Day 7: 5 Things You Couldn't Possibly Live Without

This is besides God, family and friends (because I certainly wouldn't be able to live without them!! :).......just things.

                            My Kindle Fire HD (includes Bible and books)

I probably could live without this....I did for thirteen and a half years, but NOT without my Bible and books, so I just decided to sum it all into one. :)

                                                               Music

                                                      My instruments

        

                                                      Dancing 4 Jesus

                                            Desserts..........in general :)

 

 

Hope this tells you a little more about me. :) Have a blessed week!

~Rachel

Winter Jam Concert 2013

   Yesterday was an absolutely amazing day! I wasn't sure whether I was going to do a post about the Christian Winter Jam Concert we went to yesterday, but I thought since this blog is mostly about worship and music and the fact that the blog is called WILD ABOUT WORSHIP (which a jam concert is really wild worship) I decided I would. We went with a bunch of our friends and despite the 2 hour line, blinding spotlights and disco lights, deafening rock music, hoarse from screaming, worn out from dancing, out of breath from jumping, and totally exhausted, it was AWESOME!! Definitely a moment (or a 6 and a half hours) I would love to relive. There were ten artists and bands there. Capital Kings, OBB, Royal Tailor, NewSong, Jason Castro, Sidewalk Prophets, Jamie Grace, Red, Matthew West, and TobyMac, and a speaker Nick Hall. TobyMac has got to be one of my very favoritest artists. :) He went last and the longest. :) Anyway they did some AMAZING songs and here are some music videos of some of the songs. If you haven't gone or if the bands aren't still coming your way make sure to go next year to the 2014 Winter Jam. It's incredible and you will be encouraged.

A Girl 4 God,
Rachel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  P.S. Be sure to check out the stories behind the songs.

Happy Valentines Day!!

Happy Valentines Day!

I thought this would be a great song for today. I love it! It's kind of sad at first though. It show that God loves you for you.......just the way you are. So remember today that it's God's love that really matters.

For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in me shall not perish, but have everlasting life. ~John 3:16

God Bless you this Valentines Day,
Rachel

Day 6: A Moment You Wish You could Relive: An Experience with Angels

   Well, I had to think about this one for a while. Of course there was many times in my life which I wanted to last forever. Lot's of parties, family and friend outings, vacations......on and on and on. But I decided to do a single moment that was really important to me and one that I never forgot.

   One of the most common places our family goes on vacation is the beach. Whether it's one hour away for a weekender or fifteen hours away for a two weeker our family LOVES the beach. Probably the beach we travel to the most in my life (besides our own Sandbridge, 20 mins away from our house) is Myrtle Beach (and Nags Head, but this takes place in Myrtle Beach.) We've been there with friends and extended family, but the year I remember most is when I was about seven. I enjoyed the hot afternoons running into the cool waves. I would stay in the ocean for hours.........and hours. I would jump over and dive into gigantic waves (the bigger, the better) and go out as far as I dared. Those were wonderful memories in general, but the specific one happened on an evening walk, where it began to cool down and there was little tide pools. My little brother and I loved to play in the tide pools, but that day it was only my mom and I. There was nobody else on the beach (in that area at least) and finally mom had to drag me out of the pools. (I loved searching for minnows and sand crabs.) As I walked back to our condo (the same one e stayed in each year we went) holding mom's hand the wind whispered to me "look behind you." And there they were dancing over the pools. They didn't appear as one might expect. They were almost translucent.......a beautiful chorus of lights, but it was amazing. After all, angels can appear in any form.
   I never forgot (and never will forget) about that blessed experience and I pray that one day I could see angels again. Mom says that when I was a baby, when she held me, I would point behind her and laugh with a huge smile on my face. She would turn around, expecting to see my dad making faces, but there would be nobody there. I think I saw angels even then. :)
.............no, I didn't make any of this up. :)

God Bless,
Rachel

Music is Healing

He has given me a new song, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what He has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord.  ~PSALM 40:3

On Sunday evening my mom and I were doing a mother daughter devotion form The One Year Mother Daughter Devo book by Dannah Gresh. (I highly recommend it and you don't have to do it in just one year or use it once......this is our second year using it!) Anyway, as you know I LOVE music and worship so this particular devotion lesson, I really enjoyed (although I enjoy them all! :) Did you know that good, healthy music can completely change the mood of your day. In the Bible, whenever Saul was depressed and angry, David played his harp (an amazingly beautiful instrument!) Saul became happy again! Something I find myself doing constantly is singing or humming or just singing to myself. Even when I'm really angry, upset, or discouraged and I'm in a bad mood, I ALWAYS begin singing and feel better. Or even when I take a walk and hear the birds singing, it makes me feel better. It even works on plants! In the 1970's, a botanist named Dorthy L. Retallack did a study on the effect of music on plants. She figured out that plants exposed to pleasant music were healthy and tended to grow to the music. However, plants exposed to noisy and negative music tended to shrivel up and die quickly.  There has also been similar studies with animals done, too. God made beautiful music as one of His  own tools to making us feel better and happy. Isn't it amazing how He works?! So next time your in a bad mood or feel angry, depressed, or upset, just listen to some good pretty music and see if you feel better. Harp music is really wonderful. I am really blessed to be able to personally know two wonderful harpists and hear them play quite a bit. Here is some beautiful harp music that you should listen to next time you feel bad. 

                                                                            

Nature Harp Music

"Come Thou Fount" Celtic Harp

5th Year Anniversary

In January, we had a 5 year anniversary of our family integrated service. The Lord has been so good to all of us and I'm excited to see what else He will do through this service. Thank you so much to our wonderful Pastor, Brad Shedd! My good friend, Sophia and I took lot's of pictures of the memorable day, so here they are. Enjoy!

Pastor Brad Shedd and Alyson Shedd

Julianna Shedd is an adorable photogenic little girl......isn't she? :)

And her older sister (and best friend) Laura

Becca Pollard. Isn't she sweet?

The boys love to play football after shared meals on the first Sunday of each month.

The clean-up crew! :)

Little Brennan Shedd always has his different little "faces." We all love him!

So does Mr. Mitchell. We all love him too! :)

.........and finally me, Hannah Grace, and Sophia (a.k.a. "The Three Musketeers!")  These friends are amazing (as well as many others!) Thank you Jesus for a wonderful church family! :)

Day 5: Favorite Quote

One of my favorites...............
  

The Encouragment of a Rainbow

   Yesterday morning I opened my blinds in my room and I was delighted to see a beautiful, rainbow streaking the sky. When I told my mom and brother they rushed to the window. "Look, it's a double rainbow!" said my brother. Sure enough a lighter more faded rainbow sat right above it, though it faded quickly.) I love rainbows! My parents had a double rainbow on their wedding day and I had one on my thirteenth birthday. I always am reminded of God's promise never to flood the earth again....and all of his other promises to us. The rainbow has a wonderful representation and I think God paints one (or two!) up there every now and then to make people's days a whole lot brighter! So next time you see and rainbow, remember God always keeps His promises and it's His way to tell you everything is going to be alright.

Genesis 9:8-16

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: ...

Ezekiel 1:28

Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

This  Bible verse always reminds me of  the rain at night and the rainbow in the morning. 

Though sorrow may last through the night, joy comes in the morning. Psalm 30:5

If you look hard, you can see the light rainbow above.

                                                                       Blessings,

                                                                       Rachel