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iwillexalt
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Name: Leah Claire
Location: Savannah, Georgia, United States
Birthday: 8/4/1979
Gender: Female
Interests: God's Word, authentic biblical community, NGC, SWO, SBTS, hangin' out with peeps, studying (yeah, I'm a nerd), playing guitar, and singing...that's all for now.
Expertise: PowerPoint, the flute (though you'd never know), and mullet-hunting.
Occupation: Student
Message: message meEmail: email me
AIM:  iwillexalt
Member Since:
1/23/2005
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| Ok folks, it's official. I'M COMING TO VISIT NORTH GREENVILLE NEXT WEEK! Woohoo!!! 
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| So I was listening to the radio the other day, and the song "You're Beautiful" by James Blunt came on. Now, this song has been WAY over-played as of late, but I guess that's what happens when a song is #1 on the charts for a few weeks. Anyway--I was listening to the lyrics, and I must say I have a beef with this song. Bear with me, this will be a rant.
[DISCLAIMER: I realize this song is not written from a Christian perspective, but do think that believers can get hooked into this mentality, though.]
For most out there, I'm sure "You're Beautiful" seems to be an oober-romantic song about an unrequited love gone by; however, I see the song as a subtle yet identifiable attack against a godly pursuit of marriage. In our culture, we've taken to a "I see it...I want it...I've gotta' have it!" mentality. God tells us this type of attitude is A) covetousness and B) adultery of the mind. Well, back to Blunt's lyrics--the first line of the song states, "My life is brilliant; my love is pure." Okay, my first problem is that his love is not pure. As you listen to the following declarations, you'll see that there's NO WAY that can be! Second, he sings, "She smiled at me on the subway; she was with another man. But I won't lose no sleep on that 'cause I've got a plan." So...is his plan to break them up? To have an affair? What? Sounds a little shady to me. Next, the chorus focuses solely on the woman's outer beauty, saying that he "saw [her] face in a crowded place," bemoaning the fact that he's so in love with her, but it'll never work. From the words, "She caught my eye as we walked on by," did anyone catch a conversation taking place? Time spent getting to know each other? All of these feelings he says he has are based on brief, chance encounters where he only catches a glimpse of this girl. I don't think that a true pursuit of committed love is characterized by the "[lust] at first sight" image I see in this song. Blunt continues with, "I don't think that I'll see her again, but we shared a moment that will last 'till the end." Which moment? 'Till the end of what?
I guess what it comes down to is this: when I was in middle and high school, I had this mentality. I had crush after crush on boy after boy--most girls do. Over the past few years, I've been researching and teaching young girls about godly relationships. The main thing I hate about this song is that I can identify--at least, the 7th grade, the 10th grade, and even the sophomore-in-college Leah can. Unfulfilled desire for a boyfriend sucks the life out of young girls every day. Girls cry themselves to sleep at night over guys that should never mean that much to them. So often, I was distracted from growing in the Lord as a teenager because I obsessed about relationships that God never meant to be. Yes, the tune of this song is entrancing, and yes, the timbre of Blunt's voice is appealing. However, as God's children, growing in His truth, we must choose to listen to things that build us up. I refuse to listen to a song that seeks to transport me back into all those old feelings and old memories when the Lord has so much more in store for my life. Blunt closes with the comment, "And I don't know what to do 'cause I'll never be with you"? I know what he should do: MOVE ON! | | |
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Okay...so if anyone was wondering...this is where I work. Check it out at www.maryhurst.org. It's a girls' residential treatment facility. God blessed me with this job last November, and I have been working there since. I absolutely love it! Oh--and for all of you that know and love the fact that I'm a night-owl, I mostly work 3rd shift (that's 11pm-8/9am for all you'ins who don't know!). Oh yeah, fun times! Here's a synopsis of what I do:
I am a "Youth Counselor," which means I supervise daily activities in a dorm for troubled girls, ages 12-18. Our campus includes 5 dorms: 1 for lower-functioning girls, 1 for chemically-dependent girls, and 3 for a mixed variety of girls. All of the teens we house are basically either wards of the state (meaning their parents have terminated or have been stripped of their legal rights as caregivers) or are placed into care by mental hospitals once they "graduate" from that program. Many of our kids have been in foster homes that didn't work out or in very bad home situations (abuse, neglect, sexual assault, etc.). So...that's where my job comes in. I'm SCM trained (Safe Crisis Mangament)--which means I can verbally de-escalate aggressive kiddos and, if need be, physically restrain them. I distribute meds, do bed checks throughout the night, spend a lotta' time on the compy typing in records from the day, and I even have some time left to do some homework for school before the girls wake up. Sometimes I pick up day shifts where, basically, we're just "doing life" with the girls--helping them with daily activities, life skills, making good choices, etc. Quite a bit of crowd control is involved, of course (I mean, they are teenage girls!). The kids are dealing with a lot--inappropriate boundaries, self-harm, violent anger, etc. I've gotten used to being cussed out, having things thrown at me, having to talk to girls for lengthy periods of time trying to get them to make the right decisions...and the list goes on. It's all very mental health-oriented, but I truly feel that God is allowing me to live out James 1:27: "Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world."
Anyway...I haven't ever written an entry on this, and I figured it was about time. Also, for all you SWOers out there, I thought it'd be good to give you a taste of why I will not [sniff] be working at camp this summer. I hate even saying that phrase, "I'm not working at camp this summer." It's so sad. However, I know that the Lord has called me to work at Maryhurst while I'm in seminary. He's affirmed it time and again, so I also know that when the summer comes--He'll give me joy in it. I'm definitely coming to visit, though!!! | | |
| So tonight while I was at work, I was checking my email, and it got me to thinking. Why do we choose the phrases we do for our emails, AIM names, blog addresses, etc.? Some choose a personal name, some a nickname, and others still a phrase that speaks to/about them in some way.
Well, my main email addy, my Xanga, and my AIM screenname are all the same. The process started back in the year of our Lord 1998 when I opened up a Yahoo account with the name "iwillexalt." AIM quickly followed, and when I formed a Xanga site last year, I guess I just couldn't break the habit! The name originated with the praise and worship song "I Will Exalt" that came into some fame from being included on the Passion '98 CD (most people call it "the orange one"). Yeah, I'm old...I know. Anyway, I don't know why I was thinking about this particular topic tonight, but I thought I'd post the lyrics. This simple chorus continues to encourage me by proclaiming God's steadfastness and immutability.
"I will exalt Your name (3x), oh my God. Never before, never again will there be one like You."
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 By the way, since I mentioned "the orange one," I figured I'd go ahead and give it a plug as one of THE BEST Passion worship CDs out there--despite it's age! You can check out some of the songs at http://www.grassrootsmusic.com/artist/passion/passion1. Have a great day, all!
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|  My Favorite Richard Gilmore Quotes
"His head is shaped like a football. If he fell asleep in the park, someone would try to punt him."
"Cranking Metallica? If that's some sort of drug reference, it isn't funny."
"It is one of the great pleasures of my life to be able to surround you with a house full of useless objects...I'm never happier than when we're standing in the corner staring at our furniture."
"I'm glad not to see any 'death rockers' on your walls...I'm not entirely unfamiliar with the music world in which you live."
"I would hug you, but I have various forms of viscous fluid on my clothing."
"Yet another example of the great advances man has made--flavorless pork. Hoorah for the opposable thumbs."
"I can assure you, Emily, that there are no belly shots in our future."
"Oh please, that's nothing. I was naked an entire month my sophomore year...one night in the hallway does not a true 'naked guy' make, my friend." | | |
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