Tag Archives: music

Let the munchkin-proofing commence

I do my best to try to write a blog entry when I can tell I have too much to say and will end up getting spammy with all of my facebook updates.  I believe I’ve failed that attempt this week.  I’ve just been in too great of a mood and I’ve had way too many things going on.  I think my last blog entry just added to the facebook spam.  Oh well, those that know me very well should be used to me talking (and talking, and talking) a lot by now.

This week just keeps getting better.  I think I last posted here on Monday night, so I’ll pick up from there and give you a quick overview of my week.  I’ll highlight the high points in case you want to skim.  I mostly write these so I can look back on them later, anyway.

I recovered pretty quickly from the all-nighter I pulled Monday waiting for the contractors, which is a rarity for me as that usually hits me pretty hard.  Tuesday I was able to go to the Y and exercise again, I’ve actually gotten there several times over the past week or two, so hopefully it will be an established habit soon.   I discovered more exercise machines I can actually use (which was unexpected, considering I can’t use anything that requires me to use any muscles in my arms, below the elbows, or any muscles in my legs besides inner and outer thigh).  I had to up the weight on the inner/outer thigh machines already, and did an extra set of reps to feel like I was getting a workout!  I even managed to swim without the swim paddles I need — that I can’t afford quite yet — without damaging anything.

I went grocery shopping from there, something I haven’t really been able to do much of lately, found some great deals and got my pantries and freezer pretty well restocked.  I was sore from the workout and barely managed to get the cart to the checkout, but I pushed through (forgive the pun) and managed to get everything put away before I crashed.

I scheduled Wednesday as an off day because I knew I’d been overdoing it, and I knew I had to have energy for Thursday.  I’m glad I did, because don’t remember much of it.  I know when I got up my scale showed me down 5 lbs from the weight I was unable to get below last time I tried to lose weight (I’ve been eating differently but I wasn’t really even trying to lose weight this time).  I think I spent some time highlighting my Bible — I’m slowly trying to migrate my highlights and notes from my old trusty torn apart Bible to the new one.  I think I spent the rest of the day just basically vegging.

Thursday I went bowling with a family from the new church and another mother and her daughter.  I was good and didn’t bowl — I love bowling but it put my arm out of commission for weeks sometimes even before this issue with the nerve intrapment, so I dare not try anymore — but I got to hang out with 5 kids, 2 teens and a couple of adults while they bowled their first game, and then Penny (the mom of most of those kids, who’d invited me) played a game of air hockey and two games of pool with me while the others were either watching us or still bowling.  I had an absolute blast, and I think everyone else had a great time, too.  I even got to play a couple of games of skeetball before we left.  We went to McD’s afterwards to grab a bite to eat and then on to church.  Mike, the 14 yo,  who’s a pretty cool kid, rode in my back seat to both places (I really have to clean my car out, there wasn’t room in the front), and we talked the whole way.

Thursday evening’s service was great as well…

There were a lot more people there than last time, I think because they had some special musicians in that evening.  But even with all of the other musicians there I didn’t get 3 rolls in the door before someone asked me if I was going to sing again, and that question was repeated by enough people that I lost count.   At least a couple of people who hadn’t even been there Sunday came up and told me they were looking forward to hearing me sing because they’d heard someone bragging on me.  I was a little uncomfortable with all of this, but my normal awkwardness didn’t even get a chance to come out, because I was still bubbling over from the great day/week I’d been having.  (Later that night I found myself thinking, “wait a minute!  All that hugging and hand shaking and talking to people and I didn’t even freak out!” lol)

After a few congregational songs, something told me I should try to do one of my personal favorites  (Hail, Hail Lion of Judah!).  After a quick check with one of the ladies to gauge whether the people would be willing to play “repeat after me” on a praise song, I went ahead and got permission to do two both songs (it was made clear I had to do an encore of the song I sang Sunday as well).  With that many people there, almost all ready and willing to learn the song with me, it went incredibly well.  I’ve taught/sang that song at several churches, and I usually get a few to sing along, but the entire room erupted here, and it reminded me of “home”.  The Spirit was in it and I think everyone there got a blessing, I know I sure did.

My voice was tired from talking all day by the time I got to my song, so I don’t think I sang it as well as I had Sunday, but the Spirit was still strong, and I believe a number of people were blessed by it as well.  The other musicians did a great job (including one little girl with an impressive set of lungs and an awesome voice) and the Spirit was with them as well.  Then the pastor’s message was great, inspired, spot-on, and needed, and it touched on some of the things that Mike and I had been discussing earlier in the car.  We spent quite a while in prayer, peppered through the service, and we didn’t get out of there until around 11pm.  That’s my kind of service, the kind where you let God have his way and stay until He’s done :)

I went up to encourage the young singer afterwards and kind of got blocked in, so I was one of the last ones out the door, and ended up talking to people in the parking lot for a while before I left.  Before the night was over I’d asked about (with some prodding from Mike), and given a tentative commitment to helping with their VBS program in July.  I don’t know what I’ll be doing but I bet I’ll have fun! :)

So I got home near midnight, and didn’t remember until about 2am that I would have to be up early in the morning for the contractors that were coming to work on my door I tried to pull an all-nighter again, so I wouldn’t have to worry about whether I’d actually wake up when they arrived, but I lost the fight around 6am, and woke up just in time to see the contractor’s truck leaving my driveway.  Thankfully, he called a few minutes later to tell me he would be back shortly but his workers had gotten lost and he had to leave to go pick them up.  Disaster averted, I would have been SO mad at myself if I’d missed them, after trying to get someone to do this job for nearly a year.

Contractors working on my rotten door frame

this is why I was trying to get this worked on months ago

The job took them most of the day, because of more water damage than they’d expected, and having to chisel an old door jam out of cement (whoever put that door in was not bright).   I ended up sleeping through large portions of the work, I slept through chiseling, hammering, drilling and power saws, all feet from where I was sitting lol

In the end I *finally* have a new sliding glass door on the back of my kitchen, and a new entry door on the attached garage.  He didn’t end up charging me any more than the original estimate (which I was worried about because of a misunderstanding and the extra work on the water damage).  There are a few finishing touches and a couple other things I need to pick up, but he’s coming to finish up on Monday.  Since this contractor actually showed up, and seems to have done a good job, I actually have someone I can call the next time.

He also gave me a really low quote on what it would take to get a dishwasher installed in one of my cabinets, so I just have to find a way to round up the money and maybe I’ll be able to do that before too awfully long.   Doing my dishes by hand is incredibly hard for me to do these days, if I could manage to get a dishwasher installed my stress levels would drop significantly, plus I’d have the energy to do other housework that ends up never getting done right now.

They got done just in time for me to get ready and head to church at my regular church.  We had a good service there, and Vivienne showed up. I hadn’t seen her for a long time, and was glad to catch up a bit.  Afterwards, I swung by the park and caught the tail end of a baseball game between the youth and adults at the new church.

So combine this with the last post and I’ve had quite the spectacular and busy week, and I’m not sure it’s over yet.

This coming week I have a date on Wednesday to take my friend Hunter (and maybe his mom) to Skyline Chili for kids’ night.   I also have to child-proof and clean my house, and I have to try to find a way to get my schedule moved back around to something approaching normal hours, because the week after next my friend’s preschooler, Kayley, will be coming to hang out with me.  For now, I’m going to go see how much sleep I can get, lol.

Goodnight world.

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Happy Father’s Day!

Happy father’s day to a couple of great dads! :)

I know it’s been a really long time since I posted… I’ve had a crazy couple of weeks here.

In any case, I wanted to post something for Father’s Day, so I thought I’d share one of the first songs I ever wrote.

My earthly father’s pretty darn cool, too, here’s a couple of pics for ya:

Dad in his hippy days

My Dad

<-- he's glaring at me for uploading that pic

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My dad is probably the hardest working person I’ve ever met.  He worked an average of 80-90 hours per week through my entire childhood (at one point he held 2 full-time jobs and a part-time all at the same time), but still tucked me into bed every night when he got home.

The few hours he had left he spent working on stuff around the house for us, and somehow still found time to complete an associates degree (and most of a bachelors) in electrical engineering from home.  I remember sitting on a chair next to him at the kitchen table at night watching in awe as he built circuits and fixed things with his soldering iron.

Some of my fondest memories are of all the times my sister and I cajoled him into playing guitar for us (not that he didn’t love playing, he was just tired!).  Now that I think about it, it had to be amusing for him to have his little daughter begging to hear “House of the Rising Sun”.  I could have listened to him play for days on end.

He still plays for me every once in a while… now that his shoulder injury is healed and he’s cut back to halfway normal working hours I’m hoping I’ll get to hear a lot more.  He played backup for me once at his church (I sang flat the whole time, it was awful lol), and we’re hoping to do more songs that way.  Perhaps I can get him to let me record a video at some point…

In any case, that’s my dad, and I love him to pieces.  Isn’t he great!?  :)

 

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Filed under Music & Songs, Personal

Will we gladly labor?

I wasn’t planning on posting a song this weekend.  I have a lot of work to do, and really should be off doing it.  But we sang a song in church last night, one we’ve sung a few times in the past, that got stuck in my head, so I figured I’d better go look up the lyrics so I could sing the whole thing and eject it (I generally have to hear a whole song through a time or two before I can get it unstuck).  Anyway, I did manage to find the lyrics after some searching, and went to see if there was a recorded version on YouTube.

To my shock, the only versions I’m able to find anywhere leave out the last, and what I consider to be the most important verse of the song.  Before I go futher, let me share the lyrics with you so you’ll know what I’m talking about:

When He Calls I’ll Fly Away

1. There was once a time when, in my heart, I was condemned to die;
I was walking in my sinful ways.
Jesus paid the ransom for my soul, I bade this world goodbye;
When He calls me I will fly away.

(chorus)
When He calls me, I will answer “Here am I!” — I am ready, if He wants me to die.
There’s a mansion now awaiting me on high — I am going there by and by.
I have made my preparation, from this world a separation;
I am walking on God’s highway, when he calls I will fly away.

2. I could never think of turning back into this world of sin.
I’m rejoicing in the gospel way.
I am longing for the time when heaven I shall enter in —
I am ready should he call today.

3. If He needs me in this harvest, helping gather in the sheaves,
I will gladly labor on below.
If on earth my work is finished, and it’s time for me to leave,
When He calls me I’ll be glad to go.

Here’s the thing.  It really bothers me that this third verse has been left out in the popular recordings.  It doesn’t really surprise me, but it does bother me.

One of the biggest temptations we face as Christians (and when I say we, I definitely mean myself included, as this is absolutely my biggest problem) once we’ve gotten our own affairs more or less in order, is to just sit back and wait.  This problem is huge in the church, because it’s the temptation that most affects Christians that have been around a while.

Most people aren’t that likely to sit back saying, “I’m ready to come home, Lord” or “Lord, come quickly”.  Some don’t believe, and to them this entire idea is ridiculous.  Some are busy reveling in their pet sins and figure they’ve got plenty of time to straighten up before the end.  Some have people depending on them.  Some have goals, either in their personal lives or in their ministries, that they’re trying to complete.  Some just love their lives and aren’t ready to leave yet.

But those of us who truly believe, have more or less gotten our acts together, and who are tired, for one reason or another, often fall into the trap of just sitting around begging God to bring us home.  I’ve wasted years of my life this way.  In my case, it’s because I don’t enjoy life here at all.  I’m in pain, all the time, and I’m almost always tired.  Further, I have no children dependent on me sticking around, and at least right now, no clear ministry.  The promise of a place with no more disease or pain, where I get to spend all of my time singing praises, is overwhelmingly appealing to me.

Songs that remind me of that blessed promise really speak to me, as they do to most of the older Christians I know.  There are some services where every single song we sing is about going on home, and I don’t usually pick the songs, so I know this feeling resonates with others.

Here’s the thing, though.  We have a JOB to be doing.  I wasn’t intending for this post to get this long, so I won’t go into all of the scriptures, but they’re abundant.  We’re not supposed to be sitting around waiting to go home, we’re supposed to be out in the world sharing the good news, making disciples, and making a difference in the world.

This is a great song, when you read it all the way to the end, but without the last verse it’s just another temptation.  It’s just another great melody distracting us from what we’re really supposed to be doing.  There’s no harm in looking forward to the life to come, but we need to do so acknowledging that, for whatever His reasons, God hasn’t come back and He hasn’t called us home yet.

I have a policy that I won’t let myself sing a song unless I can agree fully with it’s lyrics.  This one’s a tough one for me, but I’m singing the song, so I am endeavoring to live up to it.  If He needs me in this harvest, I will gladly labor here.  I just hope He gives me a better picture of what I’m supposed to be doing soon.

Oh, and I recorded the song, just so it’ll be out there somewhere in full.  It’s not the best recording, it’s a capella, and I was probably singing too low, but here it is :P

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A concert?! A Christian concert?!

The look on my uncle’s face tonight was priceless.  We were sitting at the dinner table and I asked my aunt if she might be interested in going to a concert with me this weekend at a local venue.  I explained it was a couple of great Christian bands… and my uncle interjected with something along the lines of “Are you kidding me?!”

It was quite hilarious.  He went on to demonstrate his idea of a Christian concert, which apparently was based on something from a South Park episode, which involved rocking out and head banging incoherently, interrupted randomly by words like “God” or “Jesus”.  An avid party-goer, his idea of “concert” just does not jive with his idea of Christianity, in any way, shape or form.

This was made even more amusing to me, by the fact that his original look of shock and disbelief was very similar to the look I’ve seen on friends’ faces, Christian friends, when I mention going to a concert and they don’t realize I mean a Christian band.  The shock, the horror, “a CONCERT?!, YOU!?”

Music is all about poetry, emotion, expression… most any music has some sort of religious or philosophical undertones… so their surprise, while quite amusing, is also rather perplexing.

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There CAN Be a More Beautiful You

There’s a new song that’s been played on Christian radio quite a lot lately called “A More Beautiful You” by Jonny Diaz. It’s a very catchy song, and I loved it the first time I heard it. The more I hear it though, the more it bothers me.  Unfortunately, I keep singing along, despite myself, and I have a feeling a lot of people absolutely love the song.

You can listen to the song here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXSkd8apbWM
Or find the full lyrics here:
http://www.jonnydiaz.com/?p=77

The first verse is great. It looks at a 14 yo girl who’s looking at a magazine and feeling bad because she’s not perfect like the model she’s looking at. I can’t really identify with that, I’ve never really been concerned with that kind of thing myself, but I know a lot of girls are, and I’m sure Mr Diaz had great intentions with the song. Who doesn’t want to help people realize their inner beauty?

The problems I have start with the chorus, and the overall message of the song.

There could never be a more beautiful you

The fact is, there CAN be a more beautiful you. Whoever you are, wherever you are, you are not perfect. That’s the entire point of the Christian message. If we were perfect the way we were Christ never would have had to die for us. Non-Christians are not perfect the way they are, they need a savior to cover their sins with His blood. Christians are not perfect the way we are, we should constantly be striving to put off the old self and conform to Christ. Without a constant struggle to improve ourselves, we cannot be right with God.

There can be a more beautiful you, and he or she looks an awful lot more like Christ than you do now.

Don’t buy the lies disguises and hoops they make you jump through
You were made to fill a purpose that only you could do
So there could never be a more beautiful you

This part bugs me on another level. Were we made to fill a purpose that only we can do? I can’t think of a scripture that supports this idea. Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure it’s not there. It’s a popular idea…. We’re all unique and great and God made each of us for a specific reason and purpose and task. There’s a perfect mate for us out there and God made him/her as a perfect match and together we’ll make the perfect family yadda yadda yadda. Yeah, it’s a great thought. But I don’t think it’s Biblical.

God does not need you. Yes, God wants you to come to Him. He cares for you so deeply that even if you were the only one left on this earth worth saving He would have made a way to bring you home. He came and died for you. He wants you to return that love and to work in His kingdom, helping to save others and bring them home. But he doesn’t need you. He is all powerful, almighty, and all knowing. If you’re a Christian, you chose to accept Him as Lord, and He’s made a place for you in His body. Sure, there is work for you to do, but if you turn away from Him tomorrow and go your own way… if you lay down your cross and stop doing the work He’s apportioned to you, He will find another worker to fill the position. You are not so unique that God can’t live without you. God does not depend on you. If you believe you are indispensable to God you are believing a lie. 

We should be secure in our faith, and we should be more concerned about our hearts than our bodies. There’s no reason to turn anorexic or get surgery because you want to look like the model in a magazine. In that I applaud Mr Diaz. But the chorus teaches something that is antithetical to true Christianity. There CAN be a more beautiful you, and you should always be striving to become that person.

The second verse is much like the first, but lays out a now-21-year-old who has made compromises in her life. Setting up a picture of someone who has done wrong and now needs to repent, but still has a bad self-image. The bridge confuses me a bit.

So turn around you’re not too far
To back away be who you are
To change your path go another way
It’s not too late you can be saved
If you feel depressed with past regrets
The shameful nights hope to forget
Can disappear they can all be washed away
By the one who’s strong can right your wrongs
Can rid your fears dry all your tears
And change the way you look at this big world
He will take your dark distorted view
And with His light He will show you truth
And again you’ll see through the eyes of a little girl

“You’re not too far to back away and be who you are” – So she’s really not this person who has made mistakes in her life and needs to fix them? She’s really this innocent little girl who she used to be? What kind of nonsense is that? The second two lines are right on. It’s never too late, and you can be saved. In fact, it’s right on up to the last 3 lines, then it loses me again. “He’ll take your dark distorted view and show you truth and you’ll see through the eyes of a little girl” what does that mean? It probably wouldn’t sound odd except for the context of first few lines here, when you combine them it sounds like she’s just been looking at her life wrong and really she’s not bad at all, she hasn’t made compromises and done anything wrong, she’s just looking at everything the wrong way.

This song is confusing at best, and I’m sure Mr Diaz didn’t have bad intentions, but it reeks of psycho-babble that has nothing to do with Christianity. Since the chorus, that’s repeated over and over, is so misguided I just can’t help but be offended by it when I hear it now. It’s too bad, because it really is a great song, musically.

 

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online karaoke

So I had an account on kSolo for a while, to amuse myself, and then they up and got bought out by myspace… so I had to re-record everything if I wanted to bother, and I didn’t want to bother for a while. I needed some stress relief the other day though so I recorded a few songs again.

They suck, for the most part, but I had fun with it anyway.

Since I do this kind of thing at 3am in my pj’s I wasn’t about to turn my webcam on :P so it’s just the song, no video.

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Awesome Praise Songs Playlist

I just discovered this site, and had to see what it had. Here’s a collection of 75 of the best praise songs out there… it’s wont’ load inline, so click here to load the player (flash) in a new window.

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