So early this morning, on my commute/road trip to Mansfield,
Ohio I plugged in my Ipod and played some of my favorite tunes. This past year
there have been two albums that I have listened to a lot more than any other
albums. These two albums are: Anberlin's Dark Is the Way: Light
Is a Place and Emery's We Do What We Want. This
morning, during the drive, I listened to both albums and was singing along, as
usual. This morning though, it felt different, freeing.
This past year has been a year of surrender. I have learned
a lot and been through some interesting times so far this year. Anberlin's
album was released about a year ago, so even before all the life-change that
this year has brought to my life, this album has always been a go-to album for
me in the good times and bad. This morning this album felt so good to sing to.
I had a lot of fun singing in my car. I felt excited, like I did a year ago
when it was first released.
The Emery album was released earlier this year. Life looked
a lot different for me when it was first released than it does today. When the
album was first released, I always thought to myself that this album would be a
great "break-up album" if I was ever to be "broken up."
Turns out I was broken up later this year. These two albums have been with me
and helped me get through that break up, especially the Emery album. At first
the Anberlin was not one of my favorite albums to listen to because songs like
"You Belong Here," "Take Me As You Find Me," "The Art
of War" and even "Impossible" to an extent reminded me of love.
While Emery's "You Wanted It," "I am Not Here For Rage," "Addicted
to Bad Decisions," and pretty much to entire album as a whole, related
well to what I was going through. "Curse the Perfect Days" at first
seems like a perfect break up song also but in reality it is not. I went to see
Emery this summer and it turns out the song is about how the led singer's wife
has cancer and the song is about them
fighting this cancer. This really explains a lot of things in the song as well
as oddities in many other Emery songs.
Back to my main story line, this morning I felt really free
from the past. I have been free for awhile now. I know I am in a much better
place, right where God wants me, than earlier this year. Sure, break ups are
hard but there is a lot of perspective once you have moved on and learned from
the past. I have moved on and learned from the past. I just wanted to give a
shout out to these two bands and their wonderful albums as they have helped me
get through the times. Praise God for music!
