Day (off) in the life and thoughts from Jeremiah

My dear girls,

Sometimes days off are like a peaceful meadow in the midst of a stormy sea.... or in other words, a chance to sleep in between weeks of stressful touring and over night drives.
Other times, namely when you're expecting a good day of studio time and your producer texts you and says he has to re-boot his computer and take the day off, you feel kind of lost... And then you make the most of it... With Christmas shopping!
I started out the day by getting up super early to read my bible and talk to my Lord before leaving for the studio. Then we didn't have to leave so I hung out in the hotel breakfast room for an hour or so and dug into some Revelation.


Then... coffee and more bible study at our friendly neighborhood Starbucks. (They really are friendly here in Knoxville. We've only been here twice and the barista already gave me a cheerful, "Hello again!") This time I spent some time with Jeremiah. A couple verses in the first chapters of this book just moved my heart so much the last few days...

Jer. 1:17 Therefore prepare yourself and arise, and speak to them all that I command you.
Do not be dismayed before their faces, lest I dismay you before them.

This is the Lord talking to Jeremiah. Sometimes God encourages us like, Don't be afraid! It's okay, I'm here beside you!! And other times He commands us, Do not fear! I am the LORD. Do you not believe in Me that I have your back? (that's my own way of putting it btw :)
I need to remember the command to be bold and speak without fear.


Jer. 2:1 I remember you, the kindness of your youth, the love of your betrothal,
when you went after Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.

Someday we will be with Jesus. We will love Him perfectly. We will have no pain, no sorrow and our joy will be complete. That will be wonderful. But right now, I believe there is nothing that moves the Lord's heart like a wounded, lonely, crying child that says, "Lord, I LOVE You in my heartache! I will go after You in the wilderness!" Now is the only time in our existence that we can love the Lord in the midst of the pain and sorrow. What an opportunity! Let's not waste our tears, let's move the Lord's heart.


After coffee, we did a lil shopping. Ended up in a HUGE used bookstore called McKays.

And there we were! Right behind ol' Steven. There weren't any actual disks. (they probably go like hotcakes... very hot commodity.)


I didn't get any presents but I did find... Oh! My favorite group- Point of Grace's remix album. I remember borrowing this from my friend, Jamie, years ago. I always loved the remix of "Gather at the River" way better than the original.



After shopping it was time to refuel. This is my FAVORITE thing in the world of nutrition. Bolthouse Farm juices. Make note of this, ladies! You can find them cheapest at Walmart or Super Target. They will make you happy. :)


Then back to the hotel to work on lyrics.
Trying to write about justice...


Maybe a Jimmy Stewart movie about Nazi Germany on TCM will help... (wish I was HER!)


Ending the day with pizza...
Which I skipped out on for a work out! Happy girl.

Days off are great. But can't wait to get back to work.

I love you all! Stand for justice and love Jesus in the wilderness. Let me know if you need prayer. I still need some lyrics... so prayers would be appreciated! :)

LM

Just life...

Greetings from the stix! (I mean the studio.) This is the work-out/writing lyrics room. Well, it's just where I hang out and write cause every where else has such dim lighting I can't read my own writing. (but it does set a nice mood...)
Been hangin' in Knoxville for a few days now, Seth just finished drums yesterday. Today D. starts on guitars. I just hang around and alternately think about lyrics and watch Star Wars. :)

Meet Travis. He's our producer. He's pretty funny but he's good. Really good. We're writing and re-writing and changing and cutting and adding. I think since this will be our 3rd record on Tooth and Nail we're all way less protective, way more ready to tear it up and do it better.

This is Travis' backyard. It's gorgeous. When it warms up (it seems that we bring the snow and cold wherever we go...) he said we could hang in the hot tub and grill out. Yeah.

Just a day in the life... now to think up some good song lyrics about justice.

Blessings!
LM

Affecting the atmosphere

Guten Tag!
I am currently in Ennepetal, Germany. Doin' a festival here Fri. and Sat. We drove down to Knoxville, TN last week and started the new record. Did 2 days of pre-production then headed to Nashville to fly out from there last night. I'm runnin' on 2 hours of sleep since about.... I don't know 26 hours ago? Not including a lil doze on the plane. But it's been good times so far!
It always hits me when I look outside and see trees. I don't know why, but it's like- "Whoa! I'm in a different country. But the trees are the same." It's a crazy feeling. Every time I am over here I have a longing inside to intercede for this country. What an amazing opportunity to affect the atmosphere. There is a heaviness here, and I think in many parts of the world that I don't feel at home. I pray constantly in my heart that I can "speak" peace, joy, life and light into the very air while I am here.
Do you know that you can actually change the atmosphere? There is a spiritual climate that can be altered when we step into our authority in Christ.
On the plane I read in Mark the story of Jesus and the disciples crossing a stormy sea in a little boat that was tossed by the waves as Jesus, exhausted from days of ministry, slept in the back. As the disciples began to panic they woke Him and He very calmly took care of the situation. Just a few words and.... peace. I read somewhere that you have authority over any storm you can sleep through. If there is total peace and trust in your heart, you can speak that out into the atmosphere.
So the first thing is to learn total peace and trust in stormy situations, right? Yeah, I'm not there yet! But I'll start small. The next time you're in a stressful situation- maybe not even involving you- in a line at the grocery store, at the airport, in the mall, at a show- just begin to speak, "peace be still" into the air. Speak in tongues under your breath-it's a powerful weapon against darkness!
In the meantime, I've gotta head to a meet&greet and hopefully find some food for mah growling stomach!

Tchuss! (bye)
LM

"Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?"

I was just reminded (by my fav bloggers: Point of Grace. Don't laugh, when I was growing up they were so in. I'm a huge fan.) to consider the story of the ten lepers today. Denise mentioned it quickly at the end of a post but it caught my attention.
It's a pretty familiar story, ten lepers ask for mercy. Jesus sends them to the temple, on the way they are miraculously healed. But just one returns to thank Jesus. It seems rather incredible to me every time I read it, I mean- leprosy was serious. These people had barely any hope but to survive another day and beg food off of someone-from a distance. They were given their lives back in an instant and just walked off?
But today I thought, how many times do I pray for a breakthrough in my own life, and then when I do get it-especially if it's right away, just walk off, satisfied? Or even just give a little, "Sweet! Thanks Lord! You're awesome."?

" And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan."

That's more than a quick thanks! That is worship. Adoration. Radical expression of thanksgiving. Maybe this guy was more impacted because he was a foreigner. I always assume that to mean the other 9 were all Jews- maybe they felt entitled to healing. Maybe this Samaritan didn't have as much hope that HE would be healed as well...
I don't want to take a miracle for granted just because I am a christian. Every day I live is from the Lord and I don't deserve it. And I am certainly not entitled to the blessings heaped upon me!

Lord, make me a radical giver of thanks!! Because You are worthy. Because You give good gifts. I will praise You every day, for Your new mercies and loving-kindness to me!

Don't just say "thank You" today. Worship the Lord with thanksgiving!!!

Love you, sisters!

LM

Secrets...

Every day this week I've been reading out of this devotional, pretty uncharacteristic for me, I usually find devotionals to be....cheesy? watered down? a little lame? anyway, no offense to the writers of devos. But anyway, I got one awhile back for like $3 or something. The last part of it has several chapters on "secrets". For instance, today's was on the secret of time. Is there anything harder to give than time? Especially for us in the western world? Good to be reminded and challenged.
But I wanted to write about a secret from a few days back... The secret I keep coming back to. My favorite secret. The secret of violence.

Matt. 11:12 "...the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force."

"True faith understands not only that God exsists, but that He rewards us according to the intensity of our pursuit of Him."

What do you think it means to be violent in our pursuit of God? I love that term. I think of the "great" men of the bible, or people like Martin Luther, Mother Theresa, David Wilkerson, the underground church in China...
I want to pursue God with violence in my every day, American life. For one thing, like today's chapter, I want to be violent with my time.
"One of the most violent things you'll ever do is wrestle down all the competing elements in your calendar and consistently carve out time to shut yourself into the secret place. The person of violence and wisdom will enact whatever measures are necessary to be alert and engage on a regular basis in this."
I can practice spiritual violence by getting up early to spend time with the Lord. By worshiping in place of that movie, by scheduling in time to pray first, by just listening to the Lord, in so many ways. Most of these have to do with my time but there are other ways too. I need so much help in this! But it's cool to think of these little things as acts of spiritual violence. We are spiritual beings in a spiritual battle. I think we will be surprised one day to find out how many little battles were won in our day to day, seemingly insignificant decisions.
I believe that sometime in my life the ease and comfort I have now will not exist. I want to start practicing spiritual violence now, in little ways, when no one else knows or sees. To make it a habit in secret. Maybe one day it will be obvious, like the persecuted believers in China and other nations. Maybe it will always be in secret...

But my Father sees in secret. Matt. 6:6

Sometimes I think it's the secret things that bring Him the most joy. So, here's my challenge to you and to myself: do something secretly violent today.

And know that the Father sees. He looks and He goes, "Oh! That one just captured My heart again. She is so beautiful. See how she loves Me in secret!!"

I love you all.
LM

Hey girls...
I've wanted to start a blog for awhile, but it takes me a long time to actually get things done, the perfectionist in me, I suppose. This is a girls-only blog so if you are a boy-sorry, this is not the place for you!! I just love my sisters and want to encourage you.
This isn't really a blog... just an introductory note really. Blogs to come!

I love you, sisters.

Leah