He Gently Whispered "Hope"

The good Lord has done it again!  He worked in a mysterious way to speak to my heart.  He has used NoiseTrade (the website) once again to say something to me!  This time He revealed His sense of humo(u)r a little bit.  :)

On Friday before I left for the Kairos Weekend (details later!), I was checking my email and I got one from NoiseTrade.  If you haven't read my great post about the "La-la-la-la" (Snow Globe) song, I'll briefly explain NoiseTrade.  Basically there are a lot of lesser-known artists that want publicity for their music, so they put an album up on NoiseTrade for free.  If you find some music you like, you can type in your email address and zip code and download the entire album for free.  And it's somehow legal.  :)  Anyway some artist named Foy Vance had put his album up on the website and I got a notification for it in my email.  I thought, "Huh...Foy Vance?  That's a strange name.  Foy?"  I clicked on the link to the album to check it out and I didn't like the song that started playing, so I deleted the email and didn't think much of it.

At the end of the last session of the Kairos Weekend, we were given a piece of paper like this:

We were asked to fill it out by putting our name in the top circle, and then in the other 3 circles we were to put three people that we wanted to share the Gospel with.  It was a really great exercise and it really made me think about the people I interact with.  During this there was a song playing.  I started filling out my circles but then I honestly couldn't think straight because I loved the song so much.  I loved everything about it...the guitar, the vocals, the lyrics.  It was just a really great song.  Something about the way it was being played in the room made it sound live...like the singer was right there in front of us.  I looked around to see if anyone else was distracted by the wonderful song.  The girl next to me asked me if someone was singing it live, and it made me laugh because I thought the same thing.  One girl in our row was singing the song quietly while filling out her circles, so I asked her to please tell me the name of it and who sang it.  You'll never believe what she said...

Foy Vance!  The strange name from the email I got from Noisetrade just two days before.  Ha!  Coincidence?  I think not.  I got home from the Kairos Weekend on Sunday and almost immediately fished that NoiseTrade email out of the "trash" folder.  I checked the song list to see if that song ("Gabriel and the Vagabond") was on there, and sure enough, it was!  I laughed about how just two days before, I thought Foy Vance had such a funny name but then I ended up falling in love with one of his songs.  Thanks, God.  :)  I downloaded the album and then listened to "Gabriel and the Vagabond" about 5 times and loved it even more.  Here are the lyrics and a link to the song.  It really is a great story.

"Gabriel and the Vagabond" by Foy Vance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4cjCuUQUwI

There's a man on the corner and his clothes are worn

And he's holdin' out his hand

You can see in his eyes as the people walk by

He knows they don't understand

You see, they just think he's gonna take their money

And then go and spend it all on dope

Then a man stopped by and I saw a smile inside him

As he gently whispered "hope"

Well the tramp started to cry

Kept saying "why why why...

Can't you see i'm a dying tonight?"

"I'm 32 and I've got this one pair of shoes

And a bad taste in my mouth

I think it's clear to see that even God don't love me

Or else why would He leave me this way?"

And then Gabriel just smiled and said, "Be peaced my child...

Salvation is here today"

He got up to his feet and he sang "Hallelujah"

People were turnin' around in the street

He looked them in the eyes and he sang "Hallelujah

There's someone here you gotta meet...

someone you just gotta meet"

When the vagabond turned around without a sound

Gabriel just smiled and disappeared

When he looked to the crowd

They were laughin' out loud

But he could not see them fore tears

When his vision came 'round

There was a young girl on the ground

And he knew she was findin' it hard to cope

She never was a fighter until he lay beside her

And gently whispered "hope"

They got up to their feet and they sang "Hallelujah"

People in the street were turnin' around

They looked them in the eyes and they sang "Hallelujah

Oh there's someone here that we have found

They sang out "Hallelujah, hallelujah...

We are the voices crying in the wilderness!

Hallelujah hallelujah!"

The people in the street started their sins to confess

And a chorus of "Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah!

Every knee will bow and every tongue confess!"

And the voice of one crying in the wilderness,

Crying out "hallelujah hallelujah"

I put the parts that struck me in bold.  The whole song strikes me though...I love the story about giving people the hope of Jesus Christ.  People that don't have any hope left.  They all started standing up in the street and confessing their sins and crying out, "Hallelujah, hallelujah!"  Gosh I would love to see that.  I love how they say, "There's someone here you gotta meet."  I want to be that enthusiastic when I talk to people about Jesus.  I want to have the boldness to tell them that they 'just gotta meet' Him!  I pray that that enthusiastic spirit would be placed in my heart.  I thank God for once again using NoiseTrade for speaking to me.  I can't stop listening to that song, honestly.  It inspires me so much to go out and make that happen.  I want to see people dancing in the street and confessing their sins!  

Okay, enough on that.  :)

The Kairos Weekend was held in Dublin this past weekend, and it was wonderful.  :)  There were 135 people there from all over Europe.  17-25 year olds came from Dublin, Belfast, London, Glasgow, Belgium, Spain, Germany, Poland, and Lebanon for a weekend of talks, workshops, worship, and fun.  I really enjoyed meeting so many new people, and of course catching up with some of the people I had already met on my GAP year.  I could tell by the end of the first day that the Holy Spirit was present.  There was a real buzz among the participants and the praise and worship times were really blessed.  The theme of the weekend was "Power from On High", and I could definitely feel the Lord's power in all aspects of the weekend.  I was one of the MCs (Master of Ceremonies) for the weekend, and that was a really new but good experience for me.  It was mostly giving announcements before and after the sessions, but it involved keeping track of time all weekend as well.  I enjoyed the experience overall, although it was a bit stressful at times and it really brought me out of my comfort zone.  I think that's what GAP years are for, though, if I'm not mistaken.  :)

I'm back "home" now and it feels great to be back.  I had share group last night for the second time with my new group.  I switched from a share group of college-aged girls to a group of 5 women that are married (except me and one other girl).  I think spiritually my new group is a better fit for me.  I feel really comfortable sharing my life with them...and I think that's really important for something that's called a "share group".  :)  Last night I gave everyone a Valentine's Day card and played some of my favorite JJ Heller songs on the guitar.  It was a good night.

After share group I got to Skype with one of my best friends (and "little sister") Ashley.  I used to babysit Ashley when she was younger, but she's 17 now and we're really close friends.  She helped me with my fundraising to come here and even gave me a large amount of money from her babysitting money.  :)  She's always been a great inspiration to me...she's smart, beautiful, and a faithful Christian young woman.  She's also one of those friends that you can't help but smile when you talk to.  I felt like I had a huge smile on my face the entire time I was talking with her last night.  She is just so easy to talk to and she really knows how to listen.  I can tell her anything and I know she won't judge me for it.  She asked me all kinds of questions about my GAP year and that made me so happy.  :)  I got to see her baby sister Jamie tonight too, and that of course made me smile even bigger.

That's Ashley on the right, and her little sister Jamie on the left.

That's all I have to share today.  Sorry this post was so long...thanks to my faithful readers who take the time to read my blog!  It means a lot to me to have your support.  Thanks also to Rebecca's mom, Mrs. Vogel, and also to Jodie and Vernon from Maryland---your Valentine's Day cards made my day!  


God bless you all.  May He fill you with a deeper love for Him!

(some wonderful ladies from Poland, Glasgow, Belfast, Mexico and Dublin)