Howdy everyone!  Wow, it's been awhile since I posted new stuff or even wrote a real blog.  :)  I've been working hard, so there will be some new stuff coming shortly. 

I wanted to share my new Christmas song with you called "Shine."  It was written with a very special and amazing friend - Kristy Jackson.  (I'm pretty sure I did another blog about how we met, so check it out - it's crazy!)

I have always wanted to write a Christmas song, and I wanted to write it from a totally fresh perspective.  So, we decided to tell the about Jesus' birth from the perspective of the Bethlehem star.  This star was instructed by God to travel from Jerusalem and rest over Bethlehem in order to guide people to where His Son was born.  The Bethlehem star was an integral part in leading people to see the baby Jesus, so we decided she needed a voice.   

This song has already been such a blessing to me, and I'm so proud to be a part of it.  I hope you enjoy it! 

Peace, Love and Blessings,

Megan

SHINE
Megan Conner/Kristy Jackson
 
It's a cold night here in Bethlehem, my instructions were quite clear
Travel south from Jerusalem, and was told to rest right here
There's an old farm house, an angel, and a manger in a barn
There's a couple with a newborn baby in their arms
 
It's no ordinary evening,  I'm not sure what else I'll see
I was told there will be others and they'll be looking first for me
 
So, I'll shine
I'll shine
I'll be the light through the dark in the night
I'll shine
 
There are three men in the distance wearing beaded crowns
They carry mhyrr and inscence to this humble little town
They have heard of a blessed child that they have come to see
And travelled over many miles because they believe
 
Their eyes are looking upward as if looking for a guide
I guess that's why I'm here tonight
So, I'll brightly
 
Shine
I'll shine
I'll be the light through the dark in the night
I'll shine
 
Now, I understand why God needed a star
To shind on His Son, they won't have to look far, cause I'll
 
Shine
I'll shine
I'll shine
I'll be the light throught he dark in the night
I'll shine

 

Hey hey hey!  I wanted to give everyone an update on "The Next GAC Star!"  We had a few great days of filming - they kept us VERY busy, but it was a great time!  The show containing the footage that we just did will be shown on Sept 3rd - check http://www.gactv.com for what time it airs in your region, and I'll be posting more info up when I get it. 

From Sept 3rd to the 10th, voting will open!!  On the 10th, we do the LIVE show and 2 people will be booted off at the very beginning.  The remaining 4 will perform live, and voting will open back up for 30 minutes.  The winner of the votes during those 30 minutes WILL WIN the entire compeition!!!  So, I'll need everyone's help!!

I've posted a bunch of pics from our adventures.  Check in my pictures under GAC Star! 

Once again, thank you so much for you love and support - I could never have made it this far without you!

Love and Blessings,

Megan

What is BEAUTY?  I experienced beauty today... 

I've had the amazing opportunity to spend the past 5 days on the beach at one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever been to. 

I've also had the pleasure of running on the beach every morning while I've been here.  So, this morning, I got up, threw on my running clothes and headed out with my trusty Ipod.  I ran for awhile, and then turned around and started running back to the house.  I suddenly stopped.  As one of my new and dear friend's songs played on my Ipod (Jonathan Pierce's "Life, Love and Happiness") - I stood there astounded and overwhelmed by the beauty that surrounded me.  The sand, the ocean, the waves, the sky...  I took it all in, and I began to cry.  I stood there on the beach crying like a baby - completely overjoyed to be right there at that very moment.  I experienced beauty today.

I kept running a bit down the beach, and another inspiring song came on my Ipod - "In Wonder" by Audio Adrenaline, and I stopped again, threw my hands up in the air and thanked God for all that He has blessed me with.  I was truly in wonder at His creation, at what He's given me, and so very thankful for it all.  I experienced beauty today.

As you've noticed, sometimes I feel the need to share some of my experiences with you all.  I head back to Nashville tomorrow, and as I head back, my head is clear, I am relaxed, and I'm ready to jump back in to all of the things that are there waiting for me.  Even as I travel back to Nashville, I won't hear the sound of the crashing waves, see the seagulls swooping down to the ocean, or feel the sand between my toes...but I will be back surrounded by my amazing friends, able to write what my heart tells me and turn them into songs, able to reach out to people through music...  There is beauty...everywhere.

So, what IS beauty?  It is everything. It is the good, the bad.  It is crying tears of joy and of pain. It is in every breath, in every atom of things that are, in every heart.  I'm so blessed continually by the way that God opens my eyes, and I'm so thankful he let me experience true beauty today.  Keep your eyes and heart open for the BEAUTY that is and around you!

It's a Wednesday night.  I'm sitting on my couch in between doing laundry, returning emails, working on songs...  I was asked to do a multiude of things tonight out on the town, but instead I chose to just be with myself.  I'm sitting here listening to Josh Groban's song "You Are Loved."  I wanted to share the lyrics to this song, because if you've ever been stressed or wondered if you're in the right place doing the right thing...or, have you ever asked yourself "who am I, and what is my purpose?" - if so, you will be touched by this song.

This song is feeding my soul right now at this very moment on this Wednesday night.  What an amazing thing a song can do...  and I have the blessing of doing this for a living at this time in my life.  Wow. 

Let me tell you something - if you would have told me 5 years ago that I'd be in Nashville writing music pursuing a record deal - I would have laughed - HARD!!  But, look at this - it's where I am, and my heart is so full of joy.  God is continually blessing me, and I look forward to sharing some of the blessings He has given me lately...soon. 

So, I just wanted to say it - DON'T GIVE UP.  If you have a dream - a passion, something or someone that you love more than anything - DON'T GIVE UP - it's worth fighting for!  Because if it's meant to be, it will bring you true happiness. What is life without Joy?  Without Love? Without Hapiness?

On this Wednesday night - God wanted me to share this song with you...and don't forget - DON'T GIVE UP - you ARE loved!

You Are Loved (Don't Give Up)
JOSH GROBAN


Don't give up
It's just the weight of the world
When you're heart's heavy
I...I will lift it for you

Don't give up
Because you want to be heard
If silence keeps you
I...I will break it for you

Everybody wants to be understood
Well I can hear you
Everybody wants to be loved
Don't give up
Because you are loved

Don't give up
It's just the hurt that you hide
When you lost inside
I...I will be there to find you

Don't give up
Because you want to burn bright
If darkness blinds you
I...I will shine to guide you

Everybody wants to be understood
Well I can hear you
Everybody wants to be loved
Don't give up
Because you are loved

You are loved
Don't give up
It's just the weight of the world
Don't give up
Every one is to be heard
You are loved

So, it's Valentine's Day...SAD day as some of us call it - "Single's Awareness Day"!  Instead of looking at it like that, I got an email from someone that said, it's "I Love You Day!"  Now, THAT I love! 

I just wanted to take the opportunity to say thank you to all of my friends.  I have deep love and so much thankfullness in my heart for you all.  God has blessed me so!!  With each new person that I meet - each new relationship that is formed...there is LOVE. 

I hope and pray that you will take the time today to tell the people in your life that you truly care.  We don't know how many tomorrows we have...so do it today! 

Happy "I LOVE YOU" Day!!!

Megan

Happy 2008!  I woke up early this morning and awoke to a chilly first day of 2008 here in Nashville.  As I sat down with my coffee and opened up my devotional and started to read…God really spoke to me.  The devotional I'm working on right now is not one that's marked Jan. 1^st…it just so happened that God wanted me to read what I did.  Today's reading was entitled "What Matters Most."  I felt He was saying, "Hey Megan!  I'm going to lay this on your heart – do with it what you will, and take from it what you can."  So, once again, I feel compelled to share with you – on this first day of a brand new year – what God has shared with me. 

Let me preface all of this by saying, as soon as I was finished with my devotional – I hopped in my car…and the song that was playing was a remake of "I Believe."  Immediately the chorus hit… "I believe that Love is the answer.  I believe that Love will find the way."  This was soooooo weird!!  If you read on – you'll understand why…

By the way – the quoted parts are right from my devotional.  J 

"Life is all about love. Because God is love, the most important lesson he wants you to learn on earth is how to love. .."  Wow.  LOVE.  So often we think of love, and we think sitting by the fireplace with our significant other…the warm fuzzies that we get from being with someone else…mushy stuff!  But REALLY – what is Love?  Imagine if everyone lived a life focused on LOVE…

"God wants you to be in regular, close fellowship with others so you can develop the skill of loving.  Love cannot be learned in isolation.  You have to be around people – irritating, imperfect, frustrating people."  I found this so interesting…the skill of loving…because love is one of the only things that can be unconditional.  Even with life's frustrations and people's imperfections – we have the ability to LOVE through those.

"Often we act as if relationships are something to be squeezed into our schedule…But God says relationships are what life is all about.  Relationships, not achievements or the acquisition of things, are what matters most in life.  Busyness is a great enemy of relationships.  We become preoccupied with making a living, doing our work, paying our bills, and accomplishing goals as if these tasks are the point of life.  They are not.  The point of life is learning to love – God and people.  Life minus love equals zero."  (Okay…….so, I hope you don't think I'm preaching – keep that in mind – I'm not – I'm just sharing my readings with you!)  But this is one of the most important things that I think I need to focus on this year.  There are so many amazing people that have been placed in my life – with everyone offering something unique and different.   I am so looking forward to building these relationships that I have and beginning new ones.  Through these – we really learn what love is, and how to love.  Rick Warren goes on to say, "I have been at the bedside of many people in their final moments, when they stand on the edge of eternity, and I have never heard anyone say, 'Bring me my diplomas!  I want to look at them one more time.  Show me my awards, my medals, that gold watch I was given.'  When life on earth is ending, people don't surround themselves with objects.  What we want around us is people – people we love and have relationships with."  I experienced this first hand when my stepdad passed away a little over 3 years ago…  My mom and I surrounded him the last week of his life – and he didn't want anything more.  He fought in Vietnam, was a successful business man – but none of that mattered – only Love mattered.

The devotional concluded with a few more thoughts that caught my eye – "The essence of love is not what we think or do or provide for others, but how much we give of ourselves.  You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.  Why is now the best time to express love?  Because you don't know how long you will have the opportunity.  You have no guarantee of tomorrow.  The best use of life is love.  The best expression of love is time.  The best time to love is now."

I don't know exactly why I'm sharing this with everyone, but really – God wanted me to.  Maybe someone out there will be moved by this as much as I have.  To hear teachings like this – gives me a motivation to continue to strive to be the best person that I can – daily.

So, in all of this – how do we live a life of Love?  What is LOVE?  Well, sure, Love IS all of the mushy gushy stuff – but it's so much more too.  It's being filled with hope of a new day, it's being thankful for every breath we're given, it's being excited for what lies ahead, it's wanting to do good, it's finding happiness, it's making someone smile, it's wanting to make a difference.

As you begin this new year – I wish you all of the happiness, health, blessings, joy and Love that one can have.  As for me in 2008, I hope to meet many of my goals, achieve many things – heck, maybe get a record deal!?  But more than anything in 2008 – I hope to keep focused on WHAT MATTERS MOST.

Much Love and Many Blessings,

Megan

 

 

Hey ya'll!  Well, I hope that this finds everyone doing wonderfully, and you have had a blessed Christmas! 

So...I've had some crazy, insane, amazing stuff happening...  As some of you know - God has been working immensely in my life lately, and I wanted to share just one of these wonderful stories with you.  Here it is...

A few weeks ago, I received an email from a lady named Kristy Jackson.  Kristy had emailed me wondering if she could pitch some of her music to me.  (Oh, and by the way - Kristy wrote "Take it Back" for the one and only REBA!!)  So, of course hearing that I said, "Send em' on sister!"  BUT - I thought, hmmmm - I wonder if she co-writes?  So, I emailed her back and said, "Do you co-write, Kristy, because it would be an honor to write with you?!"  Well, she wrote back and she said, "Yes, I do, BUT...I live in North Carolina."  Hearing this - I emailed back and said, "Where in NC are you?  I go to Greensboro for the holidays because my mom lives there, and my sister goes to college there, and my dad lives about 30 miles away."  Here's the freaky deaky part...ready for this one?  She wrote back..............AND she lives on the SAME STREET in Greensboro, as my sister, and her son lives on the SAME STREET as my mother!!!!!  How crazy is that?!!  Needless to say - it was meant to be...

I sent her some ideas a day or so after I got to town, and we got together on Saturday.  When I got to her house, she had taken my ideas, and finished the song!!  I had an amazing time working with her, tweaking the song, getting to know her, and just hanging.  Now, if that is not a God thing, I don't know what is!! 

So, through God's work - I aquired a new song, a new cowriter, and a new friend.  I wanted to share the song with you all.  (It's just a worktape, so keep that in mind.)  It's called "When You Said You Loved Me" and you can hear it here:

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=637623

Thank you so much for reading this.  God is continuing to work daily in my heart and my life.  I hope to be sharing many more stories like this one with you soon! 

Have a blessed day and week!

Much Love,

Megan

Hello all of you fabulous people!  Soooooo...some of you have been wondering where I've been...yes, I've been a bit MIA lately, but all for good reason.  I'm working with an AMAZING producer on THE Megan Conner project.  Please keep sending prayers and positive vibes this way - I feel so very good about the project thus far.

So, in thanks of all of your support - I wanted to give you just a little taste of what's going on.  The song "Wannabe" is not complete yet - but I wanted to share it with you just to let you see what I've been up to.  Please remember - it's a work in progress.  This song will only be up for 2 days!!!  (And, just so you know - only the first 2 songs are part of my project).

I've put some other tunes that you may have not heard before - so I hope that you enjoy those too! 

Happy Holidays!!