Third day! Challenge this time was this: "Day 3: Write a song with a key change". I then proceeded to write that into the lyric as well, and ended up calling the song Keychange (think Seachange, but not). It didn't start off that great, but I ended up liking it at the end. I also believe it's my first song with an oh-oh bit! Haha. For bonus points, see if you can find the clever thing I tried to do - to moderate success - with the verse lyric. Lyrics below, video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qYVQIByTWM
Keychange
I: / I / IV / vi / V / x4
O-oh o-oh oh
O-oh o-oh oh
V1: / IV / ii / vi / V / x4
The clouds are grey
Scale it back a touch
Stone even, so much
They’re fading away
Time is coming round
About now, listen to
A friend, you
Are making no sound
C: / I / IV / vi / V / x4
If you don’t say a word
How am I supposed to hear
What you’re trying to tell me
O-oh o-oh oh
The air is left unstirred
Please come near
What are you trying to tell me
O-oh o-oh oh
I (fourth up)
V2:
I need a change of key
Ring a friend or twenty
One more should be plenty
Much too much for me
Time is coming round
About now, listen to
A friend, you
Are making no sound
C + I + C1 + C2 + I
Tuesday, 8 December 2015
Monday, 7 December 2015
Day 2 - Your Freak
Second day of the challenge! Hopefully the video will upload before midnight. They always take a while. My computer seems to record video in a way that YouTube doesn't like. Either that or I just have terrible upload speed. Quite possible. Anyway.
The challenge this time was this: "Day 2: Write a song in something besides common time". So I did 5/4, because why the heck not. Found out that it's both hard to play and hard to write in, but I've done it anyway! This one again on guitar - I'm probably going to be doing a lot of them on there, because other people are usually at home which means recording on the piano tricky. Lyrics below. Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AapCBAw7bg
Your Freak
V1: / ii / V / x4
Yes it's true
It's your due
Though I'm blue
This is you
V2:
This is real
Can't conceal
You reveal
How I feel
PC: / VI / I / VI / I //
I won't break or
Make my escape
C: [/ IV / V / x3 / ii I / ii I /] x2 / ii I / ii I /
I can't breathe
When you're with me
And yet I feel
So free
I can't speak
I feel weak
Guess I'm just
Your freak
V3:
Nevertheless
I'll give my best
I feel blessed
Not just a guess
C + I(V) + PC + C x2
The challenge this time was this: "Day 2: Write a song in something besides common time". So I did 5/4, because why the heck not. Found out that it's both hard to play and hard to write in, but I've done it anyway! This one again on guitar - I'm probably going to be doing a lot of them on there, because other people are usually at home which means recording on the piano tricky. Lyrics below. Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AapCBAw7bg
Your Freak
V1: / ii / V / x4
Yes it's true
It's your due
Though I'm blue
This is you
V2:
This is real
Can't conceal
You reveal
How I feel
PC: / VI / I / VI / I //
I won't break or
Make my escape
C: [/ IV / V / x3 / ii I / ii I /] x2 / ii I / ii I /
I can't breathe
When you're with me
And yet I feel
So free
I can't speak
I feel weak
Guess I'm just
Your freak
V3:
Nevertheless
I'll give my best
I feel blessed
Not just a guess
C + I(V) + PC + C x2
Sunday, 6 December 2015
Day 1 - I'll Be Here
Decided to start today. A good day to start! This is the song that I ended up writing. Fairly simple, but I like. This was the brief: "Day 1: Write a platonic love song" Find the video here: https://youtu.be/Rw_EbvtfyEU
I'll Be Here
V1: / I / V / vi / vi V / x4
When you feel like letting go
And the road is long and slow
Well I want to let you know
I'll be right beside you, so
V2:
So when the times are tough
And you know you've had enough
When it's hard and it's rough
You're running out of puff
C: / IV // V / V iii / x2 / IV // V //
I'll be here
Standing near
So don't fear
V3:
When time is running out
And you can't turn about
When you're plagued by fear and doubt
There's no need to shout
C
B: x2 / IV / vi / V / iii / x3 / IV / vi / V / V iii /
I'll be here with you
Believe it's true
I'll never leave your side
When you need me, I'll be around
C
I'll Be Here
V1: / I / V / vi / vi V / x4
When you feel like letting go
And the road is long and slow
Well I want to let you know
I'll be right beside you, so
V2:
So when the times are tough
And you know you've had enough
When it's hard and it's rough
You're running out of puff
C: / IV // V / V iii / x2 / IV // V //
I'll be here
Standing near
So don't fear
V3:
When time is running out
And you can't turn about
When you're plagued by fear and doubt
There's no need to shout
C
B: x2 / IV / vi / V / iii / x3 / IV / vi / V / V iii /
I'll be here with you
Believe it's true
I'll never leave your side
When you need me, I'll be around
C
30 Day Songwriting Challenge
I realised when I went to write this post that I didn't have 'Music' as a label yet. My goodness! This situation is now resolved. Anyway.
I haven't been writing a lot of songs for a while. And that's not necessarily a bad thing - it's meant that the ones that I have written have been of a higher quality, had more thought behind them, been more important to write. Or that's the idea, anyway.
But I've got a bit more time on my hands at the moment, and I wanted to get back into the swing of this creative stuff. So I'm setting myself a 30 day songwriting challenge. Someone smart would probably start this at the beginning of the month - but I only found it yesterday, and I can't start it at the beginning of next month, because I'll be away in India for part of it. So going to be starting in the middle instead!
I don't know if I'll be starting bang on today, but I'll be starting soon. I have 37 days, including today, and then on the 38th day I'm leaving for India. So that only gives me seven days leeway to play with - and bear in mind, we've got Christmas and New Years' in there. So I rather think I might need it.
Now, hopefully, each day I'll be not only writing the song, but also posting the lyrics up here and the video up on YouTube. However, going from my experience of the last songwriting challenge I did, I may be a bit slower on the latter. Hopefully I can improve on last time, though!
You can see what I'll be doing for the challenge below. I found this list here. Letting you folks know now that I'm expecting to have to take a break from this on Christmas Day, and either New Years' Eve or New Years' Day. And then I've got five other days as leeway if I need them. Hopefully I won't.
I haven't been writing a lot of songs for a while. And that's not necessarily a bad thing - it's meant that the ones that I have written have been of a higher quality, had more thought behind them, been more important to write. Or that's the idea, anyway.
But I've got a bit more time on my hands at the moment, and I wanted to get back into the swing of this creative stuff. So I'm setting myself a 30 day songwriting challenge. Someone smart would probably start this at the beginning of the month - but I only found it yesterday, and I can't start it at the beginning of next month, because I'll be away in India for part of it. So going to be starting in the middle instead!
I don't know if I'll be starting bang on today, but I'll be starting soon. I have 37 days, including today, and then on the 38th day I'm leaving for India. So that only gives me seven days leeway to play with - and bear in mind, we've got Christmas and New Years' in there. So I rather think I might need it.
Now, hopefully, each day I'll be not only writing the song, but also posting the lyrics up here and the video up on YouTube. However, going from my experience of the last songwriting challenge I did, I may be a bit slower on the latter. Hopefully I can improve on last time, though!
You can see what I'll be doing for the challenge below. I found this list here. Letting you folks know now that I'm expecting to have to take a break from this on Christmas Day, and either New Years' Eve or New Years' Day. And then I've got five other days as leeway if I need them. Hopefully I won't.
Day 1: Write a platonic love song
Day 2: Write a song in something besides common time
Day 3: Write a song with a key change
Day 4: Write a song about secrets
Day 5: Write a song that involves nicknames
Day 6: Write an a cappella song
Day 7: Write a duet
Day 8: Write a song with a happy melody and sad lyrics
Day 9: Write a song with a sad melody and happy lyrics
Day 10: Write a love song
Day 11: Write a song about an adventure
Day 12: Write a song about fighting fears
Day 13: Write a song longer than 5 minutes long
Day 14: Write a song shorter than 1 minute
Day 15: Write a song involving a foreign language
Day 16: Write a thank you song
Day 17: Write a resentful song
Day 18: Write a song using 2 chords
Day 19: Write a song with a pickup
Day 20: Write a song about a fictional idol
Day 21: Write a song about a "real" idol
Day 22: Write a song using a painfully obvious metaphor
Day 23: Write a song with partially alliterative lyrics
Day 24: Write a song about something viseral
Day 25: Write a thoughtful song
Day 26: Write a dance song
Day 27: Write a song about anxiety
Day 28: Write a song about a stupid royalty
Day 29: Write a story that plays out over 3 songs. Yeah it's 3 songs in one day, but it's one story. Call it a three-fer.
Day 30: Write a song about writers block. Wonderfully, you can't get writers block on this prompt
Friday, 13 November 2015
The 20/20 Vision Of Hindsight.
Well, it gets closer to 20/20 the further you go, at least. Because it's weird like that.
At the beginning of last year, I did this post. Go and read it, because without it this one isn't going to make much sense. Done? Good.
There was a couple of times later in that year that I had similar panic attacks, or whatever they were, but not as bad, and in different situations. One time it was in a young adults social skills group. The other when I was doing some research participation. At the time, I related each of them back to what was happening right there - each different fears that I struggled with.
But looking back, I think I can see an answer that's a bit more clear, and makes a bit more sense.
I'm the sort of person that naturally retreats from situations, when I feel unsafe. I remove myself, often physically, and go to where I do feel safe. Now, over time, I've expanded what that idea of 'safe' includes, and been able to be more comfortable in places where I previously would really not have been. But there are still things which feel unsafe, or uncomfortable for me.
In each of these three times when I had this panic attack, the commonality was this: I felt unsafe, and I couldn't retreat. I couldn't remove myself from the situation. In the one I talked about in that post, I was quite literally under fire (admittedly, from paintball guns, but still). In the second, I was in a closed room. There wasn't anywhere to go - I probably would have felt embarrassed if I just left. The third time, similarly, I was in an enclosed space. That time, thankfully, I was able to sidestep it and come up with a different solution. I might have posted about it at some point, can't remember.
But yeah. I've realised that this is something that I'm going to need to do some work on. Not exactly sure what that's going to look like - and it's probably going to be really really hard and not fun - but I know God's going to help me with it. Because he's awesome like that.
At the beginning of last year, I did this post. Go and read it, because without it this one isn't going to make much sense. Done? Good.
There was a couple of times later in that year that I had similar panic attacks, or whatever they were, but not as bad, and in different situations. One time it was in a young adults social skills group. The other when I was doing some research participation. At the time, I related each of them back to what was happening right there - each different fears that I struggled with.
But looking back, I think I can see an answer that's a bit more clear, and makes a bit more sense.
I'm the sort of person that naturally retreats from situations, when I feel unsafe. I remove myself, often physically, and go to where I do feel safe. Now, over time, I've expanded what that idea of 'safe' includes, and been able to be more comfortable in places where I previously would really not have been. But there are still things which feel unsafe, or uncomfortable for me.
In each of these three times when I had this panic attack, the commonality was this: I felt unsafe, and I couldn't retreat. I couldn't remove myself from the situation. In the one I talked about in that post, I was quite literally under fire (admittedly, from paintball guns, but still). In the second, I was in a closed room. There wasn't anywhere to go - I probably would have felt embarrassed if I just left. The third time, similarly, I was in an enclosed space. That time, thankfully, I was able to sidestep it and come up with a different solution. I might have posted about it at some point, can't remember.
But yeah. I've realised that this is something that I'm going to need to do some work on. Not exactly sure what that's going to look like - and it's probably going to be really really hard and not fun - but I know God's going to help me with it. Because he's awesome like that.
Friday, 6 November 2015
On Being Busy.
Well, it's been a while. Apparently I haven't posted for a couple of months or so. My goodness. In my defence, I've had a lot happening. Like, a lot a lot.
So, for starters, I'm working three jobs. Woo! Never particularly wanted that, but there you go. So I'm doing the warehouse job at Koorong, then found an extras role for a movie (yep, proper Hollywood movie and all) through Facebook (as you do), and I've been working on a website/online store for a company I worked for a couple of years back (which you can check out here, as we went live just this Tuesday!). So that's been taking up most, if not all, of my week for the past while.
As well as that, I've been involved in doing Sound for A Few Good Men (which was fantastic) at the Campbelltown Theatre Group, Shalom is getting ready to do a few concerts and also gearing up for our India tour at the beginning of next year (not too long now....a little bit scary, actually), I've got Life Group (like Bible study, but the idea is that you're doing life together as well, not just studying a book) on Thursday nights, then usually involved in church on Sundays. And that's not including this album that I'm still trying to make happen, or this book that I'm wanting to write! Crazy, crazy stuff.
So that has been taking up, as you can imagine, a lot of my time. Which means that the very rare time that I don't have one of these things happening - I basically just want to crash. Relax. Do nothing. Play games. Watch an episode of something online I've missed. YouTube. But then there's friends that I want to interact with; family I want to interact with; and responsibilities I have around the house (which I have been kinda terrible at, being busy and such).
But because I've been so busy, that means that these have fallen by the wayside. I'm not maintaining my relationships with my friends, or with my family. And those are things that I think are super-duper important. Particularly because I know that, especially with my family, time with them is just going to decrease - as I look towards moving out, and all that sort of thing (hopefully early next year!). And I also know that once you start to set a trend, it can get quite difficult to change once it gets going. So that's why I'm changing it now.
I've finished up with theatre for the moment; I've let the movie know that I'm doing my last day in a couple of weeks; and now that the site has launched, there's less of a rush to get things happening there. There's still a bit happening - but less. Less enough to give me some breathing room. And that's all I need, really. I like having things to do, and not sitting around and doing nothing. But if that is encroaching on my time, and effecting my relationships with my family and friends - then there's a problem. And that's not even going into how it effects my relationship with God.
So yeah. That's been my headspace - well, part of it - for the last little while. The other part has been very much about next year - but I might save that for the next post. Doing a workshop, a concert and two talks in the next forty hours. So need some sleep! Night folks.
So, for starters, I'm working three jobs. Woo! Never particularly wanted that, but there you go. So I'm doing the warehouse job at Koorong, then found an extras role for a movie (yep, proper Hollywood movie and all) through Facebook (as you do), and I've been working on a website/online store for a company I worked for a couple of years back (which you can check out here, as we went live just this Tuesday!). So that's been taking up most, if not all, of my week for the past while.
As well as that, I've been involved in doing Sound for A Few Good Men (which was fantastic) at the Campbelltown Theatre Group, Shalom is getting ready to do a few concerts and also gearing up for our India tour at the beginning of next year (not too long now....a little bit scary, actually), I've got Life Group (like Bible study, but the idea is that you're doing life together as well, not just studying a book) on Thursday nights, then usually involved in church on Sundays. And that's not including this album that I'm still trying to make happen, or this book that I'm wanting to write! Crazy, crazy stuff.
So that has been taking up, as you can imagine, a lot of my time. Which means that the very rare time that I don't have one of these things happening - I basically just want to crash. Relax. Do nothing. Play games. Watch an episode of something online I've missed. YouTube. But then there's friends that I want to interact with; family I want to interact with; and responsibilities I have around the house (which I have been kinda terrible at, being busy and such).
But because I've been so busy, that means that these have fallen by the wayside. I'm not maintaining my relationships with my friends, or with my family. And those are things that I think are super-duper important. Particularly because I know that, especially with my family, time with them is just going to decrease - as I look towards moving out, and all that sort of thing (hopefully early next year!). And I also know that once you start to set a trend, it can get quite difficult to change once it gets going. So that's why I'm changing it now.
I've finished up with theatre for the moment; I've let the movie know that I'm doing my last day in a couple of weeks; and now that the site has launched, there's less of a rush to get things happening there. There's still a bit happening - but less. Less enough to give me some breathing room. And that's all I need, really. I like having things to do, and not sitting around and doing nothing. But if that is encroaching on my time, and effecting my relationships with my family and friends - then there's a problem. And that's not even going into how it effects my relationship with God.
So yeah. That's been my headspace - well, part of it - for the last little while. The other part has been very much about next year - but I might save that for the next post. Doing a workshop, a concert and two talks in the next forty hours. So need some sleep! Night folks.
Monday, 31 August 2015
A radical thought.
This is going to be a bit left of field and far-fetched. But bear with me.
People, generally speaking (you get some exceptions in pockets here and there) want a peaceful world. They often think that it's an ideal that will never happen, but that's what they want, and dream about, and strive for. And you frequently hear of the idea of armies and soldiers being to fight for peace - to put themselves out of a job, if you will.
But armies, soldiers, guns, bombs, nukes - these only have a place if there are others of them in the world. They were created to combat an opposing force, an opposing weapon or strategy.
So, here's a radical idea.
Why don't we just get rid of the lot? No more guns. No more nukes. No more bombs. No more bullets. No more places to make guns, or nukes, or bombs, or bullets. Or tanks. Or fighter airplanes and subs. (That one might be a bit harder, considering we've got regular planes and subs that aren't that much different.) No more stealth jets.
At the moment, that probably sounds ridiculously ludicrous. And understandably so. How on earth would you go about it? How would you get everybody to comply? I don't rightly know, to be honest. To be sure, you'd get some people that wouldn't be too happy about it - and not just terrorists and the like, but also people that are just generally quite attached to their guns (not looking at you at all, America....). And people will say, "but if we have no guns, and they have guns....then we're sitting ducks!" Then make armour, silly-billies. Work at defensive measures, rather than offensive measures.
Yes, it's probably just another blue sky dream from this head in the clouds. But it seems to be something that people don't ever really think of. Or just dismiss too quickly. *shrugs*
People, generally speaking (you get some exceptions in pockets here and there) want a peaceful world. They often think that it's an ideal that will never happen, but that's what they want, and dream about, and strive for. And you frequently hear of the idea of armies and soldiers being to fight for peace - to put themselves out of a job, if you will.
But armies, soldiers, guns, bombs, nukes - these only have a place if there are others of them in the world. They were created to combat an opposing force, an opposing weapon or strategy.
So, here's a radical idea.
Why don't we just get rid of the lot? No more guns. No more nukes. No more bombs. No more bullets. No more places to make guns, or nukes, or bombs, or bullets. Or tanks. Or fighter airplanes and subs. (That one might be a bit harder, considering we've got regular planes and subs that aren't that much different.) No more stealth jets.
At the moment, that probably sounds ridiculously ludicrous. And understandably so. How on earth would you go about it? How would you get everybody to comply? I don't rightly know, to be honest. To be sure, you'd get some people that wouldn't be too happy about it - and not just terrorists and the like, but also people that are just generally quite attached to their guns (not looking at you at all, America....). And people will say, "but if we have no guns, and they have guns....then we're sitting ducks!" Then make armour, silly-billies. Work at defensive measures, rather than offensive measures.
Yes, it's probably just another blue sky dream from this head in the clouds. But it seems to be something that people don't ever really think of. Or just dismiss too quickly. *shrugs*
Sunday, 2 August 2015
Scorpions and Cyclones.
For the last couple of months or so, I've been watching through the TV show Scorpion with my brother. For those who aren't familiar with the show's basic premise, it's fairly simple - this guy called Walter has a ridiculously high IQ, and gathers around him a team of like-minded people, and together they solve problems that other people can't. Slyvester is the maths whiz; Happy is the engineer; Toby is the shrink. Then you've also got Paige, who you could basically call their PR person; she's not high-IQ, but she's the one who makes sure that they don't annoy everyone else too much, basically. Cabe is the guy who oversees it all from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Oh, and Paige's son Ralph, who happens to also be a genius.
To give you a bit of an idea, the series starts off with them trying to land planes that have had a bug in the software, and now have no way to communicate with the ground. It ends with one plane flying over a car going at high speed, and a cable going from one to the other. Yep. It's pretty big. The mid-season finale ends with them in Bosnia. (Unfortunately, that's all that we've got so far down here in Auz.) In-between, we have biohacking, bombing, assassination, nuclear power plants, and a prison break. It's pretty action-packed, for those that are really into that.
The characters each fall into nice roles pretty early on. Happy is quite stoic, keeps herself to herself, and can be quite short with people at times; Toby is the wisecracking one, who ends up having some romantic interest in Happy; Sylvester feels a bit more immediately relatable, but has a lot of fears, and classic OCD; Paige is the touchy-feely one/mum; Cabe is the hardass fed/dad to Walter when things get rough; and Walter - he's the one who looks after the team, but rubs up the wrong way with most people, and has a bit of an ego problem.
With the whole idea being that these folks are über-smart, it would be easy for a lot of concepts to fly above people's heads. Thankfully, that doesn't happen (though, admittedly, speaking as a fairly smart person myself, but anyway), thanks to Cabe and Paige, who the other characters tend to explain things to nicely for us.
There's a lot that I'm loving about this series. It's got some great people on board; it looks at some really interesting ideas; it has a great mix of action and story; but probably what I love most is the way that it weaves together the genius and the human elements. You see Toby struggling with his feelings for Happy; Happy's reluctance to talk about her father, whom she eventually meets again; Sylvester's former battle with depression; Cabe and Walter's complex relationship, and the passing of a mantle, in a way; Paige's difficulties in raising a genius son, while not being a genius herself, and then having his dad step into the picture; and Walter's struggle with believing that emotions are weakness, while clearly feeling for his team, and for Paige and Ralph. And that's what I really love about this series, and also why I decided to watch it with my brother.
This is one that I've really loved so far, and I'm really looking forward to the second half of season one - I hope it gets over to Australia soon!
To give you a bit of an idea, the series starts off with them trying to land planes that have had a bug in the software, and now have no way to communicate with the ground. It ends with one plane flying over a car going at high speed, and a cable going from one to the other. Yep. It's pretty big. The mid-season finale ends with them in Bosnia. (Unfortunately, that's all that we've got so far down here in Auz.) In-between, we have biohacking, bombing, assassination, nuclear power plants, and a prison break. It's pretty action-packed, for those that are really into that.
The characters each fall into nice roles pretty early on. Happy is quite stoic, keeps herself to herself, and can be quite short with people at times; Toby is the wisecracking one, who ends up having some romantic interest in Happy; Sylvester feels a bit more immediately relatable, but has a lot of fears, and classic OCD; Paige is the touchy-feely one/mum; Cabe is the hardass fed/dad to Walter when things get rough; and Walter - he's the one who looks after the team, but rubs up the wrong way with most people, and has a bit of an ego problem.
With the whole idea being that these folks are über-smart, it would be easy for a lot of concepts to fly above people's heads. Thankfully, that doesn't happen (though, admittedly, speaking as a fairly smart person myself, but anyway), thanks to Cabe and Paige, who the other characters tend to explain things to nicely for us.
There's a lot that I'm loving about this series. It's got some great people on board; it looks at some really interesting ideas; it has a great mix of action and story; but probably what I love most is the way that it weaves together the genius and the human elements. You see Toby struggling with his feelings for Happy; Happy's reluctance to talk about her father, whom she eventually meets again; Sylvester's former battle with depression; Cabe and Walter's complex relationship, and the passing of a mantle, in a way; Paige's difficulties in raising a genius son, while not being a genius herself, and then having his dad step into the picture; and Walter's struggle with believing that emotions are weakness, while clearly feeling for his team, and for Paige and Ralph. And that's what I really love about this series, and also why I decided to watch it with my brother.
This is one that I've really loved so far, and I'm really looking forward to the second half of season one - I hope it gets over to Australia soon!
Friday, 17 July 2015
Hearing God.
I've had a bit of a journey when it comes to hearing God, since I was quite young to now. It's something that I've reflected on before - I particularly did so when I did my story for my church's 'Real Stories, Real Faith' series - but things have changed a bit since then.
So, when I was younger, I didn't hear God. Praying felt like talking to God, not talking with him. And I wanted the latter, but I didn't really know how to get there. It didn't ever make me think that he wasn't there; because he'd communicate with me in other ways, which were much less direct. And I'd see him working in my life. But I wouldn't hear him at all. I remember once having a diary where you were there was a space to write down answers you heard to prayers. Those sections were always empty. I never heard God.
Things changed around the time of uni. I can't remember exactly when it happened, but at some point, I was just having quite casual interactions with God. It's not that I was hearing him, persay - more feeling him, sensing some of his emotions. One of the main ones I'd feel was laughter. He joked a lot with me, and I with him. That's partly where I got the idea that God is the ultimate troll from. But I think I talked about that in another post.
At some point - I can't remember quite when - I started going on walks with God. And he would show bits and pieces to me. I'd see something, and knew that it meant this or that - it was God's way of speaking to me. So I try to go for walks pretty regularly, even if it's just short.
Since then, I'd also had a few times when my mentor had asked me to go to a specific time and invite God or Jesus into that place, and we'd have a bit of a conversation there. Some of those were fairly short and simple - some had a bit more to them. But all really impacted me.
Last Sunday, I heard Bill Hybels' talk on time, and how we use it. And one of the big points he talked about was spending 15 minutes every day in a chair, listening to God and reading his Word. So I thought I'd give it a go. Our church is starting The Story this coming Sunday (if you haven't heard of it, it's the Bible written like a novel, in chronological order - it goes for 30-something weeks) so I thought I'd read that. So I spent some time reading that, then some time in prayer. I finished and I still had a few minutes left. So I thought, what the heck, let's try and have a conversation with God, like I did sometimes back with my mentor. And yeah. That happened. It was really simple. And really awesome. :) So I've been having some pretty awesome chats with God each day in that time, which has been really great.
I think part of the thing that held me back before was self-doubt - the thought of, "but no, that's just my own mind talking there," and that sort of thing. But I've since found that things like worry, doubt, fear - these things are always going to get between you and God, rather than connect you to him. (Yes, the Bible says to fear God. That's a different sort of fear, and not what I'm talking about here.) So yeah.
I'm still learning, but I thought that was a pretty cool thing that I'd like to reflect on :) As an aside, I definitely recommend taking the 15 minute Chair Challenge. And do it in an actual chair, and the same chair each time. It's a psychological thing, with the same environment and such. Even better if you can do it at the same time each day. Give it a go for a week, and see what happens :)
So, when I was younger, I didn't hear God. Praying felt like talking to God, not talking with him. And I wanted the latter, but I didn't really know how to get there. It didn't ever make me think that he wasn't there; because he'd communicate with me in other ways, which were much less direct. And I'd see him working in my life. But I wouldn't hear him at all. I remember once having a diary where you were there was a space to write down answers you heard to prayers. Those sections were always empty. I never heard God.
Things changed around the time of uni. I can't remember exactly when it happened, but at some point, I was just having quite casual interactions with God. It's not that I was hearing him, persay - more feeling him, sensing some of his emotions. One of the main ones I'd feel was laughter. He joked a lot with me, and I with him. That's partly where I got the idea that God is the ultimate troll from. But I think I talked about that in another post.
At some point - I can't remember quite when - I started going on walks with God. And he would show bits and pieces to me. I'd see something, and knew that it meant this or that - it was God's way of speaking to me. So I try to go for walks pretty regularly, even if it's just short.
Since then, I'd also had a few times when my mentor had asked me to go to a specific time and invite God or Jesus into that place, and we'd have a bit of a conversation there. Some of those were fairly short and simple - some had a bit more to them. But all really impacted me.
Last Sunday, I heard Bill Hybels' talk on time, and how we use it. And one of the big points he talked about was spending 15 minutes every day in a chair, listening to God and reading his Word. So I thought I'd give it a go. Our church is starting The Story this coming Sunday (if you haven't heard of it, it's the Bible written like a novel, in chronological order - it goes for 30-something weeks) so I thought I'd read that. So I spent some time reading that, then some time in prayer. I finished and I still had a few minutes left. So I thought, what the heck, let's try and have a conversation with God, like I did sometimes back with my mentor. And yeah. That happened. It was really simple. And really awesome. :) So I've been having some pretty awesome chats with God each day in that time, which has been really great.
I think part of the thing that held me back before was self-doubt - the thought of, "but no, that's just my own mind talking there," and that sort of thing. But I've since found that things like worry, doubt, fear - these things are always going to get between you and God, rather than connect you to him. (Yes, the Bible says to fear God. That's a different sort of fear, and not what I'm talking about here.) So yeah.
I'm still learning, but I thought that was a pretty cool thing that I'd like to reflect on :) As an aside, I definitely recommend taking the 15 minute Chair Challenge. And do it in an actual chair, and the same chair each time. It's a psychological thing, with the same environment and such. Even better if you can do it at the same time each day. Give it a go for a week, and see what happens :)
Friday, 3 July 2015
Real Hope.
This last weekend, I got the opportunity to help out Hope 103.2 with their annual June Appeal. For those who aren't aware, Hope is a community listener-funded Christian radio station. It doesn't get government or commercial support - it has a limited amount of air time that it can give to sponsors for commercials, and some sponsors are on the website, but the rest of their money they get from people who donate. So every year they have a big effort leading up to the end of the financial year in June. (I think they might also have another one in November. Not sure.)
This year, their target was $850,000. Just from donations. I was there on Friday, Saturday and Monday for a fair bit of time, and got to see a reasonable amount of what was happening. I'd been part of it last year as well, but I don't think I was there for as long.
Now, that my seem like a pretty hefty target for some of you folks - particularly if you've ever tried raising money yourself! But they actually ended up raising over $1.1 million. Which is pretty darn awesome.
So, I was on the phones, and people would ring in and say they wanted to give a particular amount, and sometimes they would share a bit of a story with you. You had people ringing in to give anything from ten dollars to ten thousand dollars, and everything in between. Kids donating pocket money and birthday money, people out of work donating money, single parents, pensioners, businesses, uni students - people from just about everywhere. We actually had someone from America who works on the plane trip from somewhere in America to Sydney calling in to give! (She was in Sydney at the time, thankfully.)
As you can imagine, you got some incredible stories. Stories of people who had lost so much, and then found Hope; people who just happened upon the station at just the right time; people who had been listening to the station since it started 36 years ago (though it wasn't called Hope back then); I even had one guy call in who wasn't a Christian, but still wanted to donate because he listened so much! It was pretty awesome.
My story with Hope, for a long time, wasn't really my story at all. I grew up with my parents having 103.2 on in the car whenever we were driving around, so it was the main radio station that I knew (though Dad would often put on the sport AM station). So many of the other stations were talking about things or playing music that I wasn't comfortable with playing, so when it came to the point where I had my own car and chose what I played myself, Hope was my first choice. But most of the time, I just played CDs, and didn't listen to the radio. I just wanted music! Radio had too many ads and talking for me.
This year, though, that changed a bit. I've talked in one of the other posts about how I've been struggling this year, particularly with my point of trying to do it alone (not healthy). Hope has really helped me through that, I think. More and more this year, I've found that I've been listening to Hope, and leaving the CDs out. Not all the time, but now most of the time, I'm listening to the radio rather than my collection (and I've got quite a collection!) - though this may also be something to do with the fact that I now have work in the morning, and Dan and Dwayne are on :D (The same Dan from Saturday Disney, 90s kids. Yep. He's pretty great :) )
So yeah. That's my Hope story, I guess. But what I've realised, looking back, is that Hope is really two big things.
Firstly, it brings joy. The amount of laughter and joy and fun in that radio station is fantastic. And I particularly felt that being there, and talking to the people and interacting with them myself.
Secondly, it shows you that God is working, here and now. Because you hear these stories of Hope, so often, when people ring in and talk about the impact that Hope has had on their lives; and you realise that God is still there, and still working, and still being awesome. (Because that's just what he does, yo.)
And through that, there is real hope. Not a kind of nice idea or philosophy or airy-fairy thing, but real. Working. Living. Moving. Today.
And that's pretty cool ;)
This year, their target was $850,000. Just from donations. I was there on Friday, Saturday and Monday for a fair bit of time, and got to see a reasonable amount of what was happening. I'd been part of it last year as well, but I don't think I was there for as long.
Now, that my seem like a pretty hefty target for some of you folks - particularly if you've ever tried raising money yourself! But they actually ended up raising over $1.1 million. Which is pretty darn awesome.
So, I was on the phones, and people would ring in and say they wanted to give a particular amount, and sometimes they would share a bit of a story with you. You had people ringing in to give anything from ten dollars to ten thousand dollars, and everything in between. Kids donating pocket money and birthday money, people out of work donating money, single parents, pensioners, businesses, uni students - people from just about everywhere. We actually had someone from America who works on the plane trip from somewhere in America to Sydney calling in to give! (She was in Sydney at the time, thankfully.)
As you can imagine, you got some incredible stories. Stories of people who had lost so much, and then found Hope; people who just happened upon the station at just the right time; people who had been listening to the station since it started 36 years ago (though it wasn't called Hope back then); I even had one guy call in who wasn't a Christian, but still wanted to donate because he listened so much! It was pretty awesome.
My story with Hope, for a long time, wasn't really my story at all. I grew up with my parents having 103.2 on in the car whenever we were driving around, so it was the main radio station that I knew (though Dad would often put on the sport AM station). So many of the other stations were talking about things or playing music that I wasn't comfortable with playing, so when it came to the point where I had my own car and chose what I played myself, Hope was my first choice. But most of the time, I just played CDs, and didn't listen to the radio. I just wanted music! Radio had too many ads and talking for me.
This year, though, that changed a bit. I've talked in one of the other posts about how I've been struggling this year, particularly with my point of trying to do it alone (not healthy). Hope has really helped me through that, I think. More and more this year, I've found that I've been listening to Hope, and leaving the CDs out. Not all the time, but now most of the time, I'm listening to the radio rather than my collection (and I've got quite a collection!) - though this may also be something to do with the fact that I now have work in the morning, and Dan and Dwayne are on :D (The same Dan from Saturday Disney, 90s kids. Yep. He's pretty great :) )
So yeah. That's my Hope story, I guess. But what I've realised, looking back, is that Hope is really two big things.
Firstly, it brings joy. The amount of laughter and joy and fun in that radio station is fantastic. And I particularly felt that being there, and talking to the people and interacting with them myself.
Secondly, it shows you that God is working, here and now. Because you hear these stories of Hope, so often, when people ring in and talk about the impact that Hope has had on their lives; and you realise that God is still there, and still working, and still being awesome. (Because that's just what he does, yo.)
And through that, there is real hope. Not a kind of nice idea or philosophy or airy-fairy thing, but real. Working. Living. Moving. Today.
And that's pretty cool ;)
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