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Monday, December 14, 2009

Mandisa!

Last night we went to a Christmas Celebration concert at my sister-in-law's church. They have an awesome choir & praise team. My sister-in-law had a solo & it was beautiful. The girl sings beautifully!!! HAHA. (She sang in our wedding, too. I love her voice!) Jaimie also had a trio with another girl & a guy & they were fantastic - they got all soulful on us - I swear, they're not entirely white. ;) But the main event was MANDISA!!!!


After the church's concert, we had an intermission & then Mandisa had a concert. Did you ever watch American Idol? Mandisa was on it a few years back & i LOVED her. She is the one that Simon said ugly things to because of her weight. And she told him she forgave him. And she told him it was because of Jesus that she could forgive him. And it was an awesome moment. It was already awesome, but then he apologized! So that made it even better! Later on, she is the one who sang "SHACKLES" by Mary Mary as one of her songs on the show. Simon said he "didn't get it". But it didn't matter! She praised God on that stage with no inhibitions.

I love Mandisa. I loved her on the show already, but the day she told Simon she forgave him - wow. I just thought she handled him in such a gracious & respectful way. I admired her for that. And last night, she was every bit as sweet and sincere as on that show. She talked about Christmas being a tough time for some (her song "Christmas Makes Me Cry" is awesome - & even better on the cd, because it's a duet with Matthew West & they sound soooo good together!) She talked about us celebrating our Lord's birth at Christmas.

And she talked about her weight, too, which i didn't expect. She talked about how it humiliated her when Simon said those things, her worst fear & what had kept her from auditioning the first four years! And she talked about how she has lost about 85 pounds since then, not because of Simon or because of what this society thinks we women should look like. But just because of the new things God has been doing in her since that show ended. See this below pic - then & now! WOW!


Now, those of you who already read my weight loss blog already know that my weight has been a struggle for me for...well, a very long time. I don't think i even realized i was gaining weight like crazy in high school & i just continued to gain from there. By the time i realized what was happening, i was severely overweight. And now, obese. But i am FINALLY on a complete & total LIFESTYLE CHANGE - & it's WORKING! It's so exciting. And i'm feeling great!! Quitting fast food & coca-cola, going on walks almost daily & drinking tons of water...well, it does a body good! =) I'm only down 8 pounds (officially- i expect i'll be down another 2 when i weigh later this week!)

So, all that to say that Mandisa's just talking about her weight was a huge encouragement to me. =) I thought - if she can do it! I can do it!

Maybe this one belonged in my weight loss blog, but it began just telling you about the concert itself! Didn't mean to get all off track!! But she was great! Sang a lot of Christmas music & she has her own Christmas CD, which i bought! Love it! I loved her rendition of Little Drummer Boy. And her backup singers, woah! They were also really really good!

I will leave you with the lyrics to my favorite song of hers. It's not a Christmas song, but a good one anyway. =) My favorite.


God Speaking
Have you ever heard a love song that set your spirit free
Have you ever watched a sun rise & felt you could not breathe
What if it's Him? What if it's God speaking

Have you ever cried a tear that you could not explain
Have you ever met a stranger who already knew your name
What if it's Him? What if it's God speaking
Who knows how He'll get a hold of us? Get our attention to prove He is enough
He'll do and he'll use
Whatever He wants to
To tell us, I love you



Have you ever lost a loved one who you thought should still be here?
Do you know what it feels like to be tangled up in fear
What if He's somehow involved, What if He's speaking through it all

His ways are higher
His ways are greater
Though sometimes strange
What could be stranger than God in a manger?

Who knows how He'll get a hold of us
Get our attention to prove He is enough
He'll do & He'll use
Whatever He wants to
To tell us I love you



3 comments:

  1. I LOVE mandisa!!! I'm so jealous you got to see her!! She looks great now, I didn't realize she'd lost all that weight!

    I love the lyrics to that song! It gives me chills everytime I hear it!

    Congrats on losing 10 Lbs!!!!

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  2. I'm going to have to look for that song, what awesome lyrics!

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  3. I <3 her she looks amazing how exciting you got to hear her

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