radio song.

word of the day: radio song \ˈrā-dē-ˌo  ˈsȯŋ\  the song you wish to hear every time you turn the radio on. 

 Everybody has a radio song, right?  It's the song that you don't own but hope to hear every time you flick that radio on.  I have two current radio songs: "Arms" by Cristina Perri and "All your Life" by The Band Perry.  My all time, never to be changed radio song?  "Mayberry" by Rascal Flatts.  

They are the songs that you immediately stop on or that you feel a great sense of disappointment if you only catch the end chorus.  They are the songs that brighten our days and force us to drive that extra lap around the block so we don't have to cut the lyrics short.  They are the songs that we crank the volume to and sing with abandon because, let's face it, you've got to take advantage of their presence.   

I was about 3 minutes from school on Tuesday when "Mayberry" came on the radio.  Such a small thing, but such a day brightener.  Then, when I was driving home in the afternoon I had one of those radio-karma kind of days.  You know--where you never have to change the station because great songs keep on coming.  I'm always thankful for those kind of radio days; they don't happen ALL that often.

Then there are other days where you don't even feel like you can get a song to play on the radio.  Everybody's talking instead of playing music and the sound just sort of turns into white noise.  Those are the days that you only catch the end of the radio song because you forget that the radio is even on. 

Isn't life kind of the same way?  I've found lately that I have a lot of radio song kind of days where things go my way and I feel a sense of peace about where I'm at.  But then there are those white noise kind of days where you press forward in a daze because there's so much going on around you.  

But, the white noise days don't define me. If anything, they make me more thankful for the times my radio song plays with perfect timing or force me to turn the radio off and appreciate the quiet.  

It reminds me of an excerpt from Forgotten God by Francis Chan:

"...as I write, the Spirit of the living God is inside me.  I might wake up on a particular day feeling physically tired or stressed or impatient, and humanly speaking, those things would probably define my day.  But the reality is that I am indwelt by the Holy Spirit.  And because of this reality, stress and tiredness and impatience don't have to define my day.

If you have received by faith the promise of the Holy Spirit, you are also His temple.  As you drive your children to school.  As you go to work every day.  As you embark on a new, unknown season.  As you go to school.  As you face tragedy and pain.  As you buy groceries.  As you give of yourself in relationships.  As you walk the dog.  As you make decisions.  As you life your life, the Holy Spirit is dwelling in you" (110-111). 

 I'm so thankful that the trajectory of my day isn't contingent upon the songs that play on the radio.  In the same way, I'm thankful for the constant reminder that stress doesn't have an power over me. 

I'm always interested in what other people choose as their radio songs.  Think about it...which song do you always hope to hear when you turn your car on?  I'd like to know.  Comment box is open :-)