In Matthew 6 Jesus tells us how to pray. It’s an awesome piece of the Bible to memorize! The best way to memorize anything is to hear it, speak it and see it… this video is so pretty to watch, you might want to watch it again and again. You will for sure walk away with the verse in your head! The song is called Your Kingdom Come, by Diane Luna. The song is available on iTunes.
I love reading my Year-Through-The-Bible. There’s something for each day, and somebody ‘else’ schedules the something. This means that if something spoke to me today as I read, I can have confidence that I didn’t manipulate my reading to fit into my plans. It’s usually GOD speaking. In today’s read, in Mark 5, Jesus was just cruising along doing his thing, and comes across a girl who died and needs to come back to life. He goes to her house, goes inside, grabs her hand and says, “ARISE!” Boom, just like that, she’s healed. Yes!!!! That’s my Jesus. I love picturing that scene in my head, and I love that I can reach my hand up to Jesus and he will pull me up to standing. Boom, just like that, I can have His supernatural help. And that is awesomeness for today.
This morning I was noticing how much my little girl has begun to reach for things. It seems like overnight she became a little grabber! Anything within her reach ends up in her lap and FAST. I began to ponder why she’s so grabby. One conclusion I reached is that she doesn’t know yet that things can hurt her. She reaches out in excitement to capture every interesting thing she puts her eyes on. Another is, simply, she trusts me wholeheartedly.
Oh that we would trust God wholeheartedly, just like babies! That we would reach out and grab the things that He puts before us. What a great analogy! My toddler daughter has inspired me today, to be a “little grabber” for God. A-men!
Words cannot express how much I love Park Chapel. I really love the low-key, artist vibe. And LOVE how much this group worships. Something about them is just so sweet. I really think that people who attend a church will follow the lead of their pastor. He has such a loving heart, you can see it reflected in the people. One of my favorite things (and also the most intimidating) is that this particular church is FULL of musicians. I’ve never seen so much unique talent in one spot! And some really great debut albums have been recorded in their studio! (Wink, wink)
I totally believe God can inspire you through simple obedience to Him. How do I know? It happened to me recently.
First, a little about me. I’m Diane Luna: mother of two tykes, happily-married pastor’s wife, busy worship leader, part time day job worker and full time garage sale forager. I’m also a painter. And… I am a songwriter and a blogger.
How did I manage to pull off making a new album? Settle in, grab a coffee, and I’ll tell you. And while you’re at it, heres a little video I made…
Life has been crazy the last few years. Our two kids arrived unexpectedly out of nowhere (we had been trying for six years), my husband left his day job to become a full-time pastor of a church, and we dug up our roots and relocated. New kids, new ministry, new town, new friends.
In the midst of the “excitement” my prayer life kinda took a back seat. It wasn’t like I had a bad attitude, I just became caught up in work, chores and mommy-do’s.
My first album Rock Everlasting (click to listen/download) came out about six years ago, while we thought we weren’t going to have kids. Surprise… Isaac arrived right smack in the middle of recording everything. He was so cute, his little bundled-up six-week-old self all snuggy on the studio couch during recording days. Love!
Seeing a song go from scribbled bits of paper to moments of beautiful recording has been amazing. Indescribable, really. I toured as much as I could with that first album, even though our life-happenings made touring progressively harder to accomplish. Dragging diaper bag in one hand and guitar case in the other is not very glamorous. Do-able, but not glamorous!
I learned something with that first album. I learned there comes a point when you kinda want to make ANOTHER album. Those old familiar songs might still be new to some folks, but to you they’re just… old. So I recently summoned up my courage and approached my hubby: “Babe I really want to do another album.” Want to know what he said?
In that low, steady voice that I adore, I heard these words:
“Do you have songs?”
I can’t remember how I hedged answering that question, but I’ll let you in on a little secret: I did NOT have songs. I just had scattered piles of ideas.
My thoughts went a little something like this: “How can you expect me to finish songs while pulling THIS schedule? Come on, just say yes for now, I’ll figure it out.” But my hubby in all his wisdom cut straight to the chase: To make an album, I needed songs.
I’ll not kid you, our schedule is definitely challenging. Any of you who have children will nod to this: it’s entirely impossible to get it ALL done. You have to let things go. You might get the little ones to school on time, but maybe your bills are a day late or the fridge is running on empty. You just choose your priorities for that day, and shuffle the rest. At least that’s what we do in our house. It works, and we have a blast. All is good.
But adding another project in? Oh so hard. I had NO idea when I’d make time for working on songs. In my sleep maybe? My new-album balloon deflated at the thought. But something inside me wanted to try.
Well, one can only keep their prayer-life in the back seat for so long… and conviction came deep to my heart. I knew that God had been wooing me to Himself. To spend MORE time with Him. To linger over the scriptures like I did when I was younger. To talk with Him about my goings-on. To include him in my stress level. To become a better wife. A better mom.
I wasn’t sure how I was gonna do it, but I decided in my heart I was gonna do it.
Enter… the alarm clock.
It is as simple as this. I began to drag myself out of bed an hour early, and zombie down the hall to my pre-designated quiet-time spot. Or “psot” as my two year old daughter affectionately calls it. I had my year-thru-the-bible permanently placed on the table, a little throw-blanket, my iPhone with prayer list, and my wonderful hubby who gets up earlier than I and makes the coffee. Wakie wakie! I made a commitment and have stuck with it since.
And here’s the best part of the story:
Does anyone else’s mind wander during prayer? Or is it just me. I had this new commitment to spending God-time, and I was doing it (just about) every day before the kids woke up. Awesome! But I kept getting DISTRACTED by bits of songs I would hear in my head as I read the scriptures. So, as every good songwriter dutifully attempts, I would STOP and write the ideas down right then. I never could quite focus. And I felt guilty for straying from plan.
…it took me a while to realize… that WAS the plan.
Duh. Hello! God hadn’t wasted time rewarding me for committing to Him. He rewarded me HUGE… with songs, and songs. In less than three months, I had a whole stack of finished drafts to play for a producer friend to see what he thought. (He loved them by the way.) This after like a four year dry spell! And not only did I have a stack of songs, the songs had distinct vision and direction as a group. They were like this little bundle of gifts from God. Which were designed by Him to become an album.
Enter… the album title: Everything is Good.
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” James 1:17
This new album? Sounds WAY better than I ever dreamed.
Coincidence? Not at all…
Still praying? yes I am.
Are YOU?
Taken from my Journal:
Sitting here at retreat, at Calvary Bible College Murietta, sipping coffee and musing. I’ve been feeling a little un-spiritual lately. Found some gems in Jeremiah 31 this morning, as God always knows how to cheer me up. I read about how Israel was sinful, and that God was the one who scattered them. Wondering if God is telling me something? But then knowing how often Israel sinned, and reading in Jeremiah how God has plans to ransom and restore them, blesses me and gives me peace.
JEREMIAH 31:10-14 ”HEAR THE WORD OF THE LORD , O NATIONS, AND DECLARE IT IN THE COASTLANDS FAR AWAY; SAY, ‘HE WHO SCATTERED ISRAEL WILL GATHER HIM, AND WILL KEEP HIM AS A SHEPHERD KEEPS HIS FLOCK.’ FOR THE LORD HAS RANSOMED JACOB AND HAS REDEEMED HIM FROM HANDS TOO STRONG FOR HIM. THEY SHALL COME AND SING ALOUD ON THE HEIGHT OF ZION, AND THEY SHALL BE RADIANT OVER THE GOODNESS OF THE LORD , OVER THE GRAIN, THE WINE, AND THE OIL, AND OVER THE YOUNG OF THE FLOCK AND THE HERD; THEIR LIFE SHALL BE LIKE A WATERED GARDEN, AND THEY SHALL LANGUISH NO MORE. THEN SHALL THE YOUNG WOMEN REJOICE IN THE DANCE, AND THE YOUNG MEN AND THE OLD SHALL BE MERRY. I WILL TURN THEIR MOURNING INTO JOY; I WILL COMFORT THEM, AND GIVE THEM GLADNESS FOR SORROW. I WILL FEAST THE SOUL OF THE PRIESTS WITH ABUNDANCE, AND MY PEOPLE SHALL BE SATISFIED WITH MY GOODNESS, DECLARES THE LORD .”
I cleaned the kitchen yesterday. I didn’t just clean it… I scrubbed for three hours. My 5 year old son was in and out helping some, which was more like watching movies, playing & stuff. He was also on the patio making friends with a bird. ”Peck peck peck!” he would yell. He thought it was a woodpecker. I remember seeing that bird perched on a patio chair near the open kitchen door, and thinking to myself I ought to shut the door. I just had this hunch but I shoved it in the back of my mind. Next thing I knew, the bird had followed my son into the house and was flying around the kitchen, pooping on the floors and curtains and the family room couch!
I pondered as I scrubbed bird poop, that Mr. Birdie had shown me a great little analogy. How I scrub and scour to clean myself up but if I leave my heart’s door ajar to temptation, sin can dash in quickly to mess it all up! Such a great picture. Just as I’ll definitely remember to close the kitchen door from now on, and keep those feathery critters out… I am reminded to keep my heart’s door sealed up tight against the flapping wings of temptation. Because every tomorrow is a new day!
Stickers on the furniture, french fries in the car, a cheese stick in my purse. Spit-up on… everything. There’s gravel in the dryer, bandaids stuck to the trashcan, matchbox cars under my feet, plastic teapot in my bathroom. There’s whale soap in my shower (for special occasion big-boy showers), play-dough crumbs in the carpet, bakugan magnets stuck on the lamp. Glitter on the dashboard… dinosaurs on the kitchen table…
And a HUGE smile on my face every time I walk through my house :)
Have you ever had an embarrassing moment? Mine was at the Summer Concerts outdoor event at Horizon Valley Center a couple years ago. I was super stoked to play with Ricky, producer for the Rock Everlasting album, and also to share the stage with Ian Galleghar and the Dance Floor Prophets. I love outdoor evangelism, it’s so amazing to watch God work on people’s hearts. And I like the loud sound systems too! So I get up there, begin a beautiful song, and this fly starts buzzing me. It went in my nose, buzzed my armpit, my eyes… I totally flubbed. I actually had to start the song over. Howwwww embarrassing! Everything turned out alright but I was humbled. And at the end of the day, after all the great bands… it was the clown with the Gospel Puppet Show who truly made an impact. SO many kids raised their hands and wanted to know Jesus! A good humbling is necessary now and then, to keep things in perspective. God is in control, and He will always do good things, no matter if we flub, or not. And at the end of the day… I was totally encouraged to keep on keepin’ on, despite when there are flies in my armpit.
I had the most wonderful time recently with my son’s preschool teacher. I noticed something special about her the moment I met her two years ago. And with relationship over time, invites to our church events… genuine friendship… we reached the grand finale: I got to pray with her one night to invite Jesus into her heart. We spent hours looking at bible verses, giggling about life, shedding tears of repentance for sin. She left my house with a smile on her face, bible in hand, one of my CD’s… ready to rock-and-roll for Christ. I am so grateful that God would let me be a part of His plan for her life. And, I am encouraged to keep making friends… even the teachers need Jesus!
