If I Could Sing

Sometimes...the beauty of a song is not in its craftsmanship, but in the memories of how it is written. This is one of those "spontaneous" pieces of praise that simply came out over some ice cream and laughter. Sometimes...these pieces are lost soon after they're written. But lucky for me, this simple chorus has remained a part of me =)

If I could sing, I would sing You a new song,
If I could sing, I would sing all day long;
If I could sing, I would sing to every day,
If I could sing, I would praise You all the way.
For in You, we have love,
For in You, we have peace.
If I could sing, I would sing You a new song,
If I could sing, I would sing all day long.

Love in PCC is...

This is a little fun piece inspired by the College Bookstore display back in February. There are two lines here quoted from that board, and I give credit to whoever contributed those. Feel free to add to these with your comments =)

Love in PCC is...

...rushing early to the Crowne Center but still being late to get to your seat for chapel

...thinking that a stopover at Dixon is the closest distance to get from the Crowne Center to Young Tower

...standing in the cold to "meet and say goodbye" to someone at Rawson Chapel

...eating breakfast with your girlfriend at 7:00 a.m. even though you don't have class till third hour

...having a reason to leave a voice mail every single day

...a guy carrying around a lady's pink school bag and actually feeling proud about it

...a girl wearing a guy's suit jacket and actually thinking she looks good

...going to the 2:30 Vespers with your special someone even when you have a 1:00 card

...going on a diet two months before fine arts to fit into that dress that he had liked

...hunting down the halls of the guys' dorm for a tie that matches her dress

...subconsciously starting to walk and open doors backwards

...adjusting your seats in church to have that hymnal right between you

...circling the Campanile from 10:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Sunday evenings

Someday

My mom was married at 21. Ever since I was a kid, I thought that I'd be getting married by now. But God had other plans. If I had tried to get married at this age, I wouldn't have gone away to college...and life would just be completely different. God is faithful, good, wise, and true. I post these lyrics, one of my most favorite compositions, on my 21st birthday...knowing that God will continue to guide my heart as another decade of my life unfolds.

This song is somewhat based on author Joshua Harris' last chapter (titled "Someday I'll Have a Love Story to Tell") in his book I Kissed Dating Goodbye. I have personally experienced the amazing impact of godly love stories of people in my life, and I want to be able to do the same one day as well. Someday, someday, Lord willing...I will tell, together with the love of my life, a miraculous story of purity, patience, hope, and faith rewarded.

Verse 1:
I hold my heart within my hand
With dear anxiety,
For I know I won't understand
What His plans are for me;
I'd rather live the way that I
Now think would make me free,
Yet knowing that if I comply,
He knows what's best for me.

I store my dreams within my heart
As I remember you,
For though we may be far apart,
His love can see us through;
And though impatience drives me on,
I know that in His time,
The One who calls us both His own
Will write our tale sublime.

Chorus:
Someday we will tell His loving grace
To a generation who is seeking for His face;
Someday we will tell His wondrous love
In a perfect match made from what dreams are fashioned of...
Someday...

Verse 2:
And many younger souls will see
How in His perfect plans,
He's brought me to you, you to me,
By wondrous circumstance;
And when they see how He has done
His miracle on us,
Then they can find the strength to run
Their race with hope and trust.

So when my heart forgets and fails
To trust His time and grace,
I think of how His will prevails
O'er any human ways;
And I remember how one day
We'll have our tale to tell,
So in our hearts and lives, I pray,
May we portray it well.

Chorus:
Someday we will tell His loving grace
To a generation who is seeking for His face;
Someday we will tell His wondrous love
In a perfect match made from what dreams are fashioned of...
Someday...someday...
Someday.

His Present

God has blessed me with many very precious gifts in life, in the forms of both people and things. And yet, there is one that tops them all...

Verse:
Sweeter than the roses placed in tender virgin hands,
Richer than inheritance of houses, wealth, and lands,
Dearer than the teardrops shed upon a broken heart,
Is the present I received...

Grander than regalia that royalty display,
Fresher than the blossoms gathered midst the dew of May,
Softer than the teddy bear I hold against my heart,
Is the present I received..

Chorus:
The cross was His present,
Bought by His bleeding hands,
The cross was His covenant
For God and sinful man;
The cross was His gift to me,
Bought by His death and shame--
A present given lovingly...
That I can never be the same.

The Beauty of a Place

Strolling around a near-empty campus during lockdown week, I realized the incredible amount of memories that have been formed upon those grounds throughout the past 30 years...but is it really the place that matters?

The beauty of a place lies not
Upon its selfish charm,
It lieth rather on the lot
Of human melancholy wrought
Upon that selfsame spot;
One place of sweetest dreams for me
Might be of dread for thee,
'Tis not the place that earns the grace,
'Tis human memory.

Kept For Me

I wrote these lyrics as a personalized wedding gift to my musician friends Mark and Jocelyn. Even though their whole love story won't fit here, I can bear witness of how their lives testify to God's amazing sovereignty in keeping both of them unattached for many years until they met each other and fell magically in love...to be each other's first and last in a world of broken hearts. And whenever I fear that God would let me miss out on what's best, I remember their story, and I find comfort in knowing that God would keep me and my groom for each other, according to His perfect plans.

Verse 1:
There were times I felt there was no one
Who'd know me as I am;
There were times I thought I'd settle for
Whatever was at hand,
Yet somehow God would have me wait
In search for something more,
For in His perfect, sovereign plan,
The best was still in store...

Chorus 1:
And through the years, He's guided me
To where I stand today,
Breathless at what my eyes see,
And robbed of words to say.
And through the years, there was no one,
For looking back, I see
That He was keeping me for you,
And keeping you for me.

Verse 2:
There were times I felt there was no one
Who'd love me as I am,
There were times I thought I'd never find
Someone to understand.
Yet somehow God would lead me through
An unexpected door
That opened to a world of love
I'd never known before...

Chorus 2:
And through the years, He's molded me
To who I am today,
Breathless at what my eyes see,
And robbed of words to say.
And I thank God there was no one,
For looking back, I see
That He was keeping me for you,
And keeping you for me.

Bridge:
The first to see inside of me,
The first to hear "I love you,"
The first to sing within my soul,
Are you...

Coda:
And looking back upon the years,
I sing with ecstasy...
That He's been keeping me for you,
And keeping you for me.

And here is the video that they made out of the song =)

A Morning Prayer

I have always been a night owl, and waking up early every day, ready for a day's challenges was difficult for me as I faced college life. Yet God has been my strength; His glory my motivation. On happy days, exhausting days, or painful ones...these were the words that greeted my mornings, and drove me through each day.

In the morning I arise,
Stretching arms and rubbing eyes,
Wondering what course should lie,
On my way today.

In the morning, silently,
As the sunrise creeps on me,
I can't help but question why
I need face the day.

Not for love and not for fame,
Not for praises to my name,
Not for mem'ries passing by
Must I live today.

Christ alone, my heart's desire,
Gains the flame and feeds the fire;
Lord, upon You I rely,
Use me, Lord, today.