Pretty Ball for Louis!

Raise your hand if you ever got to see my Dramatic Interp last speech year.

No?

Didn't think so. It wasn't all that great, so don't ask me to do it for you. (sorry)

But I was thinking about this song...(yes, it's a Tenth Ave song, you'll have to put up with my random spazzes of obsessions if you're going to read this blog) called "all the pretty things". (and if you haven't seen the post about the concert, keep scrolling...)

Now in my opinion, I would have just called it "pretty things", but never mind that. =P

Back to this interp. This little kid wants this orange, and he calls it the "pretty ball", and that's really all that this song reminded me of. Something pretty that you want.

Here are the lyrics. Read them, they're not that long. Or better yet, listen to the actual thing.

We are, we are, we're caught in the in between
Of who we already are and who we are yet to be
And we're looking for love but finding we're still in need
It's only what we have lost will we be allowed to keep

And we're waiting but our eyes are wandering
To all this earth holds dear

Look at all the pretty things
That steal my heart away
I can feel I'm fading
‘Cause Lord I love so many things
That keep me from Your face
Come and save me

We run, we run to finally be set free
But we're fighting for what we already have received

So we're waiting but our eyes are wandering
To all this earth holds dear

Look at all the pretty things
That steal my heart away
I can feel I'm fading
‘Cause Lord I love so many things
That keep me from Your face
Come and save me

One of things that stood out to me at the concert (you're going to hear a lot about this concert for awhile, I have a feeling. Sorry. =P ) was what Mike said about idols. If we have something we idolize, that we put our time and self into, something that gets in the way of God...why do we expect Him to give us more of it?

This song reminds me a lot of the complacency of my own life. In between who I am and who I want to be. Not really going anywhere....stuck on wanting material things I can touch and feel and posses and have that's mine.

It's only what we have lost will we be allowed to keep.

Do you remember my Illustrated Oratory? That it was what I had lost, I had given to God, that I was actually allowed to keep - to actually take to Nationals?

It's only what we have lost will we be allowed to keep.

Jesus says that whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for His sake will find it. And not just "saving" his life, but even "desiring" to save his life. Just the simple act of desiring.

Desire isn't all bad - but it is when we refuse to let God's desires consume it.

When I was little, I loved gymnastics. I still really, really do. I remember having a conversation with God (not too terribly long ago) about how much I was doing in my life and if there was anything I should give up. And I kept thinking to myself/to God (rather defiantly) "Well. I'm not quitting gymnastics, God."

Immediately I realized the error of this statement...but even though I told God "sure, if you want me to quit gymnastics, I'm cool with that," I didn't really give that to God. I clung to it because I wanted it so badly. Desired. To keep it.

Guess who hasn't done gymnastics in over a year?

So I think to myself (oh, what a wretched heart I have) "Well. Maybe I can jinx it. If I give it up, maybe God will give it back."

Of course not. What God wants is total surrender. He wants my heart and He wants it completely. When my speech was disqualified, it was such a shock for me that I had absolutely nowhere to turn but to God - and He gave me the strength and the peace to accept what I could not keep on my own, made me to realize that it really was Him who had done this work in me - that it was none of my own doing. And then - He gave it back!

Look at the things of this world that tie our hearts down from being completely surrendered to God! Computers, clothes, jewelry, shoes...having nice school supplies, nice things in your house. A nice car, a nice this, a nice that. We crave the acceptance of others, yet we so often fail to crave what really matters - God.

We run, we run to finally be set free
But we're fighting for what we already have received

We try so hard be accepted - but we already are. God doesn't need us to prove ourselves to Him. He doesn't need us to build up a life that is perfect and good so that He can accept us. (unlike a lot of humans of the world) He accepts us as we are. Insignificant, worldly little scumbags (as Mike put it) who let such flighty, perishable things take captive of our hearts instead of the one who can really satisfy us.

Lord, I love so many things
That keep me from your face
Come and save me!