A Wish From the Heart

One day, I just couldn’t take it anymore. Life was becoming too hard to bear. I felt I couldn’t take it anymore, so I prayed a prayer I’ve never said before. It went like this…

“God, things are just too hard for me right now. I know you are there and you know I am here. Please give me a sign. Give me a sign to let me know that you love me and you will take care of me.”

Then the day went on. I forgot I prayed this prayer.

I ended up having an awesome day. I haven’t had a day like that before. My husband took me out on a date, bought us some bikes, and ended the day with ice cream.

We want back home and he took a nap. A knock on the door.

It was my neighbor with a handful of daffodils in her hand. She said she’s been meaning to say hi, but haven’t had the chance out of being busy as well as honestly sharing being afraid to reach out. But today, she said that she just had to knock on my door. She had been cooking and was in the middle of things, but she said she just felt she had to drop everything and knock on my door.

She gave me the daffodils. I shared how I was having a hard time.

Then she prayed for me.

A strong wind came out of nowhere as she put her hand on my shoulder to pray for me.

I was amazed.

She gave me a very long healing hug and at that moment, I remembered my prayer earlier that day.

A prayer answered. =)

My eyes became open to everything around me, and I wrote the song below because I was completely inspired by the situation.

A Love Beyond Compare

Sometimes we need a little help from

Those that are round us to lift us up

From the ground, to the sky, then to the sun above

 

I know that our lives may seem like it’s so full

I know that it seems we have so little time

To give thanks, to laugh, to take a break sometimes

 

Look at the trees they just stand right there

Sway with the wind without a little care

So tall, so strong, so faithful to the world

 

Look all around you there’s a glimpse of

Something beyond the things you think of

From a smile, a hug, a love beyond compare

Monday Storytelling: I smile and my worries go

Sometimes I can get so serious. Sometimes I can get so focused on myself and my goals. That’s just how I get sometimes. However, I am also a very joyful, loving, and energetic person.

Lately I’ve been on the serious side. I decided to share my song I Smile because I needed to remember to enjoy life again.

One day at daily mass, the priest shared something very simple. He said, “Why not smile more?” At that time, I was  being so serious again in life and struggling because of it. I really needed to hear that.

I practiced smiling for the rest of that week and the following week. The result…I felt great! I’ve felt better than I’ve ever felt.

Now there are those times that we just go through some rough times, but there are those times where it’s time to bring some sunshine in again. This is that time for me. So I’m singing this song again and practicing smiling.

Lyrics:

I smile and my worries
I smile and my worries go

I am prone to see the the darkness in my life
I don’t know why I go deep in my own life
But I know when I smile I light up

There’s so much to see around this big world
Happiness and joy can be found if you look
And I know when I smile I can see

It’s interesting how life can be so much sweeter when we remember to smile. =)

My question to you is:

Do you have any simple things you do that change your mood for the better?

Do share if you have any. We all know we can always use any simple ideas to help us feel better. =)

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I hope you have a great week!

Sincerely,

Jamie Pennelly

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Monday Storytelling: Would you risk a laugh or two for me?

“Would you risk a laugh or two for me” is the first line of my song “Do You Love Me.” It’s the question I was faced with when I was deciding if I should pursue my gifts and talents. If I should have faith in the person God created me to be. In today’s Monday Storytelling, I share the story of making the transition and the risks I was willing to face.

You see, I really love to sing, write, and lead. Before pursuing all the things I do now, I was leading a very “normal” life: get an education, get a job, be a good employee, save up for retirement. None of those things are bad, but just like how I explained in my post “Me 25 years ago,” when pursued as the end goal, you’re missing out on way more from life.

In my faith, we believe that God created everyone to be fully alive. That means you being on fire. Not many people know this. And what sets you on fire is when you pursue your biggest dreams by doing the things you love to do.

However, when you set out to do these things, you risk weird looks or getting made fun of. People aren’t used to people being so excited and on fire. People aren’t used to people reaching for their biggest dreams. It’s just not common.

But I say, “Be Uncommon!” and “Take Those risks!” People truly hope that can be alive in their own way, just like you are.

So, would you risk a laugh or two for the things you really want to do?

I would love to hear about the things you really want to do. If leave a reply box is not visible, click on “leave a comment” at the end of the tags below.

If this post inspired you in any way, share it with anyone you know who needs some inspiration.

Thank you and as always…

Live your best life and love what you do.

 Sincerely,

Jamie @LnLRevolution

Monday Storytelling: I took a road trip

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I believe there is a constant war going on in our soul. It’s the war between shrinking back or rising up to the challenges that come our way. One day I took a much need road trip because this war was just becoming a little too much for me. I needed to get away and figure things out.

You see, I’m normally someone who doesn’t have the best habits or discipline; however, lately, I’ve been doing really well. I have a couple of awesome jobs I really like. On top of that, I’m pursuing my dreams and using my gifts and talents. Things are going great. When things go great, I notice that I sometimes I want to change things up. I don’t get this.

I’m also someone who likes to control things and I wanted to figure out why I do this so I can eliminate this problem in my life. In essence, I wanted to figure out a formula to control life. Because truth is, life can be messy. If you don’t experience struggle or hardship in life, you’re probably living life in a bubble and not growing, challenging, and reaching your potential.

The thing is: “There is no solution to life. The only way to go through life is to live it. To go through the ups and downs and learn from it. @LnLRevolution.” To grow into knowing more and more of yourself, so you can learn to master your weaknesses and capitalize on your strengths.

I wrote this song, War, after my road trip. Once I realized I couldn’t figure out how to avoid the struggle, pain, and drama in life, I realized that’s just life…we experience struggle, pain, and drama. However, I’m not going to leave it there because that’s not the main point.

The main point is that we can decide to either shrink back or rise up to the challenge to whatever life throws our way. We are more powerful than we think and if we decide to use the powerful spirit and mind we all have, we can win this war in life by becoming stronger and wiser and becoming exactly the amazing and talented person we were meant to be.

Lyrics to the song:

Another day the sun is rising
Hit the road
Turn on my tune
On the radio

Wide open space feel like I’m free
Hit the gas
No place to go
Just drive to anywhere

Taking time
Need a break from myself
There’s a war inside
Ready to break out again

This war
Will last all of my life
Need a way to getaway
From the insanity

Woah…there’s a war inside my very soul
Woah…constant drama for the rest of my life

I’ve wondered what is wrong with me
Am I going crazy
Losing it
Or acting out

They told me it’s all in my mind
Go to bed
When you wake up
It will all be fine

But all hell broke loose for me
All my guts
Spilled on the floor
Could not contain myself

I said there she goes again
Here’s to the cycle
Of the circus
Playing in my mind

Monday Storytelling: Hope in times of hopelessness

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Today I wanted to share the story behind my song Things Will Change. I wrote it about a couple of months ago when I was just going through a rough patch. We all go through those, we all get through it, yet when we’re in that moment, it’s hard to think that things will change.

During that time, I believe I was just struggling getting through the everyday. I pride myself in being someone who is positive and let’s nothing get her down. I do allow myself moments to just let it all out when I need to, and then I try to get back to the swing of things. I let myself do that and then I needed to remember how to get back to things.

I realized that I just had to get up, go to work, and keep on going even if I didn’t feel like it. Feelings come and go, they don’t last, so they don’t have to have the last say. Another thing was I had to exercise my ability to have hope. I take things like having hope and faith for granted sometimes, and I realized I just needed to believe that things will change. So in the meantime, I wrote this song at that time to help me get through the moment, let my feelings out, and have hope at the same time. Hopefully this story can help anyone going through a rough patch.

Here are the lyrics:

If it means anything
I keep on going
Even if I don’t want to

If it means anything
I try to smile
Even when I don’t feel good

Cause I know
Things always turn around
When you least expect it to

Even when I doubt
Without a doubt
Things turn around eventually

If it means anything
I hold onto hope
When hopelessness sinks in

If it means anything
I find my hands together
Praying for a sign

Things will change
I’ll feel good

Monday Storytime: Magically Collide by Jamie Pennelly

I write a lot of songs. They are all based on an experience I’ve had whether it was an actual situation or just a feeling. I love that process. I’ve decided to start this thing called Monday Storytime to give me some space every Monday to share the story behind one of my songs.

The first story I want to share is how I came to write my song Magically Collide. I decided to share this one because just today, as I arrived home and got out of my car to go into my house, I caught a glimpse of the sky and the stars. They were so beautiful. In just that glimpse, a sense of peace came over me. I just got back from work and felt a bit stressed and my stress went away even for just a moment.

There have been so many instances where the sky was able to give me that feeling of healing. This song shares that experience. This specific song, “Magically Collide” was written on a day where the sky had colors I don’t see too often. It caught my attention because it was a mix of like a soft peach color on top and then it blended with some light purple, then ended with a nice darker purple. Those two colors are actually some of my favorite colors, so of course seeing it put a smile on my face. =)

Right when I had a break in between jobs, I penned “Magically Collide.” The first part of the chorus goes “Let the skies above light up. Put a show for us to see. Let us see the colors magically collide.” I went on an awesome month long road/camping trip with my husband and we stayed at a campground. One night, I woke up in the middle of the night and again caught a glimpse of the sky and was in awe. It was so clear, so blue, and filled with so many stars. I think of nature sometimes putting on a show for us.

Despite all the craziness that can go on in our world or in my life, pretty skies have the ability to bring me back to a good place. I like that.