I apologize in advance if I've previously shared this next anecdote, but I just ran across it on my desk and it made me laugh...maybe because I still have a bit of World Series baseball excitement in my blood from last weekend.

 

After losing a baseball game, cartoon character Charlie Brown pours out his heart to his friend, Lucy:  “All my life I’ve dreamed of pitching in the big leagues, but I’ll never make it!”  Lucy replies:  “You’re thinking too far ahead, Charlie Brown.  Set yourself more immediate goals.  Start with the next inning, for example.  When you go out to pitch, see if you can walk to the mound…without falling down.”

 

Aha.

 

Signed,

Wokking 2 thuh Mownd  -  sloe lee

 

 

 

"Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."  --Johann Sebastian Bach

 

Signed,

Sope & Wah Trr

 

 

 

Winners - My son's high school soccer team won their play-off game this afternoon in sudden death overtime.  Their opponent was rated #1 in the state, and was so "physical" the last time we played them that the state high school soccer association had to get involved and lay down the law.  Today's game was a sweet victory indeed.  Somehow a "win" just feels better when the perceived "bad guy" gets his due.

 

Losers - Well, not yet.  But the Rockies aren't doing too well in game 3.

 

Winners - I just gotta add this.  I think the Rockies are winners no matter what!!  They're playing in the World Series for goodness sake!  For the first time in franchise history!  And their Christian testimony has been brought to light for all to see.  Go God!

 

Besides, there are still a few more innings to go.... 

 

Signed,

Hoo Noze?

 

 

 

I've been told "you need to celebrate along the way" in life.  Enjoy the journey.  Etc.

 

So even though I sometimes feel like one of those "little people" that tend to get lost in the masses, tonight that doesn't seem quite so bad.  Why?  Because an NSAI evaluator loved something I wrote, and complimented me by saying my song was a "rare gem" and also said "you are one of the needles in the haystack." 

 

Such a little thing - this needle that I am.  And maybe I'll never be found by the world.  But God knows exactly where I'm stashed away.

 

Signed,

Jusst Uh Knee dull

 

 

This is today's BreakPoint (Chuck Colson, Prison Fellowship) and it has inspired me!  Obviously it doesn't hurt that he's talking about the Colorado Rockies, but I would be inspired no matter what team he was talking about!  I remember being thrilled to learn that many of Sue Smith's beloved Cardinals were Christians, for example.  (And that's still awesome!) 

Well, this is a "bigger picture" story - and it has inspired areas of my life that have absolutely nothing to do with baseball.

The Red Sox are in the World Series, opening today, and I have got a very big problem. Having grown up in Boston buying 60-cent seats to the bleachers to watch my heroes, the Red Sox, I became a lifelong fan. But now they are playing the Colorado Rockies, which is going to test my loyalty as a member of the Red Sox nation.

You see, back on September 15, baseball's Colorado Rockies were only four games above .500, six-and-a-half games behind in the race for the final playoff spot. With only nine games left to play, they were still four-and-a-half games behind.

Then came what Jayson Stark of ESPN called a "rampage for the ages," and now the Rockies, 40-to-1 shots to make it to the playoffs, are in the World Series.

To get to the playoffs, the Rockies had to win 14 of their last 15 games, including a do-or-die one-game playoff against the San Diego Padres. As befitted this improbable story, they won that game by scoring three runs in the bottom of the 13th inning to overcome a two-run deficit.

Once October started, the Rockies kept rolling: They swept both Philadelphia and Arizona to enter the World Series having won 21 of their last 22 games. As Stark put it, "This didn't . . . happen [really], did it?"

Well, it did. And this lifelong Red Sox fan could not be happier, because this is more than a feel-good underdog story. It is sweet vindication for an organization that dared to run its business as if what it believed were true. You see, their recent rampage is not the only thing that sets the Rockies apart. The Rockies are the first major league sports franchise organized on specifically Christian principles.

That does not mean that the Rockies only sign Christian players. General Manager Dan O'Dowd told USA Today that while he knows "some of the guys who are Christians," he "can't tell you who is and who isn't."

The Rockies' way means "[doing] the best job [they] can to get [the right] people with the right sense of moral values . . ." To that end, prospective Rockies are interviewed to see if they are compatible with the Rockies' approach.

Once players join the Rockies, they are put in an environment that reinforces these values: "Quotes from Scripture are posted in the weight room. Chapel service is packed on Sundays. Prayer and fellowship groups each Tuesday are well-attended."

And off the field, the Rockies players recently proved that the "Rockies' Way" is the right way. Last summer, a minor league coach in the Rockies farm system, Mike Coolbaugh, was killed by a line drive while coaching at first base. The Rockies players have now voted a full share of the team's playoff money for the coach's family. And the Coolbaugh's two sons, five-year-old Joseph and three-year-old Jacob, threw out the first pitch of Game 3 of the National League Championship Series. General Manager O'Dowd "almost started crying" when he learned what the Rockies had done. He said, "It was very emotional for me. It really went to the core of the character we've worked so hard to bring to this organization."

With all the news these days about steroids, cheating, and felony arrests, modern-day pro sports needs a story about the good guys. And athletes need the reminder that it is possible to excel both as a player and as a human being—that character counts. And as for this Red Sox fan, well, I am going to be happy however the series turns out.

 

 

 

Scott spotted a Delaware license plate while I was away at WAJ.  My youngest emailed me the news while I was in St. Louis, but I didn't quite believe him.  (He tends to like to pull my leg.)  But it was the truth!

 

That means the Herremas spotted all fifty states this year! - the first time we've ever succeeded.

 

It's the little things, folks.

 

Signed,

Sell Uh Brate

 

 

 

Home from WAJ.  I walked in the house and it was all "picked up" thanks to my marvelous husband and children.  And it smelled like pumpkin pie - thanks to my youngest who carved a pumpkin this weekend and then lit a tealight in it when he knew we were only a few minutes from home.  :-)

 

Almost missed my flight because I looked at the wrong itinerary.  (Ya gotta love it when you think you have two hours to read your book at the gate, but find out when you check your bag that your flight is leaving in 16 minutes.)  Slept 2 and 1/2 hours this afternoon and I'm still absolutely exhausted and ready for bed. 

 

I didn't win the grand prize - didn't even win a 1st, 2nd or 3rd place in my group.  BUT - several other unexpected and extremely encouraging things happened for me that far outweigh the whole "songwriting competition" thing!  I am thanking and praising God for His abundance.   (I know, I know.  You always hear that "it's not about the competition"  - but that is the absolute truth.)  I so wish I could sit down and write all day tomorrow, but I guess I'll have to sandwich some of my "other" life in there as well.  Balance.

 

Thankfully tomorrow's jury duty got cancelled.  (I probably would have slept through the trial anyway - or maybe I would have a written a song in my head instead of listening.)

 

Signed,

Knot Gill T.

 

 

 

If you know me very well, then you know Nicole Nordeman is one of my heroes.  She wrote something in her MySpace bio that often comes back to me.

 

 

Yes!  That's it! 

 

And I believe that if Nicole's music can sprout arms, then so can mine.   

 

Signed,

Wunnuh Flye?

 

P.S.  I'm at Write About Jesus "as we speak" and EXHAUSTED.  Getting up at 3 a.m. is pure craziness, but worth it.  Wish you were here.

 

 

 

This morning my son, Blake, came and sat on my lap as we watched out the front window for carpool. Blake is 10 years old and, according to my 15-year-old, way too big to be sitting on my lap.  But he likes to sit by me, and I'm determined to enjoy it as long as I can.

 

Anyway, I sent him back upstairs to cure the "bed head" situation, and when he plopped back on my lap I got the most wonderfully nostalgic whiff of green apple (thanks to the detangler I had bought for him).  I immediately remembered going to my grandparents house on Sundays after church, and eating apples off their tree that definitely were not ready for human consumption.  But something about the tangy and "challenging" flavor of those green apples was just more than me and my cousins could resist.  Grandpa would say, "Don't eat too many of those or you'll get a belly-ache."  I don't remember any belly-aches, but I remember that scent.

 

Those few moments this morning of fresh apple fragrance continue to permeate my day.  Smells can do that.

 

Songs can do that too.  Bring back memories - change a mood - help you face what lies ahead. 

 

I want to write songs like that.

 

Signed,

Kneed Uhnuthrr Wiff

 

 

 

 

Aren't things supposd to get better with age?  Like a fine wine?

 

So why is that when I listen to songs I've written in years past, I distinctly remember them being sure-fire HITS.  But today they taste like Mogen David?

 

[At this point I would like to extend my apologies in advance to the Mogen David Wine company in Westfield, New York. In fact, let's just pretend I said some of my older songs taste like grape juice.

 

Signed,

A. Jing

 

 

 

I was rather shocked yesterday when I realized that Write About Jesus is less than two weeks away.  Excuse me?!!! 

 

This will be my fourth year, and I found myself thinking about expectations.  Day-dreaming.  Dreaming, even.  Come on.  Admit it.  Don't you?  I figure it doesn't hurt to dream, so here goes!  There's always the Grand Prize if you really want to dream big.  Or that ideal "connection" that you could never have imagined.  Meeting your fellow small group leader and maybe making a new friend in the process.  Meeting your future hit-song-writing cowriter.  Getting a pat on the back from one of your heroes.  Stuff like that. 

 

So then I asked myself how I would feel if I merely "placed" in my competition group.  Or not even that.  Maybe I don't make any new connections that seem "significant."  I'm homesick.  Or lonely.  Someone severely criticizes my song - or me as a person.  I'm given a painful opportunity to learn an important but tough lesson.  Maybe I get called home early because of an emergency.  You never know, right?  All kinds of things could happen.  Maybe I don't even get to GO!!

 

Here's what surprised me.  As I entertained all of those "negative" possibilities, I discovered I didn't feel disappointed or stressed about them!  (The grace of God, I'm sure.)  I realized that, regardless of what happens two weeks from now, I am a better songwriter today than I was a year ago.  I am! 

 

And I realized that I'm one year "further down the road" of the life God has designed for me, regardless of what the final destination might be.  (And by final destination, right now I'm talking about where I'll be in the final days of my earthly life - not what comes after that.)  In fact, lately I've found myself so consumed with thoughts of heaven, that I'm able to put into perspective the fact that songwriting is a huge blessing for me in "this life", but ultimately songwriting is something that I believe God will use in me for eternity.  Anything I write here on earth is only a halting note or two of the prelude.

 

So - yes - I'm looking forward to seeing what God has in store for me at WAJ.  And I'm already thankful for what that is - regardless. 

 

Care to join me?

 

Signed,

C. Klear Lee

 

 

 

My family is quite used to eating those all-too-familiar meals that get thrown together at the last moment - simply because I didn't plan ahead.  And there's always the occasional YOYO ("you're on your own").  My family is also used to the idea that special desserts and/or yummy homemade bars usually only appear in our kitchen when I have to bring food to someone else's house.  Otherwise, scoop out some ice cream folks!  That's just how it is.

 

So why did I bake pumpkin dessert squares this afternoon, make a special trip to the store for Cool Whip, cook a nice dinner, and then rustle up some bars this evening that have the all-important chocolate layer on top?  The answer is simple.  Our oldest child is home from college for a 4-day break! 

 

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what I call motivation.

 

Unfortunately that means I did not get to finish a rewrite today that is simply clammering for my attention!!  Oh well, what's one more sleepless night - while my subconscious writes and rewrites and rewrites, instead of sleeping?  Priorities.  And I will work on that song tomorrow, cuz Jordan will be busy packing in a month's worth of Colorado social life into one quick weekend. 

 

Signed,

Heez Hohm!

 

 

 

Take a deep breath...and enjoy....

 

 

Signed,

Eye Feal Undrr Stuhd