), &then I was on Fall Break. Anyways, yeah it’s been a while, but really, who reads my blog anyways? :P
The 1st big thing that’s happened since my last blog post was my college’s annual Scholarship Banquet. A man from my church helped our university president build the cross on our campus, & will also be helping build new gates & a guard tower for our entrance. Because of that, I guess, he received tickets for a whole table at the banquet (which, btw, were $175 a person). & he invited my parents & me. It was a lot of fun! I got to spend a night away from caf food, got to hear Andy Andrews & the pastor of Sherwood Baptist Church (Flywheel, Facing the Giants, Fireproof) speak, & they were both amazing! Plus, it was fun to get the chance to hang out with my parents & friends from church :)

The 2nd thing that happened…well, it’s a big deal to me, although it other people may not care about it at all. I love twitter! Ask any of my friends or family & they’ll tell you that I’m obsessed. It’s just a fun & convenient way to know what’s going on in friends’ lives & what your favorite bands are up to. Or at least, that’s what I use it for. I first got into it though Ben Kasica, lead guitarist for Skillet (@BenKasica) & now I’m hooked. Sometimes bands will have contests just for their twitter friends, sometimes you get free music, sometimes they actually tweet back to you! It’s just a lot of fun! Except when you find out that the lead singer from one of your favorite bands supports Obama & you’re a Republican…such as when @HawkDunn (Jason Dunn-lead singer of Hawk Nelson) tweeted

“congrats to pres. obama for his outstanding contribution to society! if i could have, i'd a voted for you too! much love!”  9:00 AM Oct 9th

 I couldn’t believe it! Honestly, I don’t understand how someone can call themselves a Christian then support a man who believes that if a baby survives an abortion attempt then the nurses can lock the baby up in a room & literally starve it to death. So I tweeted

“I may have just lost all respect for @HawkDunn...depending on if he's being serious or not...hmmm...” 9:03 AM Oct 9th

 I really wasn’t expecting anything to come from it but a few minutes later I got this @reply back from him...

"@lbusby58 if you can't respect your own leaders, then i'm sorry but i've never had respect for you (Romans 13:1,2)” 9:11 AM Oct 9th

 OK, honestly? First of all, I said I didn’t respect Jason Dunn, not Obama. Second, I @replied back & said

“@HawkDunn i tried to respect obama at first, but its hard to when his morals are completely unChristian. Prov. 28:2, 11:14, 29:14, 29:2" 9:25 AM Oct 9th

he then said: 

"i am shocked by the amount of disrespect americans have for their leaders:(" 10:20 AM Oct 9th

Seriously?!  This is what made me so mad!  Not ALL Americans disrespect him...way to stereotype people, Jason!  That's not something that the lead singer of a band, a band that tons of people love, should say! Especially in reply to their own FANS!  Grow up or go back to Canada.  Dang! 


So anyway, I’m not a fan of HN anymore. They probably don’t care. But I won’t be buying anything else of theirs. I’ve stopped following them on twitter, un”Become A Fan” on facebook, took them out of my favorite music on facebook, deleted their ringtones off my phone, & un-friended them on myspace. Drastic maybe, but hey, I said it was a big deal to me.

The 3rd thing-& my favorite-that’s happened since my last blog…YOUTHQUAKE!!! I went with my sister emily, roommate Anna, & two of her friends, & it was amazing to say the least! We paid for the VIP tickets so we got early entrance & got to meet skillet, who is one of my top 2 favorite bands (the other one is Family Force 5)!! After we got their autographs, me & Em went to stand as close to the stage as we could so we could get good pictures & all that. & it’s a good thing we went when we did, because as soon as we did, the gates opened for the regular-ticket-people & man, they ran fast! Pretty soon, we could barely move, there were so many people.
Recap: Outcry Band started out the night. They were OK. I didn’t know any of the songs & they had the bass way up or something because I couldn’t really understand them.
Then was The Letter Black. They were actually pretty good…considering I don’t like scream music. It consisted of all guys except the lead singer, who looked just like my friend Carrie…just take away the tattoos. This was when the mosh-pitting started…which I thought was kinda crazy since they had already said no crowd-surfing or sitting on people’s shoulders. But they allow mosh-pitting? Seriously? It didn’t make sense to me.
Then it was Decyfer Down’s turn. Now, I’ll be honest & say I don’t know all the lyrics, but they’re an amazing band! They put on a great show! Not to mention how often they talked about having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ!! It was AMAZING!
Then came Hawk Nelson. Normally, I would’ve been really excited. But after the twitter incident, I really just wanted them to hurry up & get off stage. I will say, though, that two of the highlights of the night for me were when Jason Dunn messed up the lyrics to 2 songs that they’ve been singing for years! It made me happy! ;)
Fee came out on stage after HN, & he brought a worship element to the show that was so amazing & wonderful & may not have been there otherwise. He is an incredible artist! If you haven’t checked out his music, you need to!!! Now!!
Next was Matt Pitt. All I’ll say about him is this: I would’ve rather had HN come back out than listen to Matt Pitt. I could’ve done without him.
Finally, it was 8:00 and time for SKILLET!!! & OH. My. Gosh! They put on such an amazing show!!! The pyro was insane! I mean, come on, they had spinning fireworks!! The new songs were awesome! John Cooper did the Monster voice! Me & Em ended up in the middle of a mosh-pit but this guy with long hair, snake-bites, & dressed in all black got in front of us & held the guys to make sure they didn’t hurt us. It was sweet! That’s why you can’t judge a book cover. Anyway, so yeah, it was an amazing show! One of the best I’ve ever gone to! & I’ve gone to my fair share of concerts…..

You can see my pictures from youthquake here :)
OK, I could say more but I'm tired of typing.
Later!
Lauren

video of the week!

I love the show House.  I don't get a chance to watch it that much, but when I do, it's pretty much hilarious!  So i ran across this clip, and I have no idea how old/recent it is, but it made me laugh!  :)

Enjoy!

song of the week

I first heard this song on GMC and I loved it!  Hope you do too :)

Chasing The Daylight - Phillip Larue

pic of the week-Gatlinburg

So…this is a little late, but I had an amazing summer! I got to spend time with family, turned 19, went to Noccalula Falls with my dad and sister, took a ride on the Boomerang Express at VBS ’09, was introduced to the cutest little restaurant called Olexa’s with THE most AMAZING cake EVER!! Seriously! It’s in Mountain Brook, AL; go check it out for yourself! :) Anyways, one of the highlights of my summer was our “family trip” to Gatlinburg. I put the little “ ” on “family trip” because it was only me, my mom, Michael, and Emily. My dad and Josh stayed home because my dad had to work and Josh had football practice.

Anyway, we had a lot of fun! It was just me and my mom for the first few days, because the triplets went with our youth group on a camping trip. My mom and I don’t really get to have times like that that often, so it was nice. Then, we went and picked up Michael and Emily from their trip, and that was an experience, omigosh! It was rainy, we had no idea where we were going, they didn’t have cell phone service where they were staying at the Ocoee River…me and my mom were freaking out! But, we finally got hold of them and met up with them and got Michael and Emily and went back to Gatlinburg. During the rest of the week, we went shopping on the strip, tried going to Cades Cove once (but my dad had told us to go a different way than we were used to so we ended up getting lost and going to North Carolina haha), succeeded in going another time to Cades Cove (this time we went early in the morning. We went around the loop twice, the 1st time it was really foggy and almost eerie, and we saw a lot of deer. The 2nd time, we saw a few deer and 2 bears-one was 1 ft from the road and up in a tree!!), went to Roaring Forks (a got only a few feet away from a mama bear and her 3 cubs), met Captain Jack Sparrow, witnessed an Elvis Pressley concert, went to Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies, went to Rainforest Adventure Zoo (and saw a TON of snakes as well as kangaroos, crazy-looking chickens, aussie goats, birds, and Zaboomafoo and King Julian-the ring-tailed lemurs) had some AMAZING food, and some good ol’ family bonding time.

Since today’s Tuesday, that means picture of the week…but I’m posting pictures from my trip to Gatlinburg. Enjoy!

Me, Captain Jack Sparrow, and Em

Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies

what made it so funny was that Michael had said only a few minutes earlier "It would be funny if we got to South Carolina" and then we end up in North Carolina haha!

This isn't zoomed in at all, although it is blurry.  This is how close we got to the mama bear!

This is the bear we saw in the tree...not even 15 ft from the road!

I just love this picture...it makes me happy!  :)

The reason they're called The Great 'Smoky" Mountains

I think this one looks kinda creepy...

I think the Smokies have some pretty gorgeous scenery!

Quote of the Week

We are what we repeatedly do; excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.

—Aristotle



I wish someone had told me this earlier on in life.........

Dueteronomy 8:18 - Bible Verse of the Week

“Remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth.”  Deuteronomy 8:18

Our country today doesn't believe this verse.  So many people have forgotten how God has worked in people's lives throughout the past. Although Job went through so many struggles and trials and hard times, he still trusted the Lord, and because of that, the Lord found favor with him.  Also, the Israelites, as they were escaping Egypt.  They remembered the things the Lord told them, did exactly as they were told, and escaped.  However, once they got to the Promised Land, they didn't remember God, but rather did things their own way and God did not let them into the Promised Land and they wandered in the desert for 40 years.

God has been a huge part in our country's heritage.  The pilgrims came over here for religious reasons, the different colonies were settled for various religious reasons, Bible verses can be found on most monuments, various Presidents have used Bible verses in speeches or have had Christian principles, etc etc. 

I have been thinking about Duet. 8:18, and am wondering-does the fact that our country is having economic issues have anything to do with how fast our country is pulling away from God?  I think it might.  I don't know for sure, only God knows for sure, but that's my opinion.

What do you think?

"Here, buildings fell. Here, a nation rose!"

“Teachers, please turn your TVs to channel 6 for some important news.”

We stopped working on our science as our teacher turned the TV on. Suddenly, we saw the most horrific image come up on the screen. There were two huge buildings on fire, people screaming, running away from the burning buildings, people jumping from the top stories down to their deaths, and we watched as one after the other, they began to crumble down to the ground.

The date was September 11, 2001 - eight years ago.

That will be a day that will stay with me for the rest of my life. Although I didn’t know anyone directly affected by the attacks, the mere fact that my country was being attacked and the images from that day will always resonate in my mind. Although I was only in the sixth grade, I remember that day so vividly. I remember I was wearing purple capris and a white shirt with purple embroidery and butterfly sleeves. I remember it took me a while to realize what was going on because I had my glasses off because we were reading our science packet. I was sitting at the table by the door at the back left seat. I remember looking up at the sky during PE, and realizing that everything that was we were hearing about was really happening because there were absolutely no planes flying. I remember my Social Studies teacher was freaking out because her son had just boarded a plane in NYC and she couldn’t get a hold of him, and she didn’t know if he was on one of the planes that had been hijacked. I remember going home after school and turning my TV on and calling my neighbor and both of us crying on the phone. I remember the American flag being flown anywhere and everywhere. I remember the pride we felt every time we heard someone say “God bless America!” or “I’m proud to be an American!” I remember some of the things President George W. Bush said as he addressed our country – “Here, buildings fell. Here, a nation rose.” “Today, our nation saw evil, the very worst of human nature, and we responded with the best of America.” I remember actually feeling like we were the UNITED States of America, not just the USA.

I remember. And I will NEVER forget.

Today, so many people have forgotten. They’re going about their day today as if it was any other day. Movies are opening, CDs are coming out, people are going to all these parties. It’s just a regular day. What will it take for our nation to become a strong nation once again? Another attack? A war on our own soil? Hundreds or thousands more dying due to our own apathy?

Another thought has come to my mind…what will it take for our country to remember our beginning? Deuteronomy 8:18 says “Remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth.” Our country has long forgotten God. We’ve become an atheistic, agnostic, Muslim, Hindu, Kabbalah, Scientologist, anything-but-Christian country. This country was founded on Christian principles! Faith was the reason the pilgrims left England for the New World. “In God We Trust” (Psalm 56:3-4) is on all of our currency. In fact, that motto was placed on our currency during the Civil war because of the growing Christian viewpoint. Salmon Chase, the Secretary of the Treasury during the time of the Civil War received many letters in which citizens advised that the US recognize the Deity on our currency. Chase responded to one of the letters with this:

Dear Sir: No nation can be strong except in the strength of God, or safe except in His defense. The trust of our people in God should be declared on our national coins.

The 84th Congress passed (and approved by Eisenhower July 30, 1956) a law stating “IN GOD WE TRUST” to be the national motto.

The fact that our country has moved so far away from Christ has always bothered me. Thankfully, I’ve grown up with a family that loves the Lord, and my dad got me hooked on politics at a somewhat young age. I’ve always been concerned that our country has forgotten that we are one nation under God, and in 8th grade, I wrote a poem about my concerns:

“One Nation Under God”

Once nation under God,

We recite this every day.

Our forefathers believed…

What has happened to us today?

Some people have stopped believing.

They want to end this phrase.

They took their plea to the Supreme Court,

Where they said, “America should not give God praise!”

But we ARE one nation under God.

Was, is, and always will be.

For if God had never existed,

There would be no you and no me.

If the American people would just turn back to Christ, we would be a much better country. Abortion rates would go down, the number of murders would go down, and our country would be put back in a position of greatness.

• “A nation without God's guidance is a nation without order. Happy are those who keep God's law!” Proverbs 29:18
•  “When there is moral rot within a nation, its government topples easily; but with honest, sensible leaders there is stability.” Proverbs 28:2
•  “Without wise leadership, a nation falls; with many counselors, there is safety.” Proverbs 11:14
•  “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chron. 7:14
• “Remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth.”  Deuteronomy 8:18 
•  “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He chose for His inheritance.” Psalm 33:12
• “When I am afraid, I will trust in You. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?” Psalm 56:3-4
• "The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior! He is the God who avenges me, who subdues nations under me, who saves me from my enemies. You exalted me above my foes; from violent men you rescued me. Therefore I will praise you among the nations, O LORD; I will sing praises to your name." Psalm 18:46-49
• "The LORD is my light and my salvation- whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life- of whom shall I be afraid?" Psalm 27:1
• “Leadership gains authority and respect when the voiceless poor are treated fairly.” Proverbs 29:14
• “Good leaders abhor wrongdoing of all kinds; sound leadership has a moral foundation.” Proverbs 16:12  

I will NOT forget the lives lost on September 11, 2001. I will NOT forget the images of the Twin Towers crumbling to the ground. I will NOT forget all that God has done for me and for my country. I will NOT be apathetic. I will NOT forget the men and women – the HEROES – fighting for freedom this very moment.

The new Skillet music video for their song “Hero” is an amazing video dedicated to the men and women who's life ended on Sept. 11, 2001. You can read the lyrics here.



Thank You God for all the heroes that gave their lives on Sept 11. We will NEVER forget!

wow...i've already missed several days...

So I went home this weekend for Labor Day, and it's kind of hard to get online, because we have one computer that 6 people share...yeah, I think you get the picture :)

Anyway, I've missed several days, so I'll make all that up now haha!

 

Sunday-Bible Verse of the Week!

“Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts.”

-Proverbs 4:23

I love this verse! I think it's SO true! The way we think really does affect our way of living and our actions.

 

Monday-Quote of the Week!

"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody."

-Bill Cosby

Amen!

 

Tuesday-Picture of the Week!

I'm taking physical science, and we've been studying about the planets and the universe and all that, and now some new pictures have come out from the Hubble Space Telescope, and they're amazing!  It just goes to show how big and amazing and awesome God is!  Thank you, Lord, for all You've created!! 

Wednesday-Song of the Week!

Evil Genius - eleventyseven



enjoy!!

1-0!

I guess this will make up for the lack of a blog of the week yesterday... :)

College football officially stated back today! #5 Bama played #7 VT and Bama pulled through!! I was a little nervous at first, but they ended the game amazingly well! I'm really tired right now, so I'll update more later...probably Monday or Tuesday. But, I will say this: Roy Upchurch is one amazing football player! So are many others on the Bama team, but Upchurch made me happy tonight. And I'm soo glad Mark Ingram isn't too terribly hurt and he'll be playing next week.

OK, i'm tired, more later!

'night

Video of the week - Alcoholic Monkeys!

Hey guys!  It's Thursday, so it's time for the Video of the Week!  I found this really funny video about Vervet Monkeys in the Caribbean that steal alcohol from people!  They even get a little bit tipsy haha!

Enjoy!!

Song of the Week!

Citipointe Live is one of my favorite bands right now. They're a worship band from Australia, and sound somewhat like Hillsong. Anyway, this song is called "One God" and it's one of my absolute favorite songs by them! Or maybe I should put it this way: it's one of my favorite songs ever! haha :)


Enjoy!!

One God - Citipointe.Live

new weekly schedule & the pic of the week!

So my friend Caleb does something like this, and I want to get more involved in blogging, so this schedule is my solution for that. Here’s my plan:

Sunday- Bible Verse of the week
I am a Christian, so every Sunday I’ll try to post some of my favorite Bible verses. Feel free to share your favorites with me!

Monday- Quote of the week
I’ll post some of my favorite quotes every Monday, whether they’re inspirational, poetic, or I just think they’re funny.

Tuesday- Picture of the week
Every Tuesday, I’ll post the picture(s) that I’ve found that I thought was creative or funny or I just like it and wanted to share it.

Wednesday- Song of the week
Music is a huge part of my life (although I am in no way musically talented) but on Wednesdays, I’ll post either the lyrics to a song that I’m in love with or has really touched me, or I’ll post a video of the song.

Thursday- Video of the week
I love finding out about funny videos on youtube, and I follow several people/bands on youtube, so on Thursday, I’ll be posting a video that I found that I really enjoyed, loved, laughed at, etc.

Friday- Blog of the week
My thoughts about whatever is on my mind :)

Saturday- Randomness!!
Whatever I feel like!!

Since today's Tuesday, that means the picture of the week! This past weekend, I went home for a free Christian day-long music festival in Verbena, AL called En Fuego-Spanish for "On Fire". It was a great day, with bands like EleventySeven, Thalon, Hello August, DecembeRadio, Superchick, and one of my favorites-FAMILY FORCE 5!

My camera's not the greatest, but here are a couple of pictures that I took at En Fuego...

this picture makes me happy :) i love fatty's and nadaddy's hair!

:)

so i just thought i'd share one of my favorite videos from one of my favorite bands...New Empire does New Empire TV, and this is episode 3, possibly one of the funniest videos I've seen. Enjoy!

Time Flies....

Wow, I can't believe it's been about 4 months since my last post....so much has happened since then!

1-My freshman year at the University of Mobile ended. But, man! It was a great year! I met some of my best friends last year. We had Goodwill Gala, Monster’s Ball, and Spring Formal. We spent the night on the beach, watched the sunrise, saw dolphins, a manta ray, and electric eels all within 24 hours. :) We got to really know some of our teachers, and even visited them at home. We got on each others’ nerves…A LOT! :) It was soo much fun.

2-New Empire didn’t make it to Cornerstone Fest. I was sad about that, but now I’ve learned that their planning a US tour, so I’m super excited about that!

3-I turned 19! :)

4-My mom, Michael, Emily, and I went to Gatlinburg the week before school started. Josh and my dad didn’t go because Josh had football practice…but, it was so much fun because we weren’t constantly on the go like we normally are. We slept late, got lost going a different way to Cades Cove (and ended up going to North Carolina), saw (and got reallllllly close to) a mama bear and 3 cubs at Roaring Fork, saw a bear in the distance and a bear in a tree at Cades Cove, went to Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies, Rainforest Adventure Zoo where they had an Australian animal exhibit, and ate some amazing food!

5-I’m now a college sophomore. It’s so weird to think about…only 3 more years and I’ll be out in the “real world”. Kinda scary, but exciting at the same time! I haven’t even been back a week, and already so much has happened. My roommate is awesome (we definitely planned rooming together haha), and our room is pretty darn sweet. We got rope lights, man!! Goodwill Gala was fun, because I got to see a lot of people that I hadn’t seen all summer, and get all dressed up to go to a dance where it didn’t matter how you looked because it’s a GOODWILL gala. Haha! I’ve also met a lot of cool freshmen. And there’s a lot of cute guys this year too! ;) My class schedule is great, too, this semester, because I have arts and crafts and bowling, and no classes on Tuesdays! Amazing!

Life is so good right now. God’s just amazing! I’m still praying about His plans for my life, but I’m being patient. Or trying to, anyway. I know He’ll reveal everything to me in His perfect timing!

OK well I gotta run because we’ve got Dinner On The Run in just a few minutes. Peace!

woooooo! so bored

So I'm just sitting in history, bored, so I thought I would write a new blog, since I haven't in a while.

One of the reasonsI haven't posted in a while is because of the whole "getting-people-to-vote-for-New-Empire-so-I-can-go-see-them" thing. Working on this street team has been a TON of fun! Megan is an awesome person to "work" with. I say "work" because neither one of us feel like it's actually work, it's just a lot of fun! I feel so excited when we move up just one spot.

By the way, we're now at #19! only 9 spots to go til they're in the top 10, and still a month left to get them in the top 10 and stay there! woohoo!

Like I said, I get excited!

And my mom said she's getting worried now because they might actually make it into the top 10 and me and some friends really want to go if they do make it! :)

There's really no point to this post, just trying to fill time.................................................

Never mind. I'm done now. :)

Say...would you come with me tonight, and I'll show you...love

Ok so a few posts ago, I mentioned that I love Aussie bands because they talk to me on myspace. Well, one of these bands - New Empire - has asked me and another girl to head up their US Street Team to try to get the word out about them trying to play at Cornerstone Fest over the summer. But, out of 100 bands, 6 will be chosen by the judges and only the top 10 bands (chosen by voters) will be chosen.

New Empire has never been to the US before. They've been to parts of Europe and Asia, but never North America. Our goal is to try and help them achieve their goal of coming to the US.

YOU should help us out!

We're trying as hard as we can to gt the word out about New Empire and Cornerstone Fest. What happens is this:

1. go to cornestonefestival.com and register
2. go to the New Band Showcase page
3. Click on the "Listen & Vote" button
4. scroll down to New Empire or click here : http://www.cornerstonefestival.com/newbandshowcase/NewEmpire/
5. VOTE!!!
6. Come back every day until May 25 to VOTE! (You get 1 vote per day, voting ends May 25)

PLEASE! New Empire is an amazing band with a dream of coming to the US! Please help them out! I know I sound like I'm begging......it's because I am lol!

http://www.myspace.com/newempiresound :)

If that's what it takes to praise You, then Jesus bring the rain!

I don’t care much for storms. I don’t like thunder, lightning, heavy rain, or the possibility of bigger storms like tornadoes. I just don’t. Never have. I guess you can say I’m a little kid when it comes to storms. I mean, I don’t go running to my mommy and daddy, but I still don’t like storms.

There have been storms several days out of the past couple of weeks down here in the south, and I haven’t been a very happy camper because of that. Which has got me thinking…why is it that we’re always in amazing moods on bright sunny days but bad moods when it’s rainy and miserable outside? It’s all in your attitude towards it.

I know when I wake up and it’s a yucky rainy day, I pretty much dismiss any ideas of the day going well. It’s dark, miserable, depressing…but when it’s sunny out, I’m content and happy. Like I said, it’s all in the attitude.

However, according to Psalm 118:24, “This is the day that the Lord has made! Let us rejoice and be glad in it!” Whether it’s rainy or sunny, warm or cold, tornado or clear, today is a gift of God, and we should be glad that He at least gave us another day rather than taking it all away from us. We shouldn’t complain about it because at least we’ve lived to see another day.

It’s days like this that I think of the words written by Mark Hall of Casting Crowns in the song “Praise You In This Storm”:

“…So I’ll praise You in this storm,
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am.
And every tear I’ve cried
You hold in Your hands.
You’ve never left my side.
And though my heart is torn,
I’ll praise You in this storm!”

I think Mark Hall is an amazing lyricist! His songs have so much truth and meaning in them. I think in “Praise You In This Storm”, the word “storm” has a double meaning. First, it can literally be a storm. We need to praise God not only on the beautiful sunshine-y days, but also during the rain, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc. It’s a hard thing to do, but if you do it then you’re attitude will be much better and you will be much happier!

I also think “storm” has a figurative meaning, as well. Everyone goes through “storms” in their lives. People go through break-ups, loss of friends or family, losing a job, your dreams/goals not working out, etc. The storms will come, that much is inevitable. It’s how you react to them that shows your true character and faith. If you let these storms consume your life, what will you have left? But, if you decide to praise God for these things, for the wisdom you get through experiencing them, for life in general, happiness will follow. As Christians, we are not promised that we will not experience storms, but we ARE promised that God will be walking right there with us, holding our hand, throughout the storms. Sometimes, we need to experience the bad storms so that we know how good we have it on the bright sunny days. Yet another song comes to mind – “Bring the Rain” written by Bart Millard for his band MercyMe. I’ll leave you with the chorus from it:

“…So I pray…
Bring me joy,
Bring me peace,
Bring the chance to be free,
Bring me anything that brings you glory.
And I know there’ll be days
When this life brings me pain
But if that’s what it takes to praise you

Jesus, bring the rain!”