Pocket Full of Sunshine

By Natasha Bedingham 

The "pocketful of sunshine" I refer to when I sing along to this song in my car or when washing dishes is a Soulmates Marriage.  When we have a Soulmates Marriage, trials or adversity have much less impact on us.  It's like we have a forcefield around us that buffers us from the irritating, bad, dangerous, hurtful, Survival of the Fittest behaviors of others with whom we must interact on a daily basis at school, work, in our community, on the road, and even at church.  Children being raised by parents who have a Soulmates Marriage are encompassed by this forcefield also so that they too have a buffer zone around them.  It literally has the power to "take us away, a secret place, a sweet escape."  And if for whatever reason we don't have this with our spouse, we can draw closer to our Savior, Jesus Christ.  When we are part of his family, we experience blessings similar to a Soulmates Marriage (#Love of God) through his atonement and the power of the Holy Ghost.  This song is just another way of singing "Love At Home."

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah

I got a pocket, got a pocketful of sunshine
I got a love, and I know that it's all mine, oh
Do what you want, but you're never gonna break me
Sticks and stones are never gonna shake me, no

Chorus
Take me away (take me away)
A secret place (a secret place)
A sweet escape(a sweet escape)
Take me away (take me away)
Take me away (take me away)
To better days (to better days)
Take me away (take me away)
A higher place (a higher place)

I got a pocket, got a pocketful of sunshine
I got a love, and I know that it's all mine, oh
Do what you want, but you're never gonna break me
Sticks and stones are never gonna shake me, no

I got a pocket, got a pocketful of sunshine
I got a love, and I know that it's all mine, oh
Wish that you could, but you ain't gonna own me
Do everything you can't control me, no

Repeat Chorus

There's this places that I go
And nobody knows
Where this river flow
And I call it home [So many people don't know about this "home" and how amazingly powerful and Sustainable it is in the face of temptation and adversity (Matt 11:28).]

And there's no more lies
In the darkness, there's light
And nobody cries
There's only butterflies

Repeat Chorus (3)

The sun is on my side [The Son is on my side.]
And take me for a ride [When I sing this part I think of the "ride" of life, which includes all of our relationships, and how it is so much better when we keep the Lord's commandments regardless of the circumstances we are called to bear (2 Nephi 1:20).]
I smile up to the sky [Gratitude]
I know I'll be all right [Faith]
The sun is on my side ["Therefore, let your hearts be comforted concerning Zion; for all flesh is in mine hands; be still and know that I am God." ~D&C 101:16]

Thanks to Natasha for this song.  I love it! It has helped me get through a number of hard days because when I sing it and spin it (see Spin the Lyrics), I can feel it's true.  That strengthens my faith in Jesus Christ.  Since I am divorced, I look to him for my "pocketful of sunshine."

He Reigns!

"He Reigns" by Newsboys

It's the song of the redeemed
Rising from the African plain
It's the song of the forgiven
Drowning out the Amazon rain
The song of Asian believers [Not just Africans, Asians, or South Americans but everyone whether they know it or not (Mosiah 27:31)]
Filled with God's holy fire [The fire of the Joy in our hearts or the fire of shame and anger.  It's a choice.  Now.  Matthew 5:45 "...for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."]
It's every tribe, every tongue, every nation
A love song born of a grateful choir

It's all God's children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns [!!]
It's all God's children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns

Let it rise about the four winds
Caught up in the heavenly sound
Let praises echo from the towers of cathedrals
To the faithful gathered underground
Of all the songs sung from the dawn of creation
Some were meant to persist
Of all the bells rung from a thousand steeples
None rings truer than this

And all the powers of darkness
Tremble at what they've just heard [!!]
'Cause all the powers of darkness
Can't drown out a single word [!!]

When all God's children sing out
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
All God's people singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns

Here's the thing:  He reigns right now.  I have just had to pay attention.  I have had to put down all the empty distractions and really listen.  He's there.  He guides me.  And from what I hear from others, he's guiding them too.

During the Lord's day many of his people expected a military hero in the Messiah who would come and free them from the Physical Bondage of Rome.  They didn't understand that freedom from any kind of Bondage starts within the soul.  Here is a quote I love by President Ezra Taft Benson that explains this concept better than I can:

So he reigns from the inside out.  His Spiritual Second Coming has already started inside every true believer.  Can you feel it (John 14:27; D&C 34:7)?  And it will culminate in his Physical Second Coming.  Don't miss out!

Newsboys

 When I first heard this song it was after spending a long day studying the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  I was in the car with my kids, running errands or something.  I think I felt the song more than I heard it.  It was so amazingly powerful!  He reigns.  No question about it.

I love the Newsboys for singing this song!  What talent and what a way to use it!  Hats off to them.