Songs, Writing, and CLB

I'll praise the God who gives and takes away.

The song "Praise You in this Storm" by Casting Crowns has described a pretty huge chunk of my life. I first heard the song last summer at Centrifuge in Ridgecrest, North Carolina, and I fell in love. A few lines that really described me and hit me hard:

"I was sure by now that You would have reached down and wiped our tears away; stepped in and saved the day, once again. I'll say amen, but it's still raining."

"As the thunder rolls, I barely hear you whisper through the rain, 'I'm with you.'"

"You are who You are, no matter where I am."

"Every tear I've cried, you hold in your hands. You never left my side."

"Though my heart is torn, I will praise You in this storm."

"You heard my cry; You raised me up again."

I felt like the whole song was written for me, especially as the next year progressed. The whole song, which can be heard here, describes everything I've gone through. It reminds me that God is always there for me, when I need him and when I don't. Scratch that; I always need him. But even when I think my life is going awesome and I don't think I need Him, He quickly reminds me that I do need Him. More than anything.

On a different note: If you haven't noticed,I love to write. I love it, perhaps more than anything else. I didn't take up the love until recently, within the past year. As I was looking around on Google at things about writing (because I clearly have THAT much time on my hands) I found this: You Know You're A Writer When...! So here it goes.

You sleep with pen and paper next to your bed.
-And next to the shower, and on my laptop (where Word is always open), and...

You have a favorite punctuation mark.
-I love me a semicolon; they spice up any sentence. ;)

You have a favorite pen.
-BIC Roundstick Fine - Blue.

You get caught up in plotting your next scene and put the cereal in the fridge, and the milk in the pantry.
-Usually it's the next line, since I'm more of a songwriter, but yeah, I've done it.

You desperately want Crayola tub markers so you can write down all that great dialog that comes to you in the shower.
-Again, not dialogue, but lyrics/lines, for sure. I really do want these tub markers.

You love restaurants that put a big sheet of paper over the table cloth and leave you with a handful of crayons.
-YES! And I always rip off what I've written and take it home.

You’re talking to a real, living, breathing person and suddenly stop and listen because one of your characters interrupted you.
-No, but I will stop and take out my Random Inspiration Notebook (which is ALWAYS in my purse, thanks to Morgan DeWilde) and write down what they said so I can use it later.

You think sleep is way overrated. Who needs more than three hours anyway?
-...this I cannot agree with. But I will wake up in the middle of the night and write down my dreams and elaborate in the morning.

Your novels are backed up on your laptop, your husband’s laptop, two thumb drives, and you’re seriously toying with the idea of getting a safe deposit box.
-For me it's my songs/short stories/other writings, and they're on my laptop, desktop, dad's laptop, and USB drive that I am very upset about misplacing...

And finally, you know your a writer if you look at yourself and see a writer. Everyone else looks at you and sees an obsessive-compulsive, anal-retentive insomniac with a pen fetish.
-Yeah pretty much.

So yeah, I love to write. That's basically it. And I'm so glad that God has given me this talent and is allowing me to share this with the world :)

Oh and to finish up this post: I love Courtney Lee Brinker. She is one person in my life I can ALWAYS count on, no matter what.