I Need A Silent Night

It's that Time of Year Again! For what, you ask?  Christmas, yes, but ALSO time to see Amy Grant!

Ahh, it's the small things in life that excite me.  This year I will not be dragging my husband or my parents to see Amy.  I will be joined by a few of the lovely woman I work with.  We have all had a busy 2010 and we are looking forward to an even busier 2011.  With this said, we are all frantically looking for some time off around Christmas to relax with our loved ones and refocus on Christ before we get back to it as we bring in the New Year.

One thing I love about seeing Amy in concert is the relaxation I feel.  I know, during those few hours,  that I am there and my mind can let go of everything else as I sing along with the songs that are so familiar to me. The songs will be even more familiar this time since Amy will be joined by her husband Vince Gill to perform their Christmas show.  I am so glad that the ladies I work with will be able to join me in a night away just to fellowship, relax and think about what Christ has done for us through His birth (and to make a big deal over Amy Grant too, of course).

There are several songs performed by Amy that hit home with me (some of which I have blogged about before) but there is one Christmas song that is beyond real in my life and I am sure the lyrics will hit home for many of you as well.  Amy's "I Need A Silent Night" portrays how I often feel around the Christmas season.  What about you?

I've made the same mistake before

Too many malls, too many stores
December traffic, Christmas rush
It breaks me till I push and shove

Children are crying while mothers are trying
To photograph Santa and sleigh
The shopping and buying and standing forever in line
What can I say?

I need a silent night, a holy night
To hear an angel voice through the chaos and the noise
I need a midnight clear, a little peace right here
To end this crazy day with a silent night

December comes then disappears
Faster and faster every year
Did my own mother keep this pace
Or was the world a different place?

Where people stayed home wishing for snow
Watching three channels on their TV
Look at us now rushing around
Trying to buy Christmas peace

I need a silent night, a holy night
To hear an angel voice through the chaos and the noise
I need a midnight clear, a little peace right here
To end this crazy day with a silent night

What was it like back there in Bethlehem
With peace on earth, good will toward men?

Every shepherd's out in the field
Keeping watch over their clock by night
And the glory of the Lord shone around them
And they were so afraid

And the angels said fear not for behold
I bring you good news of a great joy that shall be for all people
For unto you is born this day a Savior, who is Christ the Lord
And his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace

I need a silent night, a holy night
To hear an angel voice through the chaos and the noise
I need a midnight clear, a little peace right here
To end this crazy day with a silent night

To end this crazy day with a silent night 

Amy sang this song the last time I saw her in concert, and before she started, she asked everyone in the audience to raise their hand if they almost didn't come that night due to their busy and over booked schedules. Evan and I joined many other individuals when we raised our hands (we had moved into our current house that day and barely made it in the door in time for the concert).  Before the song began, she spoke about the importance of a silent time with Christ.  She spoke from the heart about the times in her life when things felt like they were spinning nonstop due to all that was going on.  As I sat in that large audience, I thought about how crazy life had been that month.  Now, I sit at home and think about how crazy life is now.  With our goals of giving our best performance at work, taking care of the ones we love and getting all the errands taken care of, it is so easy to run and run and forget to take the time to sit, listen and appreciate what we have.   I spend a lot of time telling others to have a silent night with Christ but I don't take my own advice often enough. 

So, here is a challenge for us both.  Do you need a silent night with Christ?  I do.  Let us decide to make that happen this week.  Let us decide to make this happen more than once over the Holidays. And for Christmas, let us give those silent nights to ourselves as a gift and share those precious moments, the ones we find when God meets us where we are, with the ones we love!

Better Than A Hallelujah Sometimes

If you know me, then you know that I am possibly Amy Grants biggest fan. I am fan enough that my sister is afraid that I have achieved stalker status and my husband worries that meeting her this past October and seeing her with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra in November were bigger deals to me than our wedding last April (they weren't, but the events were a close 2nd).

I spent hours upon hours singing "Big Yellow Taxi," "Father's Eyes," "House of Love," and "Children of the World" while jumping up and down on my bed when I was younger (which was usually followed by my sibling threatening to throw each of my albums out the window once she couldn't handle any more of my repeated non since). To this day, when I am over stressed, tired or just in a bad mood, I can pop in any Amy Grant album (be it from the late 70's, 80's or 90's, it really doesn't matter) and be back to the swing of things in no time.

*Side Note-Have I mentioned that the name of this blog and its tag line both come from one of her songs released in 2003: "Simple Things"

Anyway, all this fandom isn't why I decided on this post, this past week Amy Grant released a new song on her Fan Club website (it is OK with me if you think I'm lame because I'm in the fan club) that will soon be out with her newest album. This song did not jar me because it is a familiar tune with a catchy beat, something I've sung a million times or even because it is performed by a beloved artist. This song caught my attention because of the heart strings it pulled and the vivid imagery it leaves in my head. It goes like this...

God loves a lullaby

In a mothers tears in the dead of night

Better than a Hallelujah sometimes.

God loves a drunkards cry,

A soldiers plea not to let him die

Better than a Hallelujah sometimes.

We pour out our miseries

God just hears a melody

Beautiful the mess we are

But honest cries of breaking hearts

Are better than a Hallelujah.

Woman holding on for life,

A dying man giving up the fight

Are better than a Hallelujah sometimes

Tears of shame for whats been done,

A silence when the words wont come

Are better than a Hallelujah sometimes.

Better than a church bell ringing,

Better than a choir singing loud, singing out.

We pour out our miseries

God just hears a melody

Beautiful the mess we are

But honest cries of breaking hearts

Are better than a Hallelujah.

Do these words touch anyone else? Be you an Amy fan or not, these lyrics are simply beautiful.

As soon as I heard this song I began to think about both the overcomings and tragedies of life. I think about how freeing a "Hallelujah!" or "Praise the Lord!" can be in the a moment of victory and how spirit filled a worship service can be as we ask Christ to draw near to us. Then, I think about how awesome the touch of God can be in the face of struggle and in a moment of surrender.

I often imagine this awesome moment in Heaven with an army of angels singing the "Hallelujah Chorus" at the pearly gates as we are able to see the face of God for the first time (this may not be in your imagination, but I sure do like it). But, how many times do we cry out here on Earth and not realize how close the face of God is to us at that very moment?

We sing praises and Hallelujahs to the Lord for our blessing and for His help and when we are brutally honest and open with our prayers and pleas, the Lord hears our cries and hopes. They are a song to His ears as we trust in Him and except a power that only He has.

In a World where we are expected to answer "fine" when someone asks "How are you?"- I rest in the knowledge that I cannot fool my Lord. My God knows when I am running a fake facade and gives me strength and comfort when I admit to what a mess I am.

"We pour out our miseries, God just hears a melody. Beautiful the mess we are, but honest cries of breaking hearts, are better than a hallelujah sometimes."