I totally identified with this song because we so often focus on all the things we need and want and hope to accomplish that we miss out on the simple blessings we have every day, like the sunrise and just being able to breathe. We take so much for granted, as if we're promised another day, but we see stories all the time of people who didn't have another day. This song is a call to be thankful and remember the gift of life.
(Stephanie Lewis/Guy Zabka)
Been driving through the night I pull up and see the lights This is the place that I call home I watch you as you sleep Think of all you mean to me
Touch your face Kiss you softly Before I go to sleep pray under the stars Search my soul and check my heart And thank God for
Another day Another chance to love the ones I love To find my way To laugh, to dance Watch the sun come up Another day I get to live As if Every breath could be the last I take I get another day
I've got a hand that I can hold Someone who knows my soul A safe place to lay my head at night So why do I forget How much I've been blessed in life Forget what means the most to me
As I'm waking up I feel my beating heart So grateful that I've come this far And thank God for
Chorus
To make somebody smile Go the extra mile Take a wrong and make it right And try to touch somebodys life
This song really represents where I've been, and it also makes me realize that I never want to get to the place where I stop waking up to something new. I hope this song encourages others to wake up-maybe to some things kept silent, dreams unfulfilled, fears, insecurities, or something someone has been shutting out, pretending it doesn't exist. It's okay to wake up to those things and let our God turn them into good.
(Natalie Grant, Joy Williams, Rob Graves, Jason McArthur)
Sometimes I feel like I'm just existing I'm not really living I'm only watching the time slip away I've forgotten who I am in you I'm not who I'm meant to be I'm drifting farther away from my destiny
Chorus: Awaken my heart, awaken my soul Awaken your power and take control Awaken the passion to live for you, Lord Awaken me My soul is longing, my heart is searching I'm desperate for you to move Give me a hunger, pull me closer I'm crying out to you Awaken my heart, awaken my soul Awaken your power and take control Awaken the passion to live for you, Lord Open my eyes so I can see your presence Dwelling inside Wake me up, cause I can't live another minute If I'm not shining your light Awaken my heart, awaken my soul Awaken the passion in me Lord, awaken me to live my destiny Lord, awaken me and shine your light through me Lord, awaken me to live my destiny Lord, awaken me and shine your light through me
This song is the kind of music I always wanted to make but never have. It has a driving, modern rock sound that just grabs you. But then, underneath all that, is a really great praise and worship lyric. The message is simple: we can run all we want to, but we can never get away from God's presence. That's a pretty hard truth to wrap your mind around at times.
It must mean something When I close my eyes Visions of you come to me and flood my mind It must mean something When my heart is true All that I can think about is you
(Chorus) Everywhere I go you find me Even when I run I'm captured I'm captured in you Everywhere your love surrounds me I cannot escape I'm captured I'm captured It must mean something When I'm standing still Yours is the only voice I wanna hear It must mean something That I've come this far Lifting up my hands and offering my heart
(Repeat Chorus)
(Bridge)
You are the sky You are the sea You are the air I wanna breathe You're everywhere Your love last forever And if I fall You won't let go You hold me when I can't hold on anymore You reach out and rescue me
Two months is too little They let him go They had no sudden healing To think that providence Would take a child from his mother While she prays, is appalling Who told us we'd be rescued What has changed and Why should we be saved from nightmares Were asking why this happens to us Who have died to live, it's unfair This is what it means to be held How it feels, when the sacred is torn from your life And you survive This is what it is to be loved and to know That the promise was that when everything fell We'd be held This hand is bitterness We want to taste it and Let the hatred numb our sorrows The wise hand opens slowly To lilies of the valley and tomorrow This is what it means to be held How it feels, when the sacred is torn from your life And you survive This is what it is to be loved and to know That the promise was that when everything fell We'd be held If hope if born of suffering If this is only the beginning Can we not wait, for one hour Watching for our Savior This is what it means to be held How it feels, when the sacred is torn from your life And you survive This is what it is to be loved and to know That the promise was that when everything fell We'd be held
Not long after I returned from India to experience firsthand what is being done to address the human trafficking issue, my husband and I went to Los Angeles to write with Trina Harmon. The morning we were scheduled to write with her, the top story in The Los Angeles Times was about a sex trafficking ring that was busted in Anaheim, across the street from Disneyland. The article profoundly impacted me, and I found myself telling Trina about my own experience in India. She said, "We need to write a song for those girls," and she just started writing out all these lines-pretty princess, broken crown-a lot of great word pictures, and it eventually became "Home." We all need a place to belong, to know that we are safe; a place where we can discover our dreams and deal with the brokenness in our lives.
You keep watching the rain come down (yeah) Pretty princess, broken crown (yeah) And your dreams have all burned out But don't you know that they brought you Here somehow, all you need to know is....
Chorus: You're home, where secrets are told See a new world unfolding Where hearts are one, the pain's undone And your finally belonging, yeah And you need to know, you need to know You're home, yeah You need to know, you need to know You're home So take your coat off and stay awhile (yeah) What made you cry can make you smile again You can hold your head up high 'Cause don't you know that you Oh, girl you were born to fly When you realize....... You're home, where secrets are told See a new world unfolding Where hearts are one, the pain's undone And your finally belonging, yeah And you need to know, you need to know You're home, yeah You need to know All you really need to know is you're home Welcome home Everything's gonna be alright 'Cause you're home Feel the sun, your day has come You're not alone You're home
Our culture is obsessed with reality makeover shows and the outward appearance of beauty. But before we makeover the external, it's so much more important to look at what's happening in our spirits. At the time I wrote this song, I was desperate for a spiritual makeover, and so this is my way of expressing that need-it's my heartfelt prayer.
I've been silent instead of speaking up Gave my advice instead of giving love I have been unfair, faithless and unkind I have shut my eyes just so I would stay blind It's not what I'm meant to do Cause I wanna honor You
Make me over, make me new Make me a mirror, a reflection of You Take me all apart, take me to Your heart And pull me closer Oh Jesus, make me over
Take away the pride that whispers in the dark Take the stone out of the middle of my heart Hidden underneath my insecurities Is the servant that You've destined me to be Day after precious day I get in my own way
So make me over, make me new Make me a mirror, a reflection of You Take me all apart, take me to Your heart And pull me closer Sweet Savior, make me over
I am only made of Your imagining I'm dust and clay on the wind Wash me in the river of Your sacrifice Until I'm changed, purified
Take me all apart, take me to Your heart And pull me closer My Jesus, make me over
All of us have come to a place where we feel like we've been knocked down, like we don't exist for anything, like we can't make a difference, like we don't matter. So this is just a fun way of reminding us that God created our lives individually, specifically for something beautiful.
Words & Music by: Matthew West Chance Scoggins
This is a song for anyone whose ever been Knocked down and can't get back again Stuck in the corner, can't move forward All alone and you think you're going nowhere This is a song for anyone whose ever stood underneath the sun And felt so small, two feet tall and so out of place
He sees you - He knows you - He loves you And He wants you to know that
The life that you've been living, the days that you've been given Were made for something beautiful Life - don't let it pass you by Because you were created for something beautiful
Heaven holds a dream that's just for you And there are things only you can do So step by faith, put the past away so step by faith, don't be afraid It'll take you to a better day put the past and your fears away Second to minute to hour to life Time always seems to fly It's on the go and before you know Your days are through
But he sees you - He knows you - He loves you And he wants you to know that
The life that you've been living, the days that you've been given Were made for something beautiful Life - don't let it pass you by Because you were created for something beautiful
What are - you waiting for What are you - waiting for What - are you waiting for There's something beautiful
God has a divine purpose for our lives, and there's such comfort and peace in knowing that even when our lives are a mess, He sees the incredible beauty underneath. This song reflects my own journey of self-discovery and what God has shown me about who He is and who I am.
Foolish heart looks like we're here again Same old game of plastic smile Don't let anybody in Hiding my heartache, will this glass house break How much will they take before I'm empty Do I let it show, does anybody know?
Chorus: But you see the real me Hiding in my skin, broken from within Unveil me completely I'm loosening my grasp There's no need to mask my frailty Cause you see the real me Painted on, life is behind a mask Self-inflicted circus clown I'm tired of the song and dance Living a charade, always on parade What a mess I've made of my existence But you love me even now And still I see somehow But you see the real me Hiding in my skin, broken from within Unveil me completely I'm loosening my grasp There's no need to mask my frailty Cause you see the real me Wonderful, beautiful is what you see When you look at me You're turning the tattered fabric of my life into A perfect tapestry I just wanna be me But you see the real me Hiding in my skin, broken from within Unveil me completely I'm loosening my grasp There's no need to mask my frailty Cause you see the real me And you love me just as I am Wonderful, beautiful is what you see When you look at me
When I was just discovering the whole human trafficking issue, I thought, "You get up on stage every night and feel like you are motivating other people, but what are you doing with your own life other than trying to be a motivator? What are you actually tangibly doing to make a difference in the world? You say you want to, so what are you waiting for?"
Sometimes I get that overwhelming feeling So sad those faces on tv If I tried to make a difference would it helo anyway But then I stop and to myself I say
So you wanna change the world What are you waiting for You say you're gonna start right now What are you waiting for It only takes once voice So come on now and shout it out Give a little more What are you waiting for
Sometimes I feel a little helpless Seems like I can't do a thing But anything is possible just you wait and see Good things happen if you just believe
Chorus
Someday somehow Gonna take that step Cause time is ticking away
Right here right now Before it's too late Gonna face tomorrow today
This is my love song to the Lord. This record has a lot of issue-driven songs, so I wanted to include a straight-up praise and worship song that simply expresses my love for Jesus.
I stand in awe That you know my name Just a glimpse of your love for me And now I am changed Becuz you showed me how to walk a different way I have peace like I never known I am living
(Chorus) You move me Lord you move me Theres a fire burning in my soul And its flowing through me Lord you move me Lord you move me Now I must tell the world what I know You move me
For too many years I have been color blind Only saw in shades of gray Stuck in black and white But by grace you opened my eyes Now I see the light And your love has covered my world And makes my soul cry (Chorus)
Day after day I'm amazed that you gave your life for me. When I think of the price that you paid How can I not say (Chorus)2x
You move me Yeah yeah You move me You move me Yes you do Oh your love amazes me Yeah yeah yeah You move me. Yeah yeah Yeah yeah