music

just before the 40 days began, God was speaking to me about what i let myself hear in the lyrics of secular music. in particular, i've had been so complacently allowing myself to purchase music regardless of the content or reputation of the artist (for instance, amy winehouse....). music is such a powerful medium because what we hear goes to heart often without our brains checking in with the lyrics (i.e. what's being subliminally spoken to our hearts). music is used to convey emotions and messages and it's extremely important that we're careful of what we allow ourselves to hear. for me, this belongs to the small compromises that God is calling me from. Small compromises, regardless of what they are, lead to bigger compromises.

in that vein, God called me to give up secular music for 40 days before Resurrection Sunday. it has been much easier than i thought it would be and i've not faltered (all surprisingly). i originally started listening to secular music because i had a fascination with the musicianship of the artists. then, it grew to a disdain for the campy lyrics and melodies that were part of Christian artists' work at that time. however, in the time that i've been away, the genre has grown lyrically and musically. there are many talented bands and artists. here are the artists/albums that have captured by ear:

Plumb, "Chaotic Resolve" and "Blink
Fireflight, "Unbreakable"
Leeland
David Crowder Band, "Illuminate" and "Sunsets and Sushi"
Jars of Clay (so many of their albums are awesome, but I've recently been obsessed with), "Eleventh Hour"


...And I have a bunch more in my iTunes shopping cart ;-).

my obsession

crunchy spicy tuna roll, here i come!

yay for sushi.

my life as a grantwriter, part i

i'm a grantwriter. well, actually my job is much more than that. my official title is "grant development coordinator" because i'm responsible for coordinating the proposal development teams. this, of course, is not a simple job.

the toughest thing i've learned about being a GDP (haha, that's funny) is that my life revolves around deadlines. there are the grant deadlines (which are non-negotiable), my preferred submission deadlines (at least two or three days before the non-negotiable grant deadlines), deadlines to get things to teams, the teams' deadlines to get things to me (which most people ignore) and...department related deadlines. it's a lot of stress. it means i have to stay organized, i have to work my butt off while at work (and sometimes from home) and i have to try to remain calm. as if remaining calm is easy for me. (that actually stresses me out more)

and then...AND THEN you have the people from a unmentionable department who think YOU DO NOTHING and HAVE NO DEADLINES and CAN DROP EVERYTHING to write something for them YESTERDAY. never mind the fact that i'm working on a $1.2-1.3 million grant that's due in april (which is practically here in grant world). never mind the fact that i'm starting a $900,000 preliminary proposal that's also due in april. never mind the fact that i'm going to start several other grants that are due may and i have 900 other things i'm trying to work out. please, please, never mind all that. i love when people give me things at the last minute.