A Night of Worship with Matt Maher

So to share another facet of my creativity, I decided to tell you a bit today about a recent opportunity that I had to lead worship at Regent. My husband, Jacob, and I have an amazing band called "Crossing Currents" which consists of him and I on vocals, him on acoustic guitar, our friends Dan, Ben, Tim, and Chandler on bass, drums, electric, and electric respectively. Chandler just recently joined our band and is the newest member as the rest of us have been playing together for almost two years now. When we were asked to open for Christian songwriter/singer and recording artist Matt Maher, we jumped at the opportunity. Since school only started two weeks ago, we basically had only three weeks together to write the original songs and practice after a whole summer off for this huge concert! Kind of intimidating but God was definitely on our side! The concert was this past Thursday night and by Sunday, we still had only one original song which Jacob had pulled off his archives. Even that one was not satisfactory and we ended up changing all the lyrics and the melody two days before the concert. But on that Sunday, before we had one of our final practices before the big day, a miracle occurred. Jacob and I slept in for once as he had been working 14 days straight for Campus Ministries and had not had a day to rest in 2 weeks. After we woke up, we took a brief trip to Guitar Center so Jacob could buy a pedal for his guitar. While we were at the store, I went to play around on the keyboards (even though I really can't play anything). While I was sitting there in the piano room of the shop, Jacob peeked his head in and said "I love you" and winked at me like he always does. As always, his loving words inspired me and I began to fumble through a few chords on the keyboard while singing these three simple words. While they have so much meaning, it just did not feel like enough to express what I wanted to tell God that day. "I love you...like the moon loves the stars??? No...that's not right... the moon doesn't really love the stars... but it does something to the ocean doesn't it? It draws it..." So out came the first two lines of my song which I scribbled on a receipt I found in the bottom of my purse...

"You draw me like the moon draws the tide..."

When I got home, the tune was still on my heart so I went to our music room to continue my fumbling with our own keyboard. I have tried writing songs so many times and while lyrics often come quickly, I often am never completely content with them. I try to put them to music but my lack of ability when it comes to instruments leaves me frustrated and tuneless. Yet that day I found that my pen was flying across my old notebook and my fingers found all the right keys to play. Within an hour, I had a beautiful song of worship laid out before me and was playing it completely through from beginning to end, verse, chorus, and bridge. Done. Jacob came in to adapt it to the guitar and we left for our practice. The band thought it was a hit and quickly caught the groove of it. By Thursday, we were on stage in front of 800 people but only One member of our audience really mattered. As we worshipped our hearts out, I was amazed by what God had enabled us to do... Matt and his band were soooo very nice as were his reps from Sony Provident. We could not have had more fun and after everything was over, we went to the Cheesecake Factory for an awesome ending to our night. My parents had driven up to listen to us and my mother-in-law surprised us by hitching a ride down on Wednesday. What an amazing experience! If you have not heard Matt Maher's music, I highly encourage you to listen in and buy his songs! Some of his hits include "Alive Again" and "Love Will Hold Us Together" and he also wrote "I Will Rise" (sung by Chris Tomlin) and "Your Grace is Enough" (sung by pretty much everyone). One of my favorites that he sang said something like "You're making my heart a garden" and then another song I really liked said "We're less than perfect, more than flesh and bone." Oh, and besides the fact that he gave an amazing concert and worship night, it was also amazing that he even came all the way out here to be with us since he is getting married THIS WEEKEND! Congratulations, Matt and thank you SO much for spending a night with us. I. AM. INSPIRED. ....

For those who are interested, here are a couple shots from the night as well as the lyrics I wrote (or that God wrote through me). Don't worry, I've already copyrighted them :)

- Crossing Currents -

A view from the wings...

- Matt Maher -

Worshippers!

A view from the balcony...

And here's the new song :)

Deeper than Deep (Moon and Tide)

Written by Anna Wright, Jacob Wright – Crossing Currents

Verse 1:

You draw me like the

Moon draws the tide

And I can’t resist your grace

And though I try to run

I know I can’t hide

For you find me in the secret place

Chorus:

Deeper than deep, higher than high

Lord, I have seen how wide is wide

Farther than far, closer than we know

Your love is sure, your love, O Lord, is mine

Bridge:

And if the world stops turning

Or just a sparrow falls

Lord, you prize me more than all

My heart cannot contain

The wonder of this love

It is too wonderful for me

A Day on Set...

Those of you who have read my blog know that I am a creative person....Yet some of you may not have heard me mention one of my greatest passions...acting. I am an actress at heart and have been since I was three. Acting brought me to Regent for the theatre program and Jacob came to Regent since they are one of the leading Christian film schools. Although I don't get a chance to do this very often since I have been quite busy with my classes and job lately, I did get the opportunity to work on a film set with some friends yesterday in which I played the victim of a car accident who gets rescued by a superhero. Here are some shots from the shoot for those of you who are interested. There was a lot of fake blood, a totaled car, EMT's, policemen, sirens, and an ambulance but I couldn't have had more fun! Call time was 4AM so even though I didn't get any sleep...I'm so glad I was able to be a part of this. I know the people involved have bright futures as Christian film-makers and I hope I was able to bless them as much as they blessed me :)

My wonderful Jacob is running the smoke...

Epic!

The makeup artist did an amazing job and captured a few shots of her victim while I waited on set for my scenes.

For those of you who haven't used cinema-makeup before, the blood is made out of Caro Syrup and food coloring. So in all those movies where you see blood, there's no need to get grossed out or scared- it's just red syrup! If any of you get a chance to be in a film, even as an extra, you really should. It is a great experience for meeting people and sharing in the creative movie experience.

Have any of you been in movies before or would you like to be? What are your experiences with acting- stage or screen?

Where Does Creativity Come From?

If you've seen my recent posts, you know I am a creative person and I know that most of you are also creative people. But do we really realize what enables us to be creative? Why are we creative? The answer is that because we serve a creative God and we are made in His image, we too are able to be creative beings. Look at the world around you... everything you see was created by someone... and that someone is either man, another created being, or God. Houses are made by men. The nest on the roof of that house was made by a bird. That bird was made by God. It all comes back to the Master Creator. So I want to know...

In what ways is God creative to you? What do you see as one of the most majestic ways that God expresses His creativity?

Fabulous Flowers

Firstly- if any of you has a good picture of a Gerbera daisy, preferably a white or yellow one, I really need one and would love to have that shot!

Although I have no professional photography experience, here are a few photos of some flowers that I have taken in the past couple years. :) These are the kinds of photos I will eventually use for portraits...

A rose from one of the beautiful bouquets Jacob gave me before we got married.

Beautiful flowers from Napa Valley, CA.

A daisy. Simple and gorgeous. I had the best lighting for this shot!

Orchids from my mother-in-love's kitchen.

Carnations also from mother-in-love's kitchen.

Isn't God amazing? He makes such beautiful works of art and our imitations of them cannot even compare! Even photos don't capture the true beauty. I LOVE flowers and cannot wait to do some more portraits!

Looking forward to seeing some of your photos! Please email them to bellabeloved.music@gmail.com or post them on your blogs and let me know about them. Thanks, everyone!

Inspiration...

Hi everyone! I am looking for some inspiration as far as what I should draw next...

I know many of you are talented photographers so if any of you have photos you have taken that you think would make pretty paintings or drawings (and if you wouldn't mind me playing with them!), just send them to me and I will see if I can make them into a fun project! :) I love working on new projects and I love seeing how God has blessed others with such amazing talents!

Beautiful grace for the day:

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ... I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:35, 38-39)

Happy sunshine, everyone!

Gifts...

These are two portraits that I did as gifts. This beautiful family is my brother, Evan, his wife, Jenny, and their adorable Charlie who just turned one today!

The other portrait was a gift for my old boss who has a "Civil War" theme in his office.

Grace continued...

Here are some flowers I also did. Some were just for fun :)

More Grace...

This portrait is not an Audrey portrait but was submitted to a local competition. In this project, we had to do a "fauve" self-portrait in acrylic paint. At the competition, it won the honor of hanging in my congresswoman's office for one year. What a wonderful surprise!

This one is a "Breakfast at Tiffany's" shot that I was instructed to do on black paper with white charcoal...yikes!

Audrey had gorgeous eyes and they were always photographed so beautifully. The perfect inspiration...

Graced for His Glory

Although I do not have my website up and running yet, I have begun the launch of my art business! Until I have a site, here are some of my pieces. :) I am proud of what I am able to do, not because I am talented, but because I am graced and gifted by God to do all He asks of me.

These five pictures are a series I did on 12"x 12" scrapbook paper as part of my Studio Art Portfolio. I chose Audrey Hepburn as my concentration but when I was told that I could not do portraits of her because her photos are all copyrighted, my teacher told me to do portraits of myself LIKE Audrey. Quite a challenge... The rest will be in my next posts. Enjoy!

The gray on some of these is due to the exposure on my camera and the way the flash washed out the shot (sorry about that!). Guess I should get some better pictures!

Perfect Love

You've all heard the phrase, "There is nothing to fear but fear itself." In a complicated kind of way- this makes sense. Yet, if there is really nothing to fear but fear itself, we fear fearing and are thus still fearful. If you cast out fear altogether, you can finally come to be completely fearless. And how can this be done? By finding perfect love.

"There is NO fear in love. But PERFECT LOVE drives out fear." - 1 John 4:18, NIV

What is perfect love? No, WHO is it... God. He is our perfect love. With Him there is no reason to fear. "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31). He has destined us to be victorious in His name and with the power of what? His perfect love. So don't walk around saying, "I'm just so afraid that this will happen." "I'm just so afraid that this person will hurt me." "I'm just so afraid that I'll accidentally do or say this." You are speaking fear into your life! Instead, look at the root of what you're saying BEFORE you say it: "I'm just so afraid." By looking past the root of our statements, we look to the root of our fear - as if those fears were good reasons for being fearful! As scary as those monsters in your life might be- they do not give you an excuse to cast faith aside for the sake of fear.

Remember: What you fear can never justify fear itself. God is not waiting for you to express your fears. He already knows them all. He's waiting for you to express your faith so that He can make fear flee.

Easy? Not a Chance...

At work this week, I led devotions for our department. The topic of our discussion brought to mind an old facebook note I had written in high school as an encouragement to a self-defeated friend who couldn't stop beating himself up over his mistakes. After reading it over again I decided to repost it as a hopeful encouragement for any interested readers. Though I wrote it with the intention of targeting his self-doubt, this post also applies to the problems that are not "your own" fault. So read in whatever way is relatable to you.

Feel free to enjoy the thoughts of the "high school me." :) Thanks&Blessings

........................

Life just doesn't get any easier....

Not that I ever expected it to. I'm discovering more and more that sometimes, the moment you think things are starting to clear up- you're hit with another challenge. And it's no hit and run. No ding-dong-ditch. Once you're hit, you're hit for good... until you learn to fight back.

I've had those days- where everything seems to be going well, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, the people around you are smiling, and you feel like shining, singing, and smiling too. The hours roll along- and it's just another day- nothing goes wrong, nothing gets complicated, and nothing is out of place.

And I've also had those days- where everything is out of place. Conflicts seem to arise with everyone you speak to, your schedule seems blocked full of deadlines, your positive attitude seems just about at its melting point, your mind is off in a thousand different places, your emotions are unreadable - even for you, and you can't remember which way's up and which way's down. Trust me- I've been there. The sun may be shining and the birds may be singing, but in light of the circumstances, Mother Nature's attitude just doesn't really matter all that much. These are the days when you're so overwhelmed by what's going on around you- that even though you know you need to be thinking about what you need to do, sometimes you just can't stop thinking about what you've already done. The people you've hurt, the words you regret, the times you've failed, the goals you've never reached, the relationships you've ruined, the battles you've lost that you shouldn't have started in the first place, and how all these inisignificant past failures will keep you from reaching necessary future successes.

I know how that feels- to feel like the only thing worth doing is crying about the problems and then trying to sleep them off. Or how it feels when you're numb - and you've had so many problems that you just can't feel the struggle that's still raging on inside. And I know how it feels when you don't know how to cry and you don't know if you're numb- all you know is that you want to give up.

Of course- sometimes it just feels good to throw yourself a pity party, but it feels even better when you crash it. So for those days when life is changing faster than you're ready for, for those days when it seems like everyone is doing everything right except for you, for those days when it feels like you're all alone with no one's arms to run into, for those days when it looks like there is no silver lining because the storm is so thick- remember that life never stops changing, so start embracing it. remember that mistakes never stop for anyone, so forgive yourself and start learning from them. remember that One person will never stop holding you, so start loving Him back because none of us deserves to be held. and remember that the storms never stop, but the silver lining never fades- it's your responsibility to clean up the rain and debris and to ask your Father to lift you up on His shoulders so you can reach the clouds that are in your way; trust me- He's tall enough.

For those days when you're shining, singing, and smiling, milk in the moments that are made for memory making. Every day is a gift- but you are the one with the privilege of unwrapping it. And for those days when the storms swallow you whole, ask God to pull you out and fight for your life every step of the way. There's pain in the struggle, but there's beauty in the victory. So don't sit down during the battle. Because life-

...just doesn't get any easier.

The Filter

Thoughts are relentless. How many times have you heard someone storm off in frustration saying, “I just need to clear my head!” When they return I’m always tempted to ask, “Did it work?” Knowing you need to do it is one thing, but accomplishing such a feat is another. I’ve stepped outside to “clear” my head many times, and yet I’ve found that I end up breathing in more jam-packed ideas and thoughts than I had before. With so much in my head, it’s hard to relax…in fact, it’s hard to concentrate on what I really should be thinking about…like making God smile, showing my husband how much I love him, and living every moment as if it really is as important as we don’t realize it to be. So how does one forget about the troubles of the day? How does one voluntarily alter the mind’s capacity for thought explosions? How does one move on from the all-consuming, overwhelming, brain-doodles that are treating my brain like a pinball machine on turbo?

Filter. It’s as simple and complex as that.

I know I’m not the only one who can’t stop thinking about everything at once, but the point is not to stop thinking, but to filter our thoughts to the point that we are in tune to the music beyond the noise. A friend and I were chatting away at a noisy restaurant when suddenly, she stopped and said, “Sh! Do you hear that? The song that’s playing? I love that song!” Hoping I would also recognize it, she told me the name and the artist and what it was about… “Remember!? C’mon you have to know that song!” But, for the life of me, I couldn’t hear a thing. No distinct words…no tunes that stood out…no memory-jogging vocal patterns…just intermittent blurbs of a melody that blended in seamlessly to the surrounding clatter and chatter. Why couldn’t I hear it? Was her hearing better than mine? I wanted to listen in too! Maybe I needed a q-tip, or maybe it just wasn’t my song to hear, but the point is that a filter is necessary if we wish to “clear” anything. Try to get away from all the noise and you’ll probably see that it follows you. Try to distract yourself with work or other things, and you’ll probably find that it piles up on you. Try to filter it, and you’ll probably find that you can’t do it alone. That’s right- do not try this at home without God-supervision. One of my favorite verses in Romans reads, “The mind controlled by the sinful nature is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace” (Romans 8:6). Are you missing your life? Have you lost your peace? Do you want to hear the music? Good news: the filter is free…so use it! Invite the Spirit to be your mind’s guide. Only He can turn your head into a tuning fork. Then you will be able to say “Sh! Do you hear that? The voice that’s speaking to me? I love that voice!”

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things…And the God of peace will be with you.” - Philippians 4:6-9

Well hello...

So I never thought I'd see the day that I would be a blogger... but here I am... not that I expect to have much time for this being a student, a worker, a wife, etc., but why not do what I can? Besides, sometimes, my mind can be rather interesting... Guess we'll just see what happens.

Off to continue enjoying LOST. The last season... so sad...