Packing

I am a terrible packer. I always wait until the very last minute to do it. I always pack more stuff than I need. And I often over-estimate the amount of shoes that I will need (I also tend to over-estimate the long term comfort of shoe choices). I am going up to New York this weekend and I am almost positive that everything I packed will be, to a degree, a bad choice, because my mind still wants to dress for North Carolina. Oh well...I will live. There is also a chance of rain...boo that.

I am very excited about the trip though. Starting two years ago, my mom and I decided to take an annual trip. We originally planned on it being to Charleston, because we both love going down there, but this year we decided to take a trip up the New York. We will be staying with my aunt and uncle in New Jersey and then spend a day in NYC and another day in Philadelphia. It will be action packed, but I think it will be fun. Aaand, I am FINALLY going to see Wicked, which I am obviously psyched out of my mind about. And fun fact, one of the families from the Y is going to be at the same show. Small world, eh?

I'm not entirely sure I would want to call New York City home forever, but I definitely would like to live there for a year or two at some point in my life. I think a lot of people have that same desire, and I know it's definitely been on my mind for the past couple of years. I just think it would be an exciting time to see the city in its fullness, not just snapshot glimpses on weekend trips.

On a side note, I do not plan on taking my computer with me on my trip, so my posts for the next couple of days will be postponed, but no worries, they will come :)

Day Sixteen:

1. That I mange to operate pretty well even when I don't get enough sleep
2. That my mom gives me a call whenever she has bible questions
3. For everyone who is giving me input about my decision to buy a camera (I still haven't decided)
4. The opportunity to work out with a trainer. Not only is it good for taking care of my body, it's cool to see a different side of the Y
5. That Facebook, while without a doubt a terrible time waster, is a wonderful tool for catching up with people, without which I would do much less of
   

Thoughts from the salon chair

Sometimes I go onto the Wake Tech website and think about what would be a fun degree to pick up in my spare time.

I have really considered Baking and Pastry Arts several times, because I really want to make beautiful, edible goodies. I love watching Food Network Challenge and Ace of Cakes, not thinking I'd ever be that good, but thinking that it would be fun to try my hand at cake decorating and construction and whatnot. Plus, I am itching to play with fondant...I'm fascinated by it.

I've also considered Cosmetology. I feel like that could be such an awesome way to minister to people. I think everyone, at least every girl I know, understands the difference a "cute day" versus a "fat day" can make, and a lot of times when we feel like we are looking our best on the outside, it gives us a boost to let all the good things on the inside show too. Don't get me wrong, I am 100% inner beauty is more important than hair, make-up, and clothes, but it just breaks my heart when I watch shows or see people who have such low self-image that they can't see anything good in themselves, they don't even see themselves as worth investing any time on.

As I was getting my hair cut today and listening to and watching the people around me I thought, how fun it must be when you know you've given someone a great haircut that they love. That can do a lot for a person. Then I thought, what if I could have a job that would help others, especially girls and women, see just how beautiful they are? Just think of the doors it would open to speak truth into those lives about where their true worth comes from, and I think it would be a great reminder to myself about where my true worth comes from.

I'll just add it to the life to-do list :)

Day Fifteen:

1. Random quests for knowledge brought upon by Jordan
2. Freshly cut hair in a style that I really like :)
3. Encouragement that comes from hearing what the Lord has done in other people's lives
4. My upcoming trip to NYC with mi madre
   
5. Quiet moments in my car over my lunch break to just sit and enjoy the sun
   

The internet is a dark, scary abyss...

...one that I get sucked into far too often.

I love the internet for various reasons. Communication with just about everyone I know is at my fingertips...I can get answers to burning questions like "Did that dude ever do any other movies?" or "What's the name of that kid who did that movie about that stuff?" in seconds...I can watch just about anything I can think of from my childhood thanks to somebody on YouTube...and I can spend hours looking at things that I don't need to buy, and thus making me feel somewhat more materialistic than I probably already am.

I have been pondering the idea of a digital SLR for sometime now. When they first came out, they were way out of my price range, but over the years a decent camera has become quite reasonably priced and my income has become much more steady than it has been the past few years. And recently, I have been doing a lot of browsing around on several websites and have found some potentially really sweet deals on the camera that I am thinking about.

But when it really comes down to it, I don't need it, I just want it. And while I feel like I am in a phase of life where it is slightly more acceptable to be a little more self-indulgent, I am still quite torn. And what is worse is that the more I look into them, the more obligated I feel to actually buy one now that I've invested so much time.

Plus, I am incredibly indecisive.

What to do about my soul.....

Day Fourteen:

1. That I live in a neighborhood with so many children. They provide endless moments of entertainment.
2. That a song I like came on the radio in the weight room that gave me that extra few minutes of motivation to finish my workout.
3. Fresh strawberries that Jordan was willing to share with me.
4. Random phone calls from my friend Petra.
5. That the Lord wakes me up every morning :)
   

Unexpected Behavior

"Our sin is disgusting, and Jesus became that sin for us." JD Greear

By human standards, Jesus wasn't right in the head. It's pretty obvious when you think about the crucifixion. It wasn't just some nice gesture, or even just an act of fulfillment to the prophets. It was a brutal display of pure hatred taken on by Jesus for the sake of people who stood in direct opposition to him (which is what we were in our sin). Jesus took our place--the principle of substitution. This is the first part of what JD spoke about today.

Jesus didn't just take our place on the cross, throughout the gospel of Matthew we can see Jesus reliving the steps of the nation of Israel, but rather than leaving a legacy marked with disobedience and turmoil, Jesus lives as we ought. His life early on begins with an exile out of Egypt. He spends 4o nights in the desert just like the Israelites spent 40 years. He gives the new law to the people from the mount, just as the Israelites received the law from Moses from atop the mountain. Jesus is baptized not because he needed to repent of anything for himself, but because he was standing in for all of us, who are in desperate need of redemption, thus allowing God's words to him ("This is my son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.") to be God's words to us.

The second part of JD's sermon was about how absolutely essential it is for us to find our identity in those words God speaks over us and not in the lies that Satan feeds us. In the desert when Jesus was being tempted, the devil isn't neccesarily tempting Jesus in the physical world. Rather, he is trying to make him doubt the identity God had just bestowed upon him at his baptism. The devil isn't telling Jesus he is not the Son of God, he is just raising the "if" questions, that when posed to any human mind would lead to at least a temporary identity crisis. But not Jesus, he is able to combat the devil's tempations by believing as truth what God says about him.

There are some lessons that I feel like God has to present to me over and over again (it's proof that God pursues his children), and the one of finding my identity in Christ is one of them. For years I have struggled with constantly comparing myself to others and with putting my worth and identity in the opinions that others have of me (or worse, not what they actually think but what I think they think). It's definitely the most prominent way the devil tries to pull my mind away from God. It's so hard to grasp the idea that Jesus loves me completely and to hold on tight to that concept. But what's harder than that is to give God's opinion the weight it should have. It's one thing to get it and another thing to believe it.

Day Thirteen:

1. The little boy at Target today who was very excited about finding THREE pairs of shoes in his mom's size.
   
2. That God has allowed me to keep up with a few campers from summers gone by and that I am able to influence the people they are becoming.
3. The whole genre of children's fantasy.
   
4. Getting to watch some of the girls from my small group get baptized today after church.
5. Online radio stations that play nothing but showtunes.
   

PickleFest 09

A month or so into Jordan and I living together, we had the idea to start hitting up local random festivals. It started with the Fiesta del Pueblo and the Greek Festival over at the state fair grounds, and it expanded into us looking up all sorts festivals across the state and putting them into our handy, dandy "social events calendar." We plan these trips more than we actual attend them (things come up, ya know), but one just can't pass up something like the Pickle Festival in good ol' Mt. Olive, NC.

So, that is what we did today and I'm a better (and rather sunburnt) person for it, although I was somewhat disappointed at the lack of overall pickle culture. I mean, they handed out free pickles, which was pretty sweet, Mr. Crisp was walking around, and there really are Pickle Princesses, but other than that, it's a lot like the state fair--turkey legs, funnel cakes, and a wide variety of people from all walks of life :) I just feel like if you have a theme, you need to go all out. For example, if you are going to be having pig and duck races, the pigs should be in pickle costumes. If you are going to have a car show, I think the contestants should have to work a pickle theme into their presentation. And EVERY food stand should have some sort of signature pickle related food. I could do great things with a festival like that.

Anywho, the day wore me completely out, so I'm off to bed now.

Day Twelve:

1. The people of Mt. Olive who take pride in their town. They provided hours of entertainment today.
2. That I can watch Son-in-Law over and over again and still find it funny each time.
3. Cocoa Butter and the soothing effect it has on my sunburt skin
4. People who are willing to be silly in public places. Like the man on the bus today who was talking like Arnlod Schwarzenegger.
5. Chilidogs and icecream.
   

Made It...barely

I set out to start this post much earlier than now, but I got distracted...so I am just barely getting today's list in.

Day Eleven:

1. The little girl who told me she wanted to invite me to her birthday party
   
2. The woman at the Gap today who was sincerely realizing how great she looked in jeans
3. Hugh Grant double features on a Friday night
4. Sleeping with the window open :)
5. Zebra print flip flops (too bad there are no more safari days)

Tomorrow is the Pickle Festival in Mt. Olive and I have to admit I am pretty psyched out of my mind. They apparently give out tons of free pickles, have a pickle launch, pickle bowling, and a pickle packing contest. Oh, and not to mention the Pickle Princess pageant!

Tired

Man, I am about as worn out as a lady can get today. I have had trouble falling asleep the past few nights and I think it's finally catching up with me. I'm so not in college anymore.

Speaking of college, I can't believe it's been almost an entire year since I graduated. That is totally nuts! A year went by so fast. This time last year I was doing about 101 things at once and living off Diet Coke and Cheddar Chex Mix as I was finishing up my thesis, studying for exams, doing presentations, and squeezing in last minutes of tomfoolery.

Enough on that, this child needs to get to bed.

Day Ten:

1. That my mom and my house are ok even though Myrtle Beach has apparently gone up in flames.
2. The Office--it makes me laugh.
3. That tomorrow is Friday. I'm just tired and need to get some sleep.
4. Motivation
5. That I have actually stuck with my commitment in these posts and not let my laziness or sleepiness get in the way.
   

I guess they like me...

...or if not...i am getting very mixed signals ;)

Today was Administrative Professionals Appreciation Day and I had no clue.

So I pull up to the Y this morning and I notice something weird is on my office window. My first thought was "What did after school do to my office?" (Sorry FGT). But when I walked inside I was overwhelmed with a display of streamers, balloons, flowers, and all sorts of goodies :) The directors had decorated my office just for the occasion! It was totally a surprise and it just made my heart happy. They are too good to me, seriously. It 's always encouraging to hear that you are doing a good job and that you are contributing to the team, but in all honestly, I have been more than supported in my job and I know that is a HUGE factor in why I am able to get things done.

This is as I walked in the door....

...and this is my desk (check out the fancy streamer job)

See what I mean, spoiled!Handcrafted my Meredith Cox herself. "It's green, because you like green" :)

I wonder who might have been the creator of this work of art?

And of course, the BEAUTIFUL flowers. So pretty I had to go home and take pictures :)

Day Nine:

1. I think it goes without saying, the opportunity to have the job I do and work with the people that I do and all the kindness they bestow on me.
2. That the state licensing people were not scary or mean and were willing to help me understand what I need to do to meet compliance.
3. Classic Rock-n-Roll music and the boogie woogie piano.
4. That I am going to the Pickle Festival with my bff on Saturday.
5. That the best costume I saw today was put together by a little girl and her daddy :)
   

The written word

I will take the written word over the spoken word any day-- for a couple reasons.

One, I am a much better writer than I am a speaker. I can look over something I have written and give myself a pat on the back; but if I have to watch myself speaking publicly or hear myself recorded, I want to cringe and back into a corner. And while I can eloquently present something to a group if I want (usually after writing everything out) and there are times when I know the Lord gives me the words to carry on good conversations, on the whole, I wouldn't say expressing myself verbally is a strong suit.

Second, I love the tangibility of the written word. You can have a good conversation with someone, and you might remember a significant phrase verbatim or you can recall the gist of what they were saying, but if you receive a really good letter, that's yours to keep and you can revisit it whenever you want. That's what is so amazing about Scripture; it is a letter from God that we can just read over and over again until the binding gets tattered or we've written all over the page or whatever :) It's a tangible tool from God.

Also, I like to be cautious with the words that I say and I get frustrated when I don't feel like I have adequately communicated what I want to say, so the written word allows me to get everything out the way I want it to be without getting sidetracked.

Now, I am by no means undermining the importance of face to face contact or the necessity of verbal communication, I just know what I like better. And I think the Lord has given me a gift and a passion for writing, and lately I feel like He has been calling me to use it to encourage others. I think that is part of why I have been so excited about blogging more consistently this past week or so--I like writing for an audience (even if it is a small one), especially if it's something I think the Lord can use to encourage them. So, I hope that is what this blog is doing. Yes, the challenge has been good for me personally, but I want it to reach further than my own growth and walk with the Lord.

Day Eight:

1. My Summit small group. I have been really blessed to get plugged in with such a great group of ladies and I am excited and hopeful that the Lord will continue to grow our group and our relationships.
2. That today half of my day consisted of playing on a playground with kids.
3. That all those years of watching professional wrestling paid off by having something "cool" to talk about with a 5th grade boy
4. For the Chic-fil-A on Six Forks...Obviously I love their food and their sweet tea (and I probably eat there more than I should), but I am thankful for the staff who work there and for their having such a great environment. I spend many a lunch break there and I feel quite welcome to sit and read or write while I'm eating my kids meal :) The people watching is great too.
5. That my friends Brandon and Ansley are pregnant. I CANNOT WAIT to see their baby girl.
   

Self Control

Overall, I would say I exhibit a pretty good measure of self-control in my life, and I think people who know me would say the same. I don't usually let my emotions get the best of me, I can hold my tongue (usually), I can wait for something I want to go on sale, I understand and chose to live in a way that I feel glorifies to Lord, even if it means on missing out on something in the here and now. BUT one area where I exhibit significantly less self-control is when I crave something specific to eat. And mind you, these cravings can be absurd and strange combinations (corn on the cob and donut holes; milkshakes and burritos for example). I don't mean it in a gluttonous way, or as in I just eat whatever (if that was the case my butt would be on The Biggest Loser), but it's like once I get my mind set on something specific, nothing else just quite satisfies.

It's this very craving-driven determiniation that binds my friend Katie and I together. I can always count on her not only sympathizing with but partaking in the strange quests for whatever we happen to be craving at the time. Perhaps one of our first bonding moments was sometime, I guess freshman year, when I came into her room proclaiming "OMG I need a cheeseburger!!" and we immediately had to go to Jack in the Box :)

I tell that story for two reasons.

One, I got it in my head last night that I really wanted chili cheese fries and thus I made a trip to the grocery store after work (and working out) to get all the ingredients, and I thus enjoyed a wonderful dinner.

Second, I have to laugh at myself for the reality of how single-mindedly focused I can be sometimes on such silly (and maybe some not so silly) things, not just random cravings, but a lot of other little fixations in my life. If I would just take half the time I spend planning for or thinking about those things and direct that craving and driveness towards pursuing Christ, imagine the doors He could open and the things He could do through me. Jesus is better than a burrito flavored cheeseburger with a side of donut holes and a milkshake to drink, and He deserves Lordship over my entire life as silly and ridiculous as I may be.

Something JD said in his sermon yesterday was, "If Jesus is not Lord of all of your life, then He's not Lord at all." Heavy. Perhaps I went around my elbow to get to my butt to get to this point, but why is it that I am so willing to submit my will in some areas and so unwilling in others?

Ahh, the things the Lord can reveal through chili fries :)

Day Seven:

1. BIG hugs from little children I haven't seen in twelve weeks :)
2. That my mom loves to send things in the mail
3. When rainy mornings end up in beautiful afternoons
4. That I get to share in the excitement and joy of the upcoming weddings of some of my dear friends
5. That the Lord likes to give me "projects" when I'm trying to fall asleep
   

Do the Freddie

One of the things that I love most about being out of college is that weekends are actually weekends. In school, Sundays were very rarely a day of rest. Sure we would take a long, leisurely lunch after church and sometimes we would make a trip to the lake, but ultimately Sunday's were bogged down with wrapping up (or starting) all the work I had put off until then and meetings for various things. So, it's nice to have that real separation of work and rest and to enjoy relaxing.

And even though today might have been a relaxing day, I accomplished plenty of worthwhile things. I went to church and JD preached a sermon that I still need to do some unpacking and reflecting on because it was pretty heavy (there will probably be more on it, once I've got my thoughts together). When I got home I made a delicious small stack of banana and chocolate chip pancakes and took parenting notes from the Duggers :) Their total lack of television watching naturally inspired me to reminisce about all of the things that I most enjoyed watching on TV as a child, which resulted in watching Troop Beverly Hills and a variety of clips on YouTube (where would we be without YouTube?). Lastly but definitely not least, I created a Pandora station for Freddie and the Dreamers, the creators of this little gem. It's the little things friend :)

Day Six:

1. The diversity in the choir at church. Black, white, young, old--a little bit of everyone represented and it's a little glimpse into what heaven will be like.
2. Color--life would be so boring without it.
3. That we always seemed to have music on when we were kids.
4. For my dear friend Katie Simmons and her reminding me about our Eat-vangelism seminar...those were the days :)
5. Reopened doors of communication with family members I haven't talked to in years.
   

Summer will be here soon enough

I love warm, sunshiney spring days like today because they allow us to enjoy a sense of carefree-ness and relaxation often associated with summer amidst the business of wrapping up the end of another school year and whatnot. Plus, in the spring the sunshine is still new and exciting after the winter and people aren't quite ready to complain about the heat, sweat and humidity :)

On a day like today I do miss being at Winthrop simply because it would have been an absolutely perfect day for sitting by the lake and reading a good book with friends, and I quite miss the tulips all over campus. Oh how I love tulips.

Today was a perfectly lovely day in Raleigh however. It was a wonderful day for driving with the sunroof open and the tunes cranking, and fortunately for me I had a reason to drive out to Wendell for a cookout with some track out folks. Burgers, baby, potatoes guns, and passing on the punching food game. Good day.

Day Five:

1. The crickets chirrping outside my window
2. Getting to hold and play with a beautiful baby boy today
3. Homemade pizza
4. Freshly painted fingers and toes :)
5. The Moody's hospitality in letting us come over and enjoy time together
   

Friday--Day Four

The past two days have been blessed with good conversation. I will admit that initiating and carrying on conversations is not always my strength, but I love to see when the Lord really allows conversations to flow freely, whether it's in the form of encouraging, teaching, or just catching up with a friend. It's nice.

I felt like I accomplished a lot today (even if I didn't get everything done that I wanted to), and that is a good feeling to be able to check things off of a list and see things slowly coming together. And while this track has not been bad by any means and I have seen a great deal of growth in our team, I am glad to see it go and for a new group of kids to come in on Monday. It will just be nice for things to settle down for a bit.

I was able to share some ideas for Camp Rock tonight with some friends and I just get more excited each time I start brainstorming and trying to plan things out. I haven't really "done" anything yet, but I truly believe the Lord is going to bless this camp this summer and I'm anxious to see what that will look like.

Day Four

1. SUNSHINE and Flip Flops :)
2. Seeing growth and improvement in some of our kids from the start of the track to the end
3. Having dinner with Jordan and Lukas
4. For excitement about the summer
5. Thinking about middle school and how thankful I am to have grown up since then
   

I suck at going to bed at a decent hour

Today was an eventful day at Track Out. I go on my lunch break at 11:30 and I come back and I see one of our campers being carried out to her car (rolled ankle--don't get too worried) and my co-worker filling out not one but TWO incident reports. It was a year round early release day, so between 11:30 and 12:45 we had extra children show up and all of the normal directors were off at their after school sites, and I had more than one child visit my office for a variety of issues ranging from being tired, to needing a break, to not listening, to having ripped an impressive and quite large hole in his/her pants. Not to mention the normal day to day tasks of getting bus rosters ready and fielding phone calls and whatnot. I wouldn't put it down as a bad day, just eventful. Oh, then at around 3:40 I realized I had a credit card log due at 3 that I completely had in my head was due tomorrow and I had not even started on it! Yay!

Despite the craziness of the day, I came home completely satisfied with it. It's one of those nights where it just all the sudden became much later than I thought and I'm not particularly tired and I am just sort of in the mood to socialize (I'm sure I will feel it in the morning--oh well). Needless to say, today is a day that I am thankful for, partially due to the following things:

Day Three

1. Compliments from friends about something small that you wouldn't expect them to notice.
2. A night full of multiple good conversations with both co-workers and roommates and thusly the bonding/relationship development that goes with it
3. An opportunity to build up someone else
4. A gospel song that definitely had a hook from "Beat It" (yes, the Michael Jackson song) in it
5. A day without TV
   

I Win

I like to make up games. Usually they are games I play with myself just for a chuckle and sometimes I invite others to join. Some of my favorite are: Guess What Someone is Going to Order from a Restaurant (are they a burger person? chicken person? Lemon or no lemon in their tea?), If You Had a Theme Song That Would Play Every Time You Entered a Room What Would It Be? (Bootylicious, hands down); and If Money Was Not on Issue, What Luxuries Would You Pay For?(someone to stretch me out daily). This is what I do with my time and today---I won. I actually got one of the things from my game to happen.

I have recently signed up for Personal Training with one of the trainers at the Y. And while I am not the least physically fit person around, I could use some shaping up and getting into a good routine, so I thought this would be good motivation. For a first session I think it went pretty well. We did mostly weights and while I'm not paralyzed from muscle soreness, I have a nice little post-workout burn. So after hopping on machine after machine working all the different muscles, my trainer was like, "Lay down on the mat so I can stretch you out." It was glorious. Totally worth the work.

Five Things I am Thankful For Today:

1. The five little girls who were dressed in head to toe cheetah attire, who crawled around the floor and for the little boy who "hunted" them.
2. Warm showers for sore muscles :)
3. A gradually recovering immune system
   
4. Chocolate chip pancakes for dinner
5. The song "Video" by India.Arie
   

An afterthought about thankfulness

After I posted my entry last night, I was thinking about how I need to make a concerted effort to be more aware of the blessings in my life--that if I want to live Easter everyday, that I need to find the reasons to rejoice everyday, something that I don't always do.

So, I decided to give myself a personal challenge in being more aware and thankful for things in my life. I am hoping that if I set an actual goal for myself, and commit to updating it on here, that I might actually go through with one of my many plans to step up my walk with the Lord rather than letting it fall to the side and sit there.

The challenge is this...for the next 30 days I will post five specific things that I am thankful for and I am not allowed to say anything more than once. If I can't find at least five new things a day to be thankful for, I have bigger issues.

So there it is and here it goes.

Day One:

1. People who are willing to be honest.
2. The little boy who waved goodbye to me at the Y even though he doesn't know me.
   
3. Kids who get really into the games that I make up.
4. That I am able to live with my best friend.
5. The fact that I get to think up a safari outfit to wear to work tomorrow :)
   

"So long you wages of sin, so long don't you come back again"

I know that it probably makes me a little bit of a traitor to America to say this...but Easter is my favorite holiday.

Now don't get me wrong, I like Christmas alright (even if I might come off as the Christmas movie/music nazi prior to Thanksgiving), the festivities are fun, people are cheery, it is perfectly acceptable to watch Love Actually and Elf multiple times, and Jesus was born, so it's important, but Easter is amazing. It is the single, history altering event upon which my entire faith is based! Everyone is born (and I don't mean that to say Jesus' birth wasn't extraordinary) but NOT everyone comes back from the dead. I'm all about a good celebration, and there is nothing more worthy of a blow out celebration than the resurrection. I kind of hate that it doesn't get more attention and that it doesn't get celebrated as it should (and similarly a little disappointed the Easter service I went to was a little drab).

One thing I really like about the Catholic tradition (and some other churches as well) is the season of Lent prior to Easter (and I don't just mean giving up chocolate as a spiritual way of dieting to look good for the summer), but really giving up and giving something to really remind you of and pull you to the cross. We should prepare for Easter and take the time to think about what Jesus' death really was and really means. Easter isn't just a one day thing, it's the reality of our life in Christ. I could use more practice in remembering this.

I'll admit, I have a pretty active imagination when I think about what it will be like when Jesus comes back (usually involving Jesus strutting in with his posse and throwing punches at the bad guys) and to think about what the scene was like when Jesus kicked back that stone and said "Boo-yah Death!" is almost too much, but as I was driving home on Easter, I pulled up an old favorite on the pod and it captures it perfectly.

High Noon by Andrew Peterson

High noon in the valley of the shadow
When the deep of the valley was bright
When the mouth of the tomb shouted,
"Glory, the groom is alive"
So long, you wages of sin go on,
Don't you come back again
I've been raised and redeemed;
You've lost all your sting
To the victor of the battle at
High noon in the valley
In the valley of the shadow

And the demons, they danced in the darkness
When that last ragged breath left his lungs
And they reveled and howled
At the war that they thought they had won

But then, in the dark of the grave
The stone rolled away
In the still of the dawn on the greatest of days

High noon in the valley of the shadow
When the shadows were shot through with light
When Jesus took in that breath
And shattered all death with his life
Be gone, you wages of sin
Go on, don't you come back again
I've been raised and redeemed
You've lost all your sting
To the victor of the battle
High noon in the valley of the shadow

Let the people rejoice
Let the heavens resound
Let the name of Jesus, who sought us
And freed us forever ring out

All praise to the fighter of the night
Who rides on the light
Whose gun is the grace of the God of the sky

High noon in the valley of the shadow
When the shadows were shot through with light
When the mouth of the tomb
Shouted, "Glory, the Groom is alive"
Be gone, you wages of sin
Go on, don't you come back again
I've been raised and redeemed
All praise to the king
The victor of the battle
High noon in the valley
In the valley of the shadow

Happy Easter.