COMS Final Project

The Band Your About To Hear (TBYATH) has just released their first full-length album called 'Removed,' Dec. 9. TBYATH is a Christian rock band out of Lynchburg , VA that started in the fall of 2008 at Liberty University. The band started out with six members, a keys player, acoustic guitarist, electric guitarist, drummer, lead singer, and sound engineer. Since then, this Fall of 2009, TBYATH has added a seventh member, a bassist.
I listened to this album after it came out on Wednesday and I was pleasantly surprised as to what I heard. I thought that the music that new, intricate and very thought out. All the instruments blended so incredibly well together, even though there are so many. I do really like that there is only one electric guitar and one acoustic guitar in the sound, usually there is so much going on with two electric guitars.
The songs themselves were very well written and executed. The lyrics are very powerful and really grab your attention while you are listening. One specific song I really enjoyed was 'Removed'. The lyrics caught my attention and the build up fromthe verses to the chorus and again to the bridge just captured the essence of what the song was trying to portray.
I think that this band will go far, and their first album, 'Removed' will be a huge hit on the charts. I am excited to see how it will rank over the next couple weeks and months. This first album is only one of many great things to come out of TBYATH. I hear they are starting, even now, writing for their next album to be released sooner than most would expect.
This group of young musicians got together in a snap, out of nowhere for a talent show called 'Coffeehouse' at Liberty University, where all members attend college. It was totally a God thing, they all say, or else this ministry wouldn't be growing an prospering so rapidly.
This band definitely started out with the hand of God and if it is what He has in store for them, then their ministry will go very far very quickly.

COMS220

Ok, so my friends, Josie, Whitney, Addison, and I went to a new church last sunday. The church is called Tree of Life, you may know of it, it is off Timberlake road. After the service, Josie and I were driving to lunch together and we started chatting about the pastor and the service and things we liked and enjoyed and things that we might not have totally agreed on. Somehow the topic of children going to church came up and when we have children if we would drag them to church with us kicking and screaming or let them decide for themselves when they wanted to accept Jesus and come to church on their own.
I decided that I didn't want to force my kids to come to church, but I would strongly encourage it. Then Josie said,
'I would not make them go to church either but I would ask them why they didn't want to go and if something happened that caused them to not like church."
She then said something else that caught my attention. She mentioned that church was supposed to be filled and make up the body of Christ. We then started discussing how everyone has a different job in the body. Some people hare the hands, others the feet.
People could

• teach
• serve
• cook
• fix
• paint
• sing

Although, we all have different talents and jobs in the church some of us have similar jobs. For example, I have only ever been to churches who have one pastor that preaches on Sundays. I feel like there are probably at least a few other pastors in the congregation that would have a huge impact on the people if they were to have a go at preaching on one Sunday. I feel like sometimes we delegate one person for a job that could be fulfilled by a few. There are other people and teachers that have a word from God that someone needs to hear, and yes, maybe they are preaching at Sunday school or in small groups, but why is there only one 'head' pastor. We are all equally the body of Christ.
We all have different functions but we are all still needed equally to make up the whole body. We need to to be the body all together because if one little part gets off track then we all do because we are all one body. We need to look after each other and love each other. We need to help each other grow so our body can grow and be healthy. We need to go out and make more disciples so our body will grow larger and larger everyday.

A poem called...

searching for Love
on the train to nowhere
passing station after station
just looking for Him
where might he be?
in a tree?
or maybe Hes a bee?..she thinks..
i'm sure He couldn't be
inside me....
oh how wrong she is
you’ll find Him
just where she thought.
not..he was found
inside her heart...that's where
He makes it pound
not for you and me
but for He, its all for He
and He is Je--sus

I got a funny little feeling..

ok so im in the middle of bumblejazz Ohio....and there it NOOOTHING to do here! and its been rainy and gross the past couple days so i feel low and not wanting to anything but sit and read and play with milton(my computer). I feel like a huge bummm...oh wow...yeah i do. I miss my family at LU...its hard to explain it...but i feel like they are my family...i love all of the people there so much! like my heart aches a little from being away from them. and i cant sufficiently tell them how much i care about them and love them without being super creepy or really annoying haha. so i guess il jsut write it down. I am here with about 30 other people learning about Studio Sound Engineering for 5 Weeks. :) im learing a lot already and its only the 4th day haha. Next week we start actually tracking and recording actual bands and im super psyched!! I cant wait to know all that im going to know when i leave and head back to good ol Lynchvegas! :)
but there is a part of me that just doenst want to be here. I miss my support system at Liberty, yes there are a few christians here and thats awesome cause i expected there not to be any...both my roomates are christians. I jsut dont feel like myself here, maybe its cause we are all still getting to know eachother but meeting new people is so awkward, i am so concious about myactions and what i wear and how my hair looks, like stupid things. I dont know if how i act will affect someone in someway that will cause them to not like me. ugg how exausting. I just need to STOP IT!. cause yanno what...WHY SHOULD WE CARE!! God made us who we are for a reason. if he made us the way we are...then why should we act liek anyone else? I mean i guess i should care that im following biblical views and guidlines but other than that...i should be able to be who i am without any restrictions, but for me...i dont feel that way. i feel distant form these people a little hazy even i guess. Yes a lot of them are not Christians living for Christ, but they are really interesting and nice people for the most part.
I mean i know the distance between us is that they dont ahve Christ is them as I do. I guess it is still strange to me to see how intensly affecting that is on relationships with people.
Maybe...hmm?...maybe God is trying to guard me from their evil ways, as to not get to close to them so they dont cause me to stumble or fall.
I mean there are some good looking guys here, but for real... i could care less...i have no interest in being pursued by any of these guys no matter how nice or attractive they are. They arnt living for Christ and that is what keeps us apart. I guess that is what i was trying to firgure out all along...blogging is so helpful..lol...
ok well i guess this is getting a bit long...i just needed to type out my thoughts to get them straight with myself.
Well i just want to let all my friends know that i miss them soo much...more than they will ever know
i miss the way i laugh, cry, think, perseive the world, persieve Christ, the way i act, the way i speak.
I think that there are definitly some people that just being around them brings out a good side of you that others cant. Well you guys are that for me. and thanks for always being there for me when i have questions or doubts or anything at all!
cant wait to be back at home! :)
Christ in me
Lulu

Home is Where the Heart Is.....Seriously!

Ok...so i got home for thanksgiving break yesterday night at around 6:15. It was a looooong drive but it snowed 30 mins after i got into pennsy!! it was amaaazing! i looove the snow..i dont even mind driving in it...haha im a tard...i know...but it snowed pretty much for like an hour and a half...and it was comin down pretty good!....it was the highlight of my drive...ohhh and the UNhighlight of my drive was..well i stopped at a gas station like and hour outside of Lynchburg cause i went to see my looooove J. Davis! and i didnt go back through Lynchburg to get gas...alrigh anyways...i digress sometimes...by b!.
ok so i stop at a shell..yay shell!...well i think it was a shell maybe not...but thats not the point...anyways..i pull in and the first two pumps are sold out of 87 so i pull around to face an suv thing with some guys in it...im not really paying much attention to them. So i put on my monkey slippers (yes that JUST happened) and i get out of the car to get some fuel, Alice was a lil parched. Soooo i pump pump it up!...and it was like 8.50 to fill from like a little more than a 1/4 of a tank...gas is cheeper in Va so i thought id fill er up while i was there...anywho...im still not paying any atention to the guys in the suv....i pay and get back in the car im putting my card away and i look up and the suv is leaving past my driverside window. i think nothing of it and look out my window just to be friendly and smile at the nice men....NOOOOOO big mistake...umm sooo these were creeeeepy hunter hick dudes...and they we ALLLL staring at me...no joke there were like 6 om them in there alll staring at me with their bright orange hats and camo jackets on...and i think one was missing some teeth...it was a little strange but i was liek alright i mean i guess im jsut not used to the hunter types...and then ANOTHER BAD IDEA!! i glance up...and there are 5....not kidding 5...dead deer on the roof...jsut strapped in...no tarp or anything over them...out and proud for the world to see.. and of course i have to look up and they are ALL STARING AT ME!!! (the deer i mean...well and the guys) but the dead deer all had their eyes open and their tongues stickin out...and i dunno if they were roadkill ones cause they were pretty bloody now that i think about it...oh wow! that was intense...dang ...i mean poor Alice has been scared enough by deer...poor thing has to stare right at them buggers. well thats my interesting story from my driv home! lol.
i was gunna write how happy i am to be home but this felt more exciting to write about at the moment...cause i jsut needed to share lol. But i LOVE my house and you never realize how grateful you are to come HOME till you have been far away ffrom home in an apartment containing the Civil War in the refirgerator. its jsut great...and i LVOE my friends i came home last night and they came to sleep over and i love them sooo much. we havnt seen eachother in MONTHS and it was jsut liek we never left eachother...oh man they make me so happy and they are amazing to talk to and they give amazing advice! uhhh i cant even love on them enough they are a blessing from God...no joke..i dont know what i would be if they hadnt been in my life...wow. anyways its getting late and this is getting supppper long! but HAPPY TURKEY DAY!!! :) Goble Gobble! <3

LuLu out

One is the lonliest number

ok so...these past few weeks have been kinda hard for me...There have been a lot of changes in my life and I feel a little lost. I feel like i have lost my best friend at school, not really lost as a friend but as a best friend. Its hard for me to lose that type of friendship so fast. i feel like everyone has someone to go to except for me. yes i have a good amount of friends, but not that one freind that you always call and can count on to be there to just sit on the couch with, or do nothing at all... jsut enjoying eachothers company. The one friend that you dont even have to think to hang out with them..it just happens. Its hard when your best friend is a million miles away. I feel really alone and i dont like it one little bit. I know that things change in life...but its really strange and unfamiliar to me.
Also, i have been missing my sister a lot the past couple weeks. Everytime i see a family or someone talks about their brother or sister i get really sad, kinda jealous actually, just thinking that my sister isnt here anymore. I think of growing older and her not being around. I always think about what my mom told us when we were younger and we would fight..."When you grow up, all you will have in the world is eachother, so make sure you stay close." Now i dont have a sister to stay close with. So now i will have no one. How depressing is that! It is really hard for me to see my future without her in it. I still think about being married and having kids and she is still in it and its really wierd. but i still cant let it go. I dont know why. Maybe its cause i never really got to say goodbye to her. Never got to tell her that i love her one last time. I try to be strong in fron of others but deep inside i am not strong at all.
I think its really ahrd for me to let God into my heart too because of this. There is a part of me that is all bottled up, guarded from everything else, so as to not show weakness to others, as well as God. I need to find a way to let that wall down, because i want to let God in, He is the only one who can heal me. He is the only one who can fill the hole that is left. But He cant do that unless i let Him.


p.s. its sooooo flippen hot in my apartment....my roomate has the heat on 80 degrees! seriously?! ugg

Where you go...I will follow

Ok so i have piano class once a week and every week Dr. Suttles reads us a devotion for the day. I really love it. So today he talked about loving God. Like really loving him in all aspects of life. He used the example of him and his wife. He said...I love my wife very much. We dont talk alot and when we do its because i need something, but i love my wife so much. When im not around her i dont really miss her, but i love her. When i am out with the guys i talk about her to them, but i love her. When i come home from work i am not excited to see her when i get home, but i love my wife.
then he said...does it sound like i love my wife, do you believe me?
Its the same as loving God. A lot of people say they do but they dont miss Him when they dont ahve time with Him, they love Him but they dont talk to Him unless they need something from Him. This really hit me hard today and made me think. I do love God and i know He loves me! It is very hard for me to find quiet time to spend with him. I know that is no excuse and i need to try harder. I try to relate it to seeing my friends. Like when i go a day or two with out seeing my best friends i feel like im missing something. I want to feel that way when i miss a day with God and that is how it should be. It upsets me because Im not really sure how to feel that way about someone, God, who I cannot see or touch, and i know He talks to me, but it is not in the way people talk to me. Which is really amazing how He can talk to us without words at all, but i think that is why i have trouble embracing having quiet time with God. Like i know hes always there and around me, but i...i dunno what im trying to say haha. But yeah.

anyways that was one thought from the day...second...was that i was reading an article for my GNED class...it was on realtionships. and the author had a quote from a guy who wrote the book, 'I Kissed Dating Goodbye.' the quote is....
"Like a fruit picked green or a flower plucked before it blossoms, our attempts to rush God's timing can spoil the beauty of His plan for our lives."
i am having a little time with getting ahead of myself. I need to try and stay more in the present and listen to what God is telling me and follow Him. I keep thinking about the future and what is to happen and what i want to do with my life...Have you ever had the feeling that you want to do so many things before you leave this earth and you might not have enough time to do them all in?....ok well i get that feeling probably every day. Just thought i would share.

well other than running all over lynchburg to pay my rent today was a pretty great day. God is so good. Its time for sleep...YAY!