happy

Those who live in your house are truly happy; they praise you constantly.-Psalm 84:4

Yesterday, I was honored to deliver the sermon at a good friend's church in North Alabama. And, because it was close to where my family lives, my parents, sister, nephew and niece were there. I sat behind my daughter and my nephew and they sat like you see above most of the service. It made me very happy and, so, it is today's entry for the Lent photo-a-day challenge. Here is my sermon, on the Parable of the Prodigal Son, if you are so inclined to listen.

Oh, and while I'm taking the time to do more than post a picture, I will share that last week as I was living with the scripture in preparation for Sunday, a song by MuteMath that shuffled into my walk one morning hit me squarely between the eyes. This is the kind of synchronicity I actually have come to expect, as I often hear what I need to move me forward in a song. If you listen to my sermon, you will get a better idea for why these particular lyrics drew my attention:

Sometimes I get tired of pins and needles,

Facades are a fire on the skin.

And I'm growing fond of broken people,

As I see that I am one of them.

pins and needles-mutemath

(grace) cover(s and cleans)

I have seen what man can do

When the evil lives inside of you

Many are the weak

And the strong are few

But with the water

We'll start anew

Well, won't you take me down to the levy

Take me down to the stream

Take my down to the water

We're gonna wash our souls clean

Take me down to the river

Take me down to the lake

Yes, we'll all go together

We're gonna do it for the good Lord's sake

nothing but the water-grace potter & the nocturnals

sing along...throwback style

Another quiet Saturday morning...another 8tracks mix from me to you. This time, some oldies from my CD collection. I can (and will) sing along to every one of these tunes. One of my personal favorites is included...a deep track from the Culture Club. Hope you will give it a listen and enjoy.

lenten thoughts

Lent starts soon...very soon...and all of the introspection that comes with it. I found myself putting together a somewhat heavy mix of music with things that will make you go "hmmmm" if you listen to the words. Plus, there is a collection of instrumental music in the middle that I have recommended before for contemplation. The set lightens up with more hopeful thoughts at the end. Enjoy.

emphasis

death is a cold, blindfolded kiss.

it is the finger pressed upon our lips.

it puts an unwanted emphasis on how we should have lived.

life is a gorgeous, broken gift.

six billion+ pieces waiting to be fixed.

love letters that were never signed, sent to where we live.

but the sweetest thing i've ever heard is that i don't have to have the answers,

just a little light to call my own.

though it pales in comparison to the overarching shadows,

a speck of light can reignite the sun and swallow darkness whole.

-emphasis-sleeping at last

that time of year

The Christmas season is very hectic...more so than I remember things being when I grew up. When the calendar turns to December, we will have three very busy weekends leading up to the holiday. Three dance activities, one band activity, and one Christmas cantata. By the time we make it to the last of the dance events, I will be very tired of the auditorium at the high school where three of those five events will take place. 

BUT, the first of the events of the season is the city Christmas parade and I just love it. The weather looks to be great this year and the studio has another cute dance they will be performing along the entire parade route. Hope to see some of my local friends there this Saturday. 

Here's last year's parade performance to the coolest song ever (my Lizzie is the third girl back in the left hand line):

gratitude this week

This week we took a vacation, so that naturally figured into my gratitude journal.

November 17: The trip home from Auburn includes journeying over roads that I have travelled since I was little, including the I-65 bridge north of Montgomery which makes this bump-da-bump sound and makes the car rock as it goes over it. I love that feel and sound. It reminds me of trips to see family for Christmas and of those same trips coming home.

November 18: RENT is one of our favorite plays and we were excited to see it last weekend at University of Montevallo. When Collins sings as he mourns Angel's death, I cry. Every time. Big production or small. (If it's a really great production, I cry when that song is introduced near the beginning of the play.)

November 19: It was just an ordinary day, with an ordinary entry for the gratitude journal. Pictured is the best fast food hamburger around. Not pictured is the Frosty which I consumed before even making it home.

November 20: Half days at work are almost as good as whole days off. Not gonna lie.

November 21: Sunsets at the beach are just spectacular. Thankful we got to see some this year.

November 22: Thanksgiving was so different this year being at the beach with just the four of us. Different...and wonderful. We ate our Thanksgiving fixings for brunch on the balcony. Sweet.

November 23: Of course, sunrise at the beach is also wonderful. Got up early the last day of our trip to catch one.

connections

Allow me an odd comparison for a moment. First, Phillipians 4:7:

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, 
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Second, Death Cab for Cutie's I Will Possess Your Heart:

How I wish you could see the potential, 

the potential of you and me

It's like a book elegantly bound, 

but in a language that you can't read just yet.

(Chorus) 

You gotta spend some time love,

you gotta spend some time with me 

And I know that you'll find love,

I will possess your heart

You gotta spend some time love, 

you gotta spend some time with me 

And I know that you'll find love, 

I will possess your heart 

 There are days when outside your window, 

I see my reflection as I slowly pass 

And I long for this mirrored perspective, 

when we'll be lovers, lovers at last 

(Chorus)

I will possess your heart I will possess your heart 

 You reject my advances and desperate pleas 

I won't let you, let me down so easily, so easily  

I know. I'm weird. But, I just connect things like this sometimes.

I hear in those lyrics words of a God who pursues us and wants us to spend time with Him. I hear words of a God who wants to possess and guard our hearts. It's strange connections like this that deepen my understanding of a love that passes all understanding. 

I challenge you to put on some headphones, lay back, listen to that song, and think about the words as if spoken by God to you. Here's a link to the full eight plus minute album version video* of the song. Just spend some time with Him. 

*After watching the video for the first time just now, I find it to be very appropriate for what I've said here. I love when things work like that. Synchronicity. Sweet synchronicity.

gratitude this week

A very movie-centric week of gratitude, plus a couple of introspective items. Here goes:

November 10: Daniel Craig is a great Bond and this movie was the best of them yet. Easy to follow, the movie has stunning visuals (we saw it in the IMAX) and a cartoonish villain played to Bond perfection by Javier Bardem. Highly recommended.

November 11: The executive ministry assistant does a beautiful job of decorating the altar in our traditional sanctuary. This week (and for the next several) the decor is Thanksgiving oriented and is warm and truly lovely.

November 12: I have the best mother-in-law in the world. You can't convince me otherwise. Happy Birthday, Barbara! I love you!

November 13: Already covered my love for Twi-soundtracks earlier this week.

November 14: I chose to say "no" to something on Wednesday. It felt good. And, in trying to portray it for my pictorial gratitude journal, I realized that when you say "no" you end with your mouth pursed not unlike in a kiss. I thought that was fitting because, in this case, saying "no" was a big kiss on my own cheek, respecting my needs at the moment over other things that might have led me to saying "yes" instead.

November 15-Another item already covered in a blog post this week.

November 16-The Twilight saga came to a close this week with the last installment hitting the big screen. I have loved every page of the books and every minute of the movies. Yes, every overwrought emotion, every cheesy line...regardless of terrible wigs, bad special effects and moments that seemed funny when they weren't supposed to...I truly enjoyed. Now, on to regular scheduled programming.

twi these out

As uncool as it may make me, I love Twilight. The last soundtrack came out today and, as usual, it's full of great alternative music. I put together an 8-tracks* set of music from the movies and from the artists that have contributed to the movie soundtracks. Enjoy (if you dare).

*Why, yes...there's an app for that.

rest

Spend 20 minutes or so listening to some music. Just music without vocals. (I recommend this collection of tunes: Clair de Lune, Adagio for Strings, and The Ash Is In Our Clothes.)

Notice the rests (the pauses in the music where there is pure, unadulterated silence).

Notice how these moments of silence give these pieces beauty and poignancy as much as any note does.

Now consider: where do you have moments of rest in your day? In your life?

her father's eyes

My daughter has her father's eyes...clearly those of her earthly father who has these wonderful hazel green eyes. And, I hope time will show she has those of her heavenly Father as well.

She's got her Father's eyes,  Her Father's eyes;  Eyes that find the good in things,  When good is not around;  Eyes that find the source of help,  When help just can't be found;  Eyes full of compassion,  Seeing every pain;  Knowing what you're going through  And feeling it the same.  Father's Eyes-Amy Grant
I hope I have them, too.

curator

happiness is somewhere i have been before

a blurry photograph that i have since ignored.

i'll carefully adjust the aperture once more,

until i set the record straight.

i'll brush aside the dim, make room for the bright.

i'll be an editor, no, a curator of light.

-aperture by sleeping at last

musicmarch

The entire 31 song playlist for the photo challenge just completed. Two of the songs are not the versions I intended. Mutemath's Twilight soundtrack version of Spotlight I didn't own in a shareable format, but I had another great version that I put in the mix. And, I already mentioned that I couldn't find the original version of Major Tom in MP3, so I shared a less great remix. I hope you will give the playlist a listen...and try creating one of your own. Please let me know if you do!

Wait

Feel I’m on the verge of some great truth
Where I’m finally in my place
But I’m fumbling still for proof
And it’s cluttering my space
Casting shadows on my face

Though I have the strength to move a hill
I can hardly leave my room
So I sit perfectly still
And I’ll listen for a tune
While my mind is on the moon

And If I stumble, and if I stall
And if I slip now, and if I should fall
And if I can’t be, all that I could be
Will you? Will you wait for me?

Cause everywhere I seem to be
I am only passing through
I dream these days about the sea
I always wake up feeling blue
Wishing I could dream of you

So if I stumble, and If I fall
And if I slip now, and loose it all
And if I can’t be, all that I could be
Will you? Will you wait for me?

And wait for me
And wait for me
And wait for me
Won’t you wait for me?
Wait-Alexi Murdoch
I've shared this song before and today I share it as the closing song for musicmarch: my theme song. Over the last couple of years, this song has become my personal prayer. On one hand, I feel I'm at the precipice of great change in the name of following God's call on my life. But, at the same time, I feel like I'm unable to take the right steps quickly or assuredly enough. And, sometimes I'm not even sure I'm hearing correctly. So, I just pray that God will be patient with me as I stumble and trip around and that, most importantly, someday what I do will have been worth the wait.

Major Tom (Coming Home)

Standing there alone,
the ship is waiting.
All systems are go.
Major Tom (Coming Home)-Peter Schilling
One of my favorite one hit wonders is this tune...and since we recently visited the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, I even had a picture that worked with it. Can you believe there isn't a MP3 version of his original mix of the song? Only some danced up version. That's just shameful.

Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)

Goodnight, my angel
Now it's time to dream
And dream how wonderful your life will be
Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)
I just wonder how many people participating in the musicmarch challenge on IG will end up using this song for today? The theme is "Lullabye/Kids Song", after all. Kind of a slam dunk for me as to what song to use.

Going Mobile

Out in the woods
Or in the city
It's all the same to me
When I'm driving free
The world's my home
When I'm mobile
Going Mobile-The Who
Today's theme is "road trip song" so I give you a classic by The Who. The whole album (Who's Next) is fantastic, just in case you were wondering. I'm sure you already knew that, though.

All in Your Hands

I'm on a train to you and it's just not fast enough
Every second takes an hour, I can't sit still
All In Your Hands-Lamb
Today's theme is "surprise us", so I'm sharing my favorite song from Lamb. I found Lamb on Pandora, where I have found a lot of good bands and songs. I first heard Lamb's song Angelica while listening to a station based on Massive Attack's Teardrop (which is, by the way, the theme song to House). Angelica uses a sample of Clair de Lune, so you know when I heard it I sat up and took notice. I set up a Lamb station on Pandora and quickly heard and loved All in Your Hands. The song mentions a train and darned if it doesn't sound like one chugging down the tracks to a long lost love. Since hearing it, it has become one of a number of songs on the soundtrack for the book I'm writing. (Yes, I am keeping a list of songs to go along with my book. I'm a geek like that. Or maybe I'm just thinking big.)

Without a Word

Hey you can tell the world
That you're leaving
And you can pack your bags
And spread your wings
Without A Word-Birdy
Today's theme is "today's free single". This song is pretty good and it's still free until sometime in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, when a new offering will be up at iTunes.

I told you I would share a few other of my favorite finds through these iTunes free singles when I posted one of them earlier in this challenge, so here they are:

1) Pretty Little Thing-Fink This one was picked up way back in 2006 when my iPod was new and not as full. I would hear it in the shuffle a lot and I always liked its mellow syncopation.
2) Callin' Me-Consequence Consequence was a Kanye West backed rapper and I never heard anything from him other than this, but it's pretty infectious.
3) Walking On Air-Kerli This somewhat creepy little ditty made its way into one of the dance recitals Lizzie was in a year or so after this single was free in 2008. Pretty vocals.
4) Wound Up-Office I'm not really sure how to describe this music, but it has somewhat of a retro feel to it, nice harmonies and some nice electric keyboards groovin'.