Retweet the Sounding Joy

Coming soon to a Rock Hill near you.

quote of the day

Sarah (on guys being creepers): "This guy is ALWAYS trying to talk to me and ask how my day was! First of all, I'm goal-oriented. I'm trying to get somewhere. And two, I don't want to have this conversation a million times."

The Hangover

It was said last year that nearly 1.4 million adults planned to call in sick to work on the day after the Super Bowl. I'm thinking I should've been one of them today. Not because I ate too much or had too much to drink but because of everyone elses Super Bowl hangovers. As soon as I got to work this morning, I heard all the opinions on the game, the commercials, the halftime show. And I just have to ask, what are you people's standards for a halftime show? If you want Dave Barnes or John Mayer up in there with the acoustic guitar being all mellow and low-key, then you might as well be watching the High School Musical Marathon that was on Disney last night. Cause that aint happening. The Super Bowl is EPIC. Maybe not the football part exactly, but the event is a whole production. Cities spend billions to get the big game to come to them, they build extra hotels, there are parties and parades and celebrities coming out of the walls the entire week. So why would the halftime show be nothing less than some crazy 3-D techno light show with fireworks? Mostly every American and/or human would agree that Madonna is a pop icon. Whether you like her or not, she's a big deal to the music industry. But she lip-sings the halftime show with 3 different sets and suddenly everyone thinks she's crap? No I do not wish for my daughter to grow up and be like her someday, but that doesn't mean I wasn't completely entertained for those 15 minutes. And I actually didn't think she would have much of a wardrobe to malfunction, so the simple fact that she was wearing clothes is a big win for the NFL. All that to say, I should just stay home from work and stay off facebook and twitter after the Super Bowl. Everyone has their opinion and nothing reminds me more than social media the day of a big event. #haters
Whatever your opinions were on the game, we all HAVE to agree that this was the best commercial. Good dog.

quote of the day

Erica: "Is your house number really 100?"
Laura: "No I just have those up there."

Laura: "I'm sending out letters next week."
Erica: "I want K!"

Erica (at cook-out): "Get out, I want to eat my feelings!"

quote of the day

Youth Council meeting...

Johnathan: "Are we talking about legit local bands or like, karaoke? Because I can do a mean rendition of Turn Me On by Nicki Minaj."

Over the Sun

I just WISH my prayers were half as epic as the Psalms, ya know? I read Psalm 17:14 this week that says: “Lord, by your hand save me from such men, from men of this world whose reward is in this life.” What a cool realization, the idea that this world has anything to offer me is a lie. Most of us go our whole lives thinking that if we just have that “one more thing” then we’ll be happy. Subconsciously I sometimes think marriage is some big reward. That if you worked really hard and said all the right things and God answered enough “where is my husband/wife?” prayers, then you were all good. But when God took away my Mom, I realized that even spouses don’t last. Almost every week I get told the lie that I should be valued more in my job. It’s true that sometimes I do a lot of work but everyone else gets the credit, that’s just part of being the youngster at my job. I sometimes believe that I deserve more credit or more money or a higher status with my name on stuff and when that happens, I’ll be set. And then I’m reminded that my name won’t last. The more satisfaction I find in Jesus, the more I find that that’s all I have to go on anyway. I spend so much time getting stressed over that “one more thing” I have to have but if I actually get it, then what? I was listening to a sermon the other day by a Pastor in Texas talking about idols, where he said that it’s probably worse to actually GET that thing you want so bad. Actually getting our idols, the thing we’ve got our heart SO set on, is worse than just the wishing we had it. I gotta say he’s probably right on that one. Getting that promotion or that marriage or that dream house and kids isn’t a bad thing unless it becomes your life’s reward. All this is why I’m super glad Jesus came, because we’re just screwed in the hope category without Him. King Solomon had literally everything he wanted under the sun. Nothing existed that he couldn’t have. And then he found it all lacked REAL satisfaction and all his shiney gods left him empty. Note taken, dude.

Decisions

Who's everyone voting for in the Super Bowl this year? Giants? Patriots? Coors Light commercials? Maybe I'm getting soft but for the first time since the Giants played the Patriots in the 2007 Super Bowl, I have no opinion on the outcome. I hope they both lose and that Madonna steals all the twitter and facebook posts. These are two well-known and big market teams, so that's cool for their fans and for the city of Indianapolis, who's economic impact is going to make bank this week. My usual Super Bowl complaints are about the people who pull for the "underdog" team because a hurricane came through the town or their quarterback loves Jesus. But neither of these teams are the "underdogs." So for those fans, I predict they'll pull for the Giants because the Patriots win too much. Ya know, for being a bunch of Americans, we sure do hate winners. Anyways, as far as me, I just don't have anything to go on. The uniforms of both teams are the SAME colors and couldn't be more boring. Both quarterbacks are cute. They're both from the Northeast. Neither team has a fun mascot. What's a girl to do? Just give me some chicken wings, my Panthers jersey, some good commercials, and I'll raise my glass to next year.