my little epiphany

i was thinking the other day about the music i used to listen to..my knowledge of music was extremely limited [still is embarrassingly, my only saving grace is being married to colin] there was country, oldies, rap, classical, 'christian' music and then 'popular' music, the top 40.. casey kasem... that's all i knew, so i listened to WNCI and i liked it. i started to like it because it recognized it. now there was some ok stuff on there- no doubt, alanis morissette and n'sync, right?! :) but i would also listen to like.. smashmouth..i wasn't annoyed by any of the songs, only if i'd heard them too much. but then.. praise the lord, i started dating colin. and of course his was traveling as soon as we started dating so naturally he made me a mixed tape to be reminded of him [yes TAPE. also he didn't have a cell phone when he started touring, he'd have to borrow one or use a pay phone!! aaahh haha no way i'd survive that today] so i memorized those tapes.. what's this?! weezer!? the get up kids?! he buys me jimmy eat world, clarity. we listen to rufus wainwright in a car. and my life was changed- by rufus and damien rice, muse and mars volta. OH MY WORD. MUSIC!!!!! beautiful, soulful, real music that i hear the lyrics to and i weep! i dance... i blast, i put on repeat... my eyes were opened. and now i cannot tolerate the other music of course. it's like i hear things differently.
and the same thing happened with food. spent my life eating typical american food and i loved it- loved nutter bars and dr.pepper... and then somewhere along the line we learned about food, the importance of a healthy, organic diet..and we started eating real food. real peanut butter! ice cream with fresh, real ingredients! and of course more importantly- quality produce. the food we eat now.. SO good. SOOO good. so that processed and artificial treats genuinely taste gross. i'm not trying to avoid 'bad' food, i sincerely do not like the taste of it.
and so, these things of course make me think of jesus, and a life with him. people can go through life feeling content and finding 'happiness' in what's in front of them.. but encountering jesus, living a life to serve him. WOW. not saying it will be pure happiness all the time, of course it is hard sometimes- but beyond that and often because of that it is so much more.. REAL. genuine. purposeful. better quality of life.. all of that! my life is so rich with jesus. and i'll never go back.