Anyway (Martina McBride)

You can spend your whole life building something from nothing

one storm can come and blow it all away

Build it anyway

You can chase a dream that seems so out of reach and you know

it might not ever come your way

Dream it anyway

~~~

God is great, but sometimes life ain't good

And when I pray it doesn't always turn out like I think it should

But I do it anyway, I do it anyway

~~~

This world's gone crazy and it's hard to believe that tomorrow will

be better than today

Believe it anyway

You can love someone with all your heart, for all the right reasons,

and in a moment they can choose to walk away

Love 'em anyway

~~~

God is great, but sometimes life ain't good

And when I pray it doesn't always turn out like I think it should

But I do it anyway, I do it anyway

~~~

You can pour your soul out singing a song you believe in that

tomorrow they'll forget you ever sang

Sing it anyway, sing it anyway

~~~

I sing, I dream, I love, anyway

"Dunder-Mifflin, this is Pam."

Today I made a call for work and heard that I had reached an office in Stamford, Connecticut.

If the guy who picked up after that had been named Andy, I might have lost it.

"Are you a cast member of any popular prime-time sitcoms?"

Today I received the following survey:

Subject: Love in the Leasing Office: Apartments.com Survey

---------------------------------
Apartments.com -

What Renters Want

Apartments.com wants to know what renters want! To find out, we'd like to get your opinion on various topics that are important to renters. This month, to help celebrate Valentines Day, Apartments.com wants to know the juicy details of your love life as a renter.

Click the link below to answer a survey on "love in the leasing office." Answer questions like:

Have you ever dated someone that lived in your apartment building?

If you did, how did that relationship work out?

Have you ever had a crush on someone that worked in your building?

Your feedback is valuable! As a special thank you for completing this survey, we'll send you the results so that you can get a glimpse into the love life of other renters.

Thank you for your time and feedback!
-Your Friends at Apartments.com




First, and least importantly...shouldn't the first question say “someone who lived in your apartment building”?

The whole thing has a “check yes or no” flavor to it. It’s like they’re sending the survey because a friend of a friend thinks you’re cute and wants to know if you think he’s cute, and maybe you could go out for pizza sometime.

"I believe that it's going to be alright"

Tonight I went to a Sara Groves concert, and it was at my church, of all crazy places, and I bought two CD's, and I had one signed, and I got to meet Sara and shake her hand and thank her for her music, which has been so powerful in my life this past year, and, and, and, and.... I'm still geeking out.

If you have not yet heard the music of Sara Groves, give it a try. If you do not like singer-songwriter piano-playing types, at least look up some of her lyrics online. They are so rich in heart and truth. I have been quoting from Add to the Beauty for some time now.

I love her music because it inspires me not to settle for the ordinary, comfortable things. It reminds me that God's love is strong and effective, that God uses people (including the annoying people in my life and my own annoying self), that trials are temporary and grace is eternal. And now she reminds me of Breakthrough, too (now that I know that she was the one singing "Painting Pictures of Egypt," the one oft-played song at Breakthrough Training that I still wanted to hear again after the weekend was over). Together, they remind me that vulnerability may be scary and difficult, but that it is honest and alive and Christ-like in a way that personal fortress-building isn't.

In the past year or so, God has used Sara's words, and God has used Breakthrough, and God has shown His grace to me in so many ways and through so many people and circumstances. I have come up against things I was holding onto in my heart that were poisoning me and injuring my relationships with others. It hurt something awful, at times, but I'm so thankful He confronted me with truth—and that it is true that all things work to the glory of God, for the good of His people who love Him. I'm thankful for the ongoing process of confrontation. It may be difficult, and it may hurt, but as Sara Groves sings, "I can't remember a trial or pain he did not recycle to bring me gain."

Door #2

I confess. There are times when I do not care about you. Not as much as I care about who could be calling me on the phone (cell or otherwise).

Why am I a slave to a telephone ring? Is it because I think someone is calling with a revolutionary bit of information, something I need to know right away? And really, isn’t any information of that sort usually also the kind of information you really wish you had never had to hear in the first place?

Or is it that maybe that person will have something wittier to say than you will, or will be more willing to listen to me talk about myself, or will ask some question that shows they care about me more than you do?

While we’re on the subject, do I hate making phone calls because I don’t want to put people out, or because I’m afraid they will choose Door #3?

Goals for this year:

• Cut back on answering the phone when real people are right with me—especially since I have an answering machine for my land line and voicemail for my cell phone, and that’s sort of the point of having them. So I don’t have to answer the phone, but people can still tell me what they need/want to tell me.
• Make telephone calls with confidence.
• Whether in person or on the phone, grant others the honor of my full presence.