WOW...1999?!

Have you ever noticed how music can so quickly bring you back down memory lane to the times when you listened to that particular song over and over, or when that CD (cassette, album...8-track...depending on how old you are...) first came out and you were so excited to get it and that's all you listened to for weeks? 

There are some songs that when they come on I go straight back to high school, with all the drama, heart break, and everything else that goes with high school years. 'Time of Your Life' by Greenday is one of those songs, along with a bunch of Chris Tomlin worship songs (although the worship songs usually remind me of my favorite times in high school, like youth group and camp).

Then some songs take me back way before high school, to a time when I barely remember anything else. The hymn 'The Old Rugged Cross' is like that...every time I hear it I remember laying in bed in the house I only lived in up until I was 7, my mom in the rocking chair in mine and my brother's room, singing that song until we went to sleep.

I found a case of some of my old cd's the other day, and Adam and I have been listening to some of them in the car. One said 'Hannah's Favorite Songs'...I'm pretty sure it was from 11th or 12th grade. My musical tastes haven't changed all that much, although the songs I chose (the first three were Barlow Girls, You're my Little Girl, and Daughters) did seem to indicate the time of life I was in. (-:

Then there were the WOW 1999 and WOW 2000 CD's (compilation of Christian artist's hits from those years, like the NOW cd's). 

1999 was ELEVEN years ago, people...11. I was 12 years old when I got that CD. How much have I changed in that time? I remember thinking about what it would be like to be 20...to be in college...to be able to drive...to be married! And now  I'm 23 and thinking about what it'll be like to have a baby (no, I'm not pregnant, don't freak out!). I also remember thinking that there were some people that I couldn't live without...and now I haven't spoken to them in years for no reason except that we grew apart. I wanted some things to change, but if I had really thought about, I would have wanted most stuff to stay the same.

Most the time change is scary, and a lot of times it's also unwanted. But looking back over the past 11 years and more, I can catch a little glimpse of the big picture. Things have to change in order for you to grow. 

One of the songs on my old favorites cd was a Reliant K song with the lyrics "...I know that this will hurt...but if I don't break your heart, things will just get worse...". Hearts have to break, people have to move away, the old have to die and sometimes the young do too, babies have to be born...things have to change. 

But if they didn't...well, would you still want to be 12?

(p.s. I wanted to put a picture of myself when I was 12, but wasn't able to find one...sorry!)