Sarah Lui attends Maranatha Christian Fellowship in Northridge, California. 

Music has been a part of my life ever since I can remember. My mom influences most of the songs I listened to growing up and she is also the person who put me in piano classes. Just a warning: I am planning my wedding so there will be a lot of love songs here!

1. “Draw Me Close to You,” Various artists and versions: Through my walk as a Christian, there are ups and downs. There are times where God feels distant. This song keeps reminding me to reflect on the many blessings God has given me. Sometimes I don’t understand why He is so good to me, but I know it is because He loves me.

2. “Love on Top,” Beyonce: I heard this song one time at a wedding and was very impressed with Beyonce’s voice range! I listened to it some more and ended up falling in love with the lyrics. At the time, I was single and this song gave me hope that I’d find someone who would put me first and put me in his future plans.

3. “A Thousand Years, Part 2,” Christina Perri and Steve Kazee: Maybe not a lot of people know this, but this song has two versions. I know they are part of the soundtracks to a movie I never watched and probably will not watch, but this song is so beautiful! I heard the original song at a Jason Mraz concert when Christina Perri was the opening act. I went with a guy I was dating and when I heard this song, that was the moment I knew that I loved him. Long story short, we didn’t end up together. But fast-forward to now: I am happily married to a wonderful man who loves me even when I am being ridiculous. When the “Part 2” song came out, I thought that the song perfectly summed up my love for my husband. There’s always a second chance at love!

4. “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles),” The Proclaimers: I first heard this song was while watching How I Met Your Mother. If you are a fan of this TV show, then you know it was played at the beginning of Marshall and Ted’s friendship. Although Friends will always be my favorite TV show, HIMYM has moments that are too real and that make me emotional. It reminds me that life is too short to waste it on things that don’t matter. Lastly, this song reminds me that true friends would always stay by your side and go the extra mile with you.

5. “Everytime I Close My Eyes,” Kenny G: This song reminds me of a family trip we took to the beach when I was little. We got a bad hotel room and it was so hard to sleep at night. My mom played this song and ever since then I always remember that night every time this song plays on the radio. It was our first trip to the beach. We rarely went to the beach, because in Indonesia it’s quite a drive. My dad used to work every day and he took the weekend off for this trip. I think that ever since this trip, my dad tried to take more weekends off to take our family to the beach.

6. “Be Lifted High,” True Worshippers: This song is memorable to me because, when you play it on the piano, there’s only four chords involved. You can also go up and down the keys so easily! But more importantly, it was composed by a group of Indonesian artists and made popular even here in America. The lyrics are so simple and so easily memorized. You don’t even have to know much English to really understand what this song is really about.

7. “I Just Want You,” AJ Rafael: This song was memorable because this was the song on everyone’s MySpace page in high school! AJ Rafael was a YouTube artist who gained popularity because of his original songs and his story. It was a time when a lot of people had just barely started using YouTube and he was one of the OG YouTube musicians. I remember we didn’t have an Internet plan at the time and had to use an AOL CD to get connected and listen.

8. “All I Ask of You,” Josh Groban and Kelly Clarkson: This is my favorite song from one of my favorite plays, Phantom of the Opera. I was warning you that this list was going to be full of love songs! I’m a romantic person and this song just has me written all over it. I heard this song when I was in high school and it gave me hope that one day I would find someone who would love me like Raoul loves Christine.

9. “Our Song,” Taylor Swift: This is one of the original Taylor Swift songs that I really love because she was still singing country music. Taylor and I are about the same age and her older albums really speak to me. I liked this song at first because of an old crush that introduced it to me. This song reminds me of how silly I was chasing after someone that I thought could be my high school sweetheart.

10. “I’ll Be There for You,” The Rembrandts: Do I even need to explain why this song is one of my picks? It’s from my favorite TV show ever, Friends! Although the show ended a long time ago, I still watch it on repeat at home. I love how the show is set up in New York and the 90’s vibe that carries across the show.

Listen to Sarah’s playlist: