"Hero" - Skillet Saturday 7 - Written by Jasmyn Wright

Its been far too long since I've posted anything. And I hope ya'll can forgive me.  Life has been hard the last few months.  Its been a real struggle for me to want to write.  But I'm feeling more inspired these days and I can't wait for all the posts that will come in 2014! So bear with me!  In the meantime, I'd like to introduce you all to an amazing writer and dear friend of mine, Jasmyn Wright, who I asked to write a guest post for me.

Of course she is as Skillet crazy as I am since we met at the Road to Rise tour, so it seemed only fitting to have her write something for my blog.  Enjoy!

*****

"I'm just a step away...I'm a just a breath away...losin my faith today...Falling off the edge today. I'm not superhuman. I need a hero!"

 In life I believe everything has meaning. There's nothing in the universe that doesn't. Patterns and rhythms...we might think are just coincidence, but they're not. Just as it wasn't a coincidence for my friend, KayLeigh to have asked me to write something for her Skillet blog series on her blog, song of songs. I believe it was ment to happen. It is my chance to tell my story of how I've been delivered with the inspiring band Skillet. 

  My journey is long and weary, but thank God for a band who knows how to word my feelings exactly. (:

 The start of my journey was when I was a defenseless child_ sexually abused by a close family member who was supposed to be protecting me rather than hurting me. 

    "Someone save me from the hate." 

 But I believe that it was the devil just expressing his hate toward me because he knew the strong woman of God I was going to be. And I know this because that abuse only happened that one time. And never again.  

  But although it never happened again, it did leave me with a on and off battle to fight. A battle that I thought I was alone in, and I sadly continuously let the devil talk me into believing I was never going to win. I never once thought what happened was my fault, but I did believe that something was wrong with me. 

    

   "Just a step from the edge..."

 For years I struggled with self-hate and self-abuse. I never thought anything I did was good enough. Even though I had plenty of godly, loving family members around to talk to and confide in, I never did because I allowed the devil to speak louder to me than God; I decided to listen to his voice rather than my personal hero. Jesus. 

  As years past by, I started blaming myself and what happened to me for my many failures. But the truth was, I was never doing my best because I was scared to succeed and I thought I wasn't worthy of being truly happy. 

   

"I gotta fight today, to live another day."

   I was fourteen, If I'm correct, when I first heard Skillet. I was playing smack down Vs. Raw with my two brothers and one sister. And the song (Hero) played on the root menu. I immediately fell in love with Jen's voice, and I pictured John's voice of a tall, lumberjack type of guy. Lol. (which he kinda does look like one when he has his full beard.)

(Best pic I could find of John's beard lol and Jenn too)

  I remember asking my brother over and over to play that game just so I could hear that song- I also found out that Monster was on there as well. Another song I love. (: 

 So shortly after I started looking up the songs and found Skillet. Their music changed my life, and although I listened to other types of Godly music, theirs was different in how it made me feel. 

 But as much as I wish I could say that from that day, the self-abuse situation stopped. It didn't. It was a pit that I'd dug myself into for years; and climbing out wasn't a one day journey. I had to go through a lot of self-doubt to even get to the place where I would allow myself to hear God's voice over the devils. 

   "The countdown begins to destroy ourselves!"

 But I will never forget the day when I finally and clearly heard the precious voice of my hero. 

    It was the time when I was so done with trying to get free from this battle. Nothing seemed to work out. EVERYTHING seemed to be falling apart. I ran from God's voice and listened back to the voice of the person who's hated me from the beginning. Who's held me down for so long, just so I would think suicide was the only way out. 

"I need a Hero, to save my life!"

And there I was, knife to waist. Tears on cheeks. Heart beating fast. No one around. Or so I thought...

"Who's gonna fight for what's right,

Who's gonna help us survive,

We're in the fight of our lives!

And we're not ready to die!

Who's gonna fight for the weak,

Who's gonna make 'em believe,

I've got a Hero

Livin' in me!"

My hero was there and he whispered... 

    "DON'T GIVE UP ON ME."

"A Hero'll save me just in time!" 

And here I am today, almost nineteen years old. I only give God the glory for that. If it was up to the devil, I would have die at only the age of fourteen. I'm not all I should be. But thanks to my hero Jesus I'm now not how I used to be. I can't even remember the last time I caused harm to myself or even hated myself. I love myself and the people I surround myself with each day; they're encouraging. And when I finally told my parents the truth, I found out that the devil was wrong. They were they for me and always will be. I now know how much God loves me. He loves me so much he gave his own life so that I could have life. (:

"A Hero's not afraid to give His life,

A Hero's gonna save me just in time!"

John Chpt. 19  --- Story of Christ rescuing us. 

*****
"Hero"  - Skillet Official music video

"Hero" - Lyric video

*****
"Hero"  - Lyrics -  From CD Awake

I'm just a step away
I'm just a breath away
Losin' my faith today
(Fallin' off the edge today)

I am just a man
Not superhuman
(I'm not superhuman)
Someone save me from the hate

It's just another war
Just another family torn
(Falling from my faith today)
Just a step from the edge
Just another day in the world we live

[Chorus:]
I need a hero to save me now
I need a hero (save me now)
I need a hero to save my life
A hero'll save me (just in time)

I've gotta fight today
To live another day
Speakin' my mind today
(My voice will be heard today)

I've gotta make a stand
But I am just a man
(I'm not superhuman)
My voice will be heard today

It's just another war
Just another family torn
(My voice will be heard today)
It's just another kill
The countdown begins to destroy ourselves

[Chorus]

I need a hero to save my life
I need a hero just in time
Save me just in time
Save me just in time

Who's gonna fight for what's right
Who's gonna help us survive
We're in the fight of our lives
(And we're not ready to die)

Who's gonna fight for the weak
Who's gonna make 'em believe
I've got a hero (I've got a hero)
Livin' in me

I'm gonna fight for what's right
Today I'm speaking my mind
And if it kills me tonight
(I will be ready to die)

A hero's not afraid to give his life
A hero's gonna save me just in time

[Chorus]

I need a hero
Who's gonna fight for what's right
Who's gonna help us survive

I need a hero
Who's gonna fight for the weak
Who's gonna make 'em believe
I need a hero
I need a hero

A hero's gonna save me just in time

*****

Catch up on the other Skillet Saturdays:

1. Rise
http://kayleighryder.blogspot.com/2013/07/rise-skillet-saturday-1.html

2. Sick of It
http://kayleighryder.blogspot.com/2013/08/sick-of-it-skillet-saturday-2.html

3. Good to Be Alive
http://kayleighryder.blogspot.com/2013/08/good-to-be-alive-skillet-saturday-3.html

4.  Salvation
http://kayleighryder.blogspot.com/2013/08/salvation-skillet-saturday-4.html

5. Hard to Find
http://kayleighryder.blogspot.com/2013/08/hard-to-find-skillet-saturday-5.html

6.  Cutting through the ( American Noise)
http://kayleighryder.blogspot.com/2013/09/cutting-through-american-noise-skillet.html

****

Thanks so much for reading and huge thanks to Jasmyn for being a guest writer! I hope you all have a Happy New Year and a Blessed 2014!!! 

P.S. Skillet Saturday will continue and finish the Rise CD in January 2014.  

~Love and Blessings, KayLeigh

Happy New Year & Happy Friday!

Happy New Year!!! 
And Happy Friday everybody!

 Its a new year. Time to make changes.  Time to clean out your closet. (That was me today.) Donating old clothes to make room for the new fashions that will come in 2013.  A time for fresh starts.

I want to say that I'm sorry for not posting anything in a few months. My goal for this new year is to post something at least once a week. And to go from there. Lets say Life happened. As it does to everyone.  We all have scene changes. New chapters are written. Friends come and go like the seasons. Good and bad. Welcome, or unwelcome.  Things in life happen.

To those of you who don't know, my family went through the loss of my sweet Aunt Shelly early December.  She was battling cancer and with it beaten, has gone to be with Jesus. Where there's no more pain and she isn't suffering anymore.  She has her J-Lo body that she always wanted and she's singing Him sweet praises. Its been hard on my entire family. We have all been filled with questions of why her? She was a wife and mother to four beautiful children. She was young. While we missed her a great deal during the holidays we know she is in a better place.  Please continue to pray for my Uncle and their four kids as well as the rest of my family.

 I also want to say I'm super excited for this new year.  Have lots of great posts I'm working on for you guys, yay! With that said, Happy Friday everybody and have a great weekend! And check me out next week for a new post.

 Huge thank you to my family, friends, coworkers, and  supporters.   I appreciate your prayers, love, and everything else you all have done for me.  I pray for you all as this new year starts. And may it be your best year yet.

~Love and Blessings, KayLeigh