God of this City  

Posted by Rachel in , ,

Went to an Indelible Grace worship concert last night and it put me in the mood for good worship music. So, I began listening to lots of things (seriously, I was all over the place... Josh Bales, Hillsong United, Passion stuff, etc), but one of the songs I got stuck on was God of this City, as sung by Chris Tomlin. Chris Tomlin wasn't the first person to sing that song though - an Irish group by the name of Bluetree wrote it and originally sang it. The story behind the song is what makes it good to me, so here are links to two different versions of the background of this song:
Link 1
Link 2
Pretty powerful stuff.

Concerts and shows  

Posted by Rachel in , ,

I have been enjoying excellent shows and concerts lately, and there's more in the near future.

  • Last Wednesday, saw the traveling Broadway production of Rent in Lakeland (for $20!)
  • Last night, saw Honey, Honey open for Matt Nathanson and Lifehouse at Hard Rock Live. Went for Matt, and haven't listened to Lifehouse consistently since hmm... high school? But, I was "pleasantly surprised" (to quote my dear Emily) at the show they put on. I was not so pleasantly surprised at the 15 year olds making out all over the place. Seriously, all ages shows have GOT to go.
  • This Saturday night is Between the Trees and Mae at HOB
  • Next Friday, WICKED(!!) at the Bob Carr
  • And then, at the end of May, I will be seeing Augustana
Think that's all that's on the agenda for now... I think I could go to a show at least once or twice a week and be happy. But, I'd also be very tired, as I am today.

Brooke Fraser  

Posted by Rachel in , , ,

I think one thing I will be able to most consistently blog about is music and how it speaks to my soul. I am sitting here at work, in a very quiet office (lots of people are out!), so I have my iPod on, trying to drown out the silence (sounds crazy, I know), so I can actually accomplish some work. And for the record, Google Earth is working for me right now, creating some videos, but it makes my computer slow and I can't do much else while it works.

If you have never listened to Brooke Fraser, you should. She has solo albums, but also sings with Hillsong United at times. Her song writing is phenomenal. She's real in what she writes about and you can sense the emotion in her lyrics. Besides all of that, she has a great voice. Here's a taste of some of her lyrics. This is from a song
off of her Albertine album entitled the C.S. Lewis song, so you already know it is going to be deep...and she does not disappoint.

"If I find in myself desires nothing in this world can satisfy,
I can only conclude that I was not made for here
If the flesh that I fight is at best only light and momentary,
then of course I'll feel nude when to where I'm destined I'm compared

Speak to me in the light of the dawn
Mercy comes with the morning
I will sigh and with all creation groan as I wait for hope to come for me

Am I lost or just found? On the straight or on the roundabout of the wrong way?
is this a soul that stirs in me, is it breaking free, wanting to come alive?
Cause my comfort would prefer for me to be numb
And avoid the impending birth of who I was born to become

For we, we are not long here
Our time is but a breath, so we better breathe it
And I, I was made to live, I was made to love, I was made to know you
Hope is coming for me
Hope, He's coming"

Welcome back  

Posted by Rachel

It's time to enter back into the world of blogging. Not that I have ever been a very regular blogger, but we'll see if maybe I've changed since my last attempt.