We got news today about the "sibling match" for my brother's bone marrow.  My younger brother and I are only a "half match".  But our youngest sister is a "full match."  Praise God for that!  Apparently having the donor be the opposite gender makes initial success a bit less likely.  But if you get through that, it makes long-term success more likely.  Go figure.

 

So there it is.  In black and white.  And it's hard to know how I feel about all that.  Harv may not need any sibling donation in the long run, because they're still hoping to harvest the necessary 5 million cells from his own body (3 million minimum).  But if he does, I now know that I won't have to be the one "inconvenienced" or the one to face the pain of donating.  I won't have to...nor will I get to.  My sister said it was strange, but somehow she always just "knew" that she would be the one to match.  It's not like she looks the most like him or anything (which wouldn't even matter), but she somehow just knew.  Harv will take chemo for the next week, and then hopefully forge ahead with the stem cell transplant.

 

If you happen to be praying for Harv, could you also please pray for their financial situation?  There is suddenly a legal flap (!!!!) between their current provider and the state.  Can you imagine losing your medical insurance in the middle of a life and death fight with lymphoma?  At this point it looks like they will have to switch to the state insurance plan which is very expensive and only covers 80 percent.  But that's still better than being left with 100% of the bill!  .... 

 

Ya know, it would seem that their burden is heavy enough just facing the cancer.  Why this too, God?!!  (And I know it's okay to ask why, because King David did it in the Psalms.)   God, I know you have this all well in hand.  The cancer.  The insurance.  The matching.  All of it.  But could you please help the "knowing" parts to convince the "feeling" parts of me?  Sometimes there seems to be a disconnect.

 

Signed,

Hee Izz Mahch Less

 

 

 

Don't you just love a good turn-around?  Like that grand slam in the 9th inning for your favorite team?  Or the surprise movie ending that now lingers on the edge of your subconscious as you drift off to sleep? 

 

Today started out poorly.  I was discouraged.  No two ways about it.  I needed a turn-around.  Desperately.  And it came....  Slowly....  Sometimes it's not "one thing" that makes the difference.  Today it was four things.

 

1.  I worked really hard on cleaning up the joint, because we had people coming over tonight to record a missions trip CD (prayers, scriptures, someone's original music, etc.).  Nothing like a deadline to get you off your duff.

 

2.  Somewhere in the middle of that, I spent 30 minutes working on a puzzle with Shelby, followed by a crazy 20 minutes playing "Speed" (card game) with Blake.  That hour was definitely the highlight of my day.

 

3.  It was such fun having teenagers and youth group leaders (who just happen to be Scott's brother and wife) around all evening.  And it's a good thing Shelby and Blake baked chocolate chip cookies this afternoon, because those teenagers apparently would have starved otherwise.

 

4.  I had a SongU feedback class with one of my favorite instructors.  Oh sure, there's rewriting to be done.  But in the midst of his suggestions, he was also very excited about the music, groove and overall "worth" of the song idea.  So I don't mind the work I need to do on the song to bring it up to its potential...not one bit!  Actually, I feel very energized when I get my rewrite "marching orders" from someone I respect.  I can't wait to get to work tomorrow!

 

So I'm pretty thankful that God, in His faithfulness, used housework, children, a recording studio favor, and a "shoot straight from the hip" songwriting critique to draw me closer to Himself.  Why should that surprise me?  Life is never dull when God is in charge.

 

Signed,

Tern Tirn Turn

 

 

 

DISH-TV is one of the perks of Scott's job at EchoStar.  (Scott says to be sure to tell my readers that we get this package for free because Scott works there and because he loves me.  "Yes dear.")  The technicians hooked it up yesterday.  This package is "America's Top 100" but does not include Animal Planet or, more importantly, FOX News.

 

I am distraught. 

 

Scott doesn't think we can move "down" to the more basic "DishFAMILY" package.  But it seemed worth asking about...for a moment anyway...because we would then have those two particular programs.  But not The Learning Channel or Discovery Channel or the History Channel, among others.

 

We could move "up" to "America's Top 200" and have everything I want...but would have to pay $13 a month.  (ugh)

 

It's been a great day overall...filled with unforgettable stories from my boys about their mission trip.  It doesn't get much better than that! But I have to admit that I'm allowing this little "hiccup" in my television-viewing life to distress me beyond what it probably should.  FOX News is about the only show I watch.  And my children pretty much only watch stuff like Animal Planet, TLC and Discovery Channel. 

 

You wouldn't think it would be that hard to package those together.  Would you?

 

Signed,

E. Zih Lee Uh Noid

 

P.S.  Yes, I guess I just dissed my husband's employer.  (gulp)  If tomorrow's blog is about a return to unemployment, please send me lots of nice emails....

 

 

 

Today my two teenage boys are traveling home from their mission trip.

 

Today is the "day after" I spent a girls' weekend with my 13-year-old daughter here at home.  We had a fabulous time! 

 

Today my brother Harv is headed for Seattle re a stem cell transplant.  If levels are too low, they'll go to Option B (siblings).  Somehow I don't want them to choose the "Bev" Option.  I would hate to be the option that fails him in the end...plus there's my fear of the unknown.

 

Today my friend Paul and his wife Judy left for Grand Lake, Colorado on motorcycles...with some trepidation.  Paul has been fighting Stage 4 lung cancer now for over a year.  I'm rejoicing that they're able to attempt this trip at all.  I'm praying they're able to do this safely.

 

Today their daughter Leesha arrived to stay with us until tomorrow afternoon.  I'm wondering what the "trip" of this past year has been like for her.  And her two brothers.

 

Today Scott and our 10-year-old Blake return to normal life following their weekend in the mountains.  (Rite of passage, don't ya know.)  When they got home, Blake had on his sad face and told me he didn't want to come home at all--he had SO much fun in the mountains.  I'm thankful they had a great time.  But I also feel sad that our older kids got to experience owning a cabin as they were growing up, while our youngest missed out because our financial situation changed so drastically.  That's life.

 

Today I'm wondering how Scott feels about all that.  I'm sure he wishes we could still do those things as well.  Plus he and Blake stayed at the cabin of our brother-in-law who used to be our business partner and whose business is thriving.  Thankfully, amazingly, Scott does not fall prey to the comparison game.  Unfortunately, I do...but I'm learning a lot from him.

 

Today is laundry day.  (Tomorrow will be a repeat...when those teenage boys unload their bags!)  Thankfully I don't have to use a washboard down by the river.

 

Today I'd like to spend time on music for the lyric I wrote last week.  Sometimes I'm afraid to take that next step.  You see, right now there's a blank canvas.  Potential.  The possibility of beauty.  But once I write the music, it may fall short of my hopes and expectations.  So I tend to procrastinate and dream of what the song MIGHT become, instead of buckling down and writing the best song I can possibly write for today.  (Eventually the lyric becomes too boring by itself, so I push through.)

 

Today it's supposed to reach 98 degrees here in sunny Denver, Colorado.  I can't help but wonder how much money I'm about to spend on air conditioning.

 

Today I'm thankful for air conditioning.

 

Today I have so many blessings in my life, I can't begin to count them.  But I might as well try....

 

Signed,

2 Dae Izz Kawling

 

 

 

Okay I'll admit it.  I forgot our anniversary.  Not our wedding anniversary, mind you...but the one-year anniversary of closing down our business.  Scott mentioned it at the dinner table last night and I felt sad.

 

Actually, maybe this helps explain my melancholy state and perhaps even depression this past week.  For the life of me I couldn't figure out why I should be feeling that way.  I journaled about all my blessings.  I recounted God's faithfulness.  I took naps.  I ate chocolate chips.  But to no avail. 

 

However, now I'm recalling how I've read about people who feel unaccountably sad during a certain time period each year, and then figure out it's because it's the anniversary of a miscarriage, or abortion, or death, or...fill in the blank.  I think for me it was the death of a child, because our business always felt like a 5th child to me.  A child born out of our hopes and dreams, a child born in the midst of pain and sacrifice, a child we nurtured with all that we had within us, a "second" child that was born with much pomp and circumstance when our oldest son was only one year old.  Now Jordan is headed off to college, and our "second-born" is no more.  (Don't worry everyone.  Our TRUE second-born is alive and well.  As is our third.  And fourth.  Thank you, God!)

 

Maybe this sounds sappy to you.  If so, maybe you should go rent an action flick.  Or maybe you can relate at some level.  If so, it's nice to know I'm not the only nut case around.

 

Regardless, I am choosing to rejoice today that we have survived the past year!  More than survived.  We have learned and grown.  Today is the "day after" our one-year anniversary of pain, and God holds the future securely in place.  He always has.  Always will.  And He has wonderful surprises in store for us.  (For you too.)

 

Signed,

Moo Ving Awn...Yeht Uh Genn

 

 

 

 

Michael Kosser's "Street Smarts" column in the July/August American Songwriter magazine had me shouting "Amen" and dancin' in the aisles.  (Okay.  Not quite.  But I might have uttered a "yes" out loud...which is pretty out there for me.)

 

He describes three "musical myths".  Here are some outtakes, which just might be enough to send you scrambling for your copy of the magazine.

 

Myth No. 1 - "All great artists sing their own songs, and therefore performing songwriters are superior to nonperforming songwriters."  (That's the myth, people!)  He elaborates, "Some of the best songwriters in the history of songwriting do not have the singing or playing chops, or the desire, to spend their lives traveling the country to play their songs in front of audiences.  They just write great songs.  And some of the greatest singers in our history collected great songs from nonperformaing songwriters and gifted these songs to us.  Some singers still do, and bless them; otherwise some great songs would never be heard because egotistical and/or greedy singer/songwriters insist on cutting their own songs when there are better ones out there for them, if only they would listen."  (Ha!  Take that!)

 

Myth No. 2 - "There is a journalistic myth that portrays Music Row in Nashville, Tenn., as some kind of establishment that stifles creativity."  You'll have to dig out your copy of the magazine to read about how he asserts that it's actually the "big radio conglomerates who stifle creativity."

 

Myth No. 3 - "Recording star X lost his career because evil record executive Y would not promote X's fantastic CD due to some petty reason."  I like this sentence:  "Here's a more likely Nashville scenario:  X's first three hit albums featured monster smashes written by professional songwriting wretches who write songs for their living.  X deluded himself into believing that the hits came solely because of his superior talents, and he recorded two albums full of his own lame songs.  The songs stiffed, his career crashed and burned--end of story."  Ouch.  But admit it, you've observed this. 

 

If you don't subscribe to this magazine, shame on you.  (just kidding)   But at least go buy this issue at your local newsstand!  Or splurge and also get a back issue so you can see Nick and Allie LaPointe's awesome lyric amidst some lyric writing contest winners!

 

Here's to "veritas" and the truth!

 

Signed,

Saung Ryting Retch?  So B. Itt

 

 

 

It's the little things...that eat up so much time!

 

We broke the lid of my crockpot.  The "family" is accepting collective blame.  It's an old thing left over from wedding present days...3.5 quart Rival Crock Pot...and it definitely is NOT in 2007 decorator colors.  But it works, ya know?  So you would think I could find a replacement lid for a song (i.e., cheap). 

 

But no.  I've tried Google.  I've tried eBay.  And it's simply a crime what kind of price some people are able to command for...well...for a worthless piece of junk.

 

Scott says I need to go garage saling, and he's probably right.  But you know what?  I hate garage sales.

 

Signed,

By Nu?  Know Weigh!

 

 

 

I did something this weekend that I'm convinced is going to help me with my songwriting.  I sat myself down and did whatever it took to finish the puzzle that's been sitting out for months. 

 

It's a good thing I'm not allergic to dust.

 

Signed,

Suck Sehs!

 

 

 

I've been meditating on one of the verses I read this morning.  From Mark 11:24 (The Message)-- "That's why I urge you to pray for absolutely everything, ranging from small to large.  Include everything as you embrace this God-life, and you'll get God's everything."

 

Some of the "small to large" I'm praying for this morning is the mission trip my two oldest boys left on less than an hour ago.  They'll be ministering to the Chippewa and Cree Indians in Montana.  This youth team was originally supposed to go to Guatemala, but things fell apart a month or so ago. However, as a friend recently told me, "Bev, believe me, going to an Indian reservation in Montana IS like going to a third world country."  And so I pray.

 

 

I love it that this verse doesn't say I'll "get everything."  And it doesn't say I'll "get everything I want."  It says I'll "get God's everything." 

 

 

 

Does anyone else out there sometimes wonder just exactly what God's "everything" in your life means?  Oh I know He's there for me.  Loving, upholding, teaching.  But I know there's more.  Maybe His "more" in my life is eventual, tangible success as a songwriter.  Maybe His "more" in my life is witnessing to others as I go through a severe trial.  Maybe His "more" in my life is playing the role of an encourager to someone He has gifted in a special way, but who needs encouragement and strength to be all that he or she can be.  Maybe His "more" in my life is something He's bringing my way that I haven't seen yet because the time isn't ripe.  He didn't create me (or you for that matter) to just comfortably exist from day to day with enough food to eat and enough clothes to wear and some good times along the way.  He has a specific purpose (or purposes!) for each one of us!  How sad if we were to miss what this was.  If we were to miss "God's everything" and settle for "my something".  That would be such a waste.

 

 

That's what I want to do today.  Even though I'm feeling sort of clueless at the moment.  But I'm praying that I am a good student and that I pay attention today as He teaches me.  He's always teaching.  But sometimes I'm sleeping in class.

 

This verse is for me--and it's for you.  Will you indulge me and soak it in one more time?  "That's why I urge you to pray for absolutely everything, ranging from small to large.  Include everything as you embrace this God-life, and you'll get God's everything."

 

Signed,

M. Brase / Ree Seeve

 

 

 

You may recall I went on a 4th grade class trip this past May to NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research).  It was one of my favorite field trips ever, and Blake absolutely insisted we visit it again this summer for a Wacky Wednesday outing so that our other three kids could see it.  (Since we went today, on a Thursday, Wacky Wednesday automatically morphs into Thrilling Thursday. We have specific "outing" names for each day...depending which day happens to work on a particular week.  Umm.  Did any of that make sense?)

 

We took a noon tour that the 4th grade class didn't get to go on.  It would have been too much for them to handle, but my teenage boys were just eating it up.  My high school graduate valedictorian son said that there were a lot of things even HE wouldn't have been able to catch if it wasn't for some of his physics courses and such.  And even so, a lot of it was over his head.  (Okay, I feel a little bit better now.  For awhile I just figured I operated at a 4th grade level.) 

 

SO....  I just have to say that the nerdy tour guy, who was obviously one of their working scientists, was so obviously, incredibly, thoroughly enamored with his subject matter that we could hardly believe it!  I won't even TRY to describe some of his antics.  Quite something.  We laughed about it afterward, but none of our reactions were critical in any way.  It just amazed us how much this guy loved his subject matter (and, by transference, his job).  He could barely hold it in.  Enthusiastic to the max.  And corny jokes all over the place, simply because they bubbled out of him as he shared all this cool stuff he knew.

 

We talked about him a bit as we ate our picnic lunch out on the tree plaza (wow--what an incredible view of the Rockies!).  His enthusiasm for his work is really the way all "work" was created to be, right?  The Fall messed that up, but there are still kernels of truth of that enthusiasm available in every job...in every worker...in every situation.  I like to imagine what "going to work" might be like someday in a New Heaven and a New Earth.

 

Anyway, I pray you felt some of that enthusiasm in whatever tasks you worked on today.

 

Signed,

Wurrk Iz X. Sighting

 

 

 

From Max Lucado [with insertions from yours truly]:

 

 

 

[A songwriter is "in the flow".  He scribbles down lyrics as they race through his mind.  He rehearses melodies in his head as he drives down the road. ....  You fill in the rest of this one.]

 

Two builders - two castles.  [or three]  They see nothing and make something.  And for both the tide will rise and the end will come.  Yet that's where the similarities cease.  For the boy sees the end while the man ignores it.  Watch the boy as dusk approaches.  As the waves near, the wise child begins to clap.  There is no sorrow.  No fear. No regret.  He knew this would happen.  He is not surprised.  And when the great breaker finally crashes upon his castle and his masterpiece is sucked into the sea, he smiles, picks up his tools, takes his father's hand and goes home.  The grown-up however is not so wise.  As the wave of years collapses on his castle he is terrified.  He hovers over the sandy monument he protected.  He blocks the waves from the walls he has made.  Salt-water soaked and shivering he scowls at the incoming tide.  "It's my castle," he defies.  The ocean need not respond.  Both know to whom the sand belongs...and I don't know much about sandcastles.  But children do.  Watch them and learn.  Go ahead and build, but build with a child's heart.  When the sun sets and the tides take - applaud.  Salute the process of life, then take your Father's hand and go home.

 

What kind of songwriter are you?  When your masterpiece is sucked into the sea, will you smile, pick up your tools, take your Father's hand and go home?  Or will you be salt-water soaked and shivering, scowling at those who dare to forget your genius...your gift to the world?

 

I don't know about you, but something about this story makes me long for the tide to come in...even though I love to build sandcastles.  Actually, my "masterpieces" will never really get sucked into the sea, because my Father loves me and will always keep them on display--like on His refrigerator or something.  Oh, I know my efforts may not be masterpieces in the judgment of the world around me, but God judges things differently than we do.  And I trust He sees the "castle" I had in mind each time I started a new song, rather than the one that ends up erected before me on the disappearing beach.  Each castle built for Him.

 

Signed,

Shuh Vill Inn Hannd

 

 

 

Each of us is different.  We write different kinds of songs.  We have different insights.  We have different gifts.  We have different heart burdens.  We have different experiences.  Different histories.  We have different people encouraging us, and different people to encourage.  We have different callings.  God works through each one of us in different ways, so that the full spectrum of what needs to be done in His world is accomplished.  And that's quite a lot!  So many differences.  And yet...there is only one God.

 

Maybe that's why I like this verse so much:  "God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us."  (I Cor 12:6 NLT)

 

So never de-value a song you've just written.  Never de-value your calling.  And above all, never de-value yourself!  God is working in you, and you have something to give.

 

Signed,

Diph Urr Ehnt Inn Deed

 

 

 

His eye is on the sparrow, even when the sparrow is flitting about and...well...clueless.

 

Last week we were bummed to discover that our credit card information had been "found" by someone, so we were getting some strange charges on our card...such as a subscription to Fillipino TV channels.  Umm...definitely not.  And of course it's a pain to identify which transactions are legitimate, to cancel this card, to start a new one, to try to remember who has this number for automatic payments, etc.  Boo hiss.

 

Today we got a letter in the mail from our "getting through the inbetween times" medical insurance company.  As it turns out, Scott's new insurance started June 1 and we were supposed to cancel the temporary "catastrophic" insurance we had in place for the time being...but we kept forgetting.  When we saw a letter from this company, both of us gulped and realized that we probably just lost a month's worth of medical premiums because of double coverage.  Good grief!!

 

But this letter tells us that the company did not receive their premium payment because the charge was denied by our credit card.  Imagine that.  "Your payment was due on 06/06/2007.  Your policy provides a 10-day grace period from the date payment is due in which to call in or mail in an alternate form of payment.  Please note that in order for your policy to continue, this alternate form of payment must be received within the 10-day grace period.  Any payments sent to us after the lapse date will be returned to you, as we are unable to apply premiums to a lapsed policy."

 

In other words, God took care of canceling the temporary policy FOR us...through the credit card fiasco!

 

As I read the letter, every time I saw the words "grace period", I couldn't help but think of God's grace in my life.  In big and small ways.   Grace...even in the little things when I'm too busy to pay attention to what He's up to.

 

Signed,

Chur Ping Hiz Praze

 

 

 

You've all heard the verse, and probably the song:  "Not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord."  (Zechariah 4:6)

 

So I read this week that if I'm waiting for God to give me exceptional equipment before I decide to get into the fight, I'm not going to experience great victories.  (Hmm...exceptional equipment.  Would that be a gift for alluring alliteration?  Or just leather seats...)

 

Well I don't feel exceptional as a rule.  In fact, one of my favorite verses tells me that God's "strength is made perfect in weakness."  Weakness?  I should be a prime candidate!  Come and get me, God!  (I actually watched video of my 9-year-old's baptism today and was reminded of the song I wrote for that occasion, based on that exact verse.  And was it prophetic that one of Blake's "weaknesses" was revealed only weeks after I wrote a song about weakness?  He was born with a VSD--a major heart defect.)

 

But I digress.  Here are the lines I read this week that really stuck with me:

 

 

I agree with that wholeheartedly!  At the same time, I realize how prone I truly am to want the glory for myself.  To take credit for my supposed "exceptional equipment", instead of admitting that my equipment is actually very substandard.  And I'm reminded of a phrase from an old hymn that has always made me want to cry, even when I sang it in the classroom as an elementary student...   "Prone to wander, Lord I feel it.  Prone to leave the God I love."

 

Okay, God.  You know exactly what You have to work with here.  And it ain't much.  But what I have, I dedicate again to Your glory, to supernatural feats that point to You, to something that is so obviously beyond anything Bev could ever accomplish on her own, that the crowds will stand up and cheer.....YOU. 

 

YOU!  Only YOU!!

 

Signed,

Subb Stan Durd Fur Shur

 

 

 

I just went to pick up a few prescriptions from the pharmacy and am unquestionably sick about it!  In fact, I left them all behind so I could go home and collect my wits (which are nowhere to be found, by the way). 

 

Here's the deal.  Our medical insurance ran out last January (the stuff we still had from our business closure).  We purchased some major medical catastrophic kind of thing to get us through until the medical insurance from Scott's new job finally kicked in (which took THREE MONTHS people!!).  I kept praying no one would break an arm or anything, and they didn't.  (Thank you, God.  I mean that.)

 

Our new insurance kicked in June 1, so we could finally fill some prescriptions.  I knew it wouldn't be our cushy $30 copays anymore, but we definitely didn't understand the "ins and outs" of what it WOULD be.  Hopefully you use only over-the-counter medications, but we are not that fortunate.  

 

Scott - 2 re depression

Jordan - 2 for acne, 2 for allergies

Austin - 2 for acne (and it's still bad)

Shelby - 4 for combinations of allergies and asthma

(Bev and Blake get by easy with over-the-counter drugs, which we all know cost only a buck or two.  Right?)

 

So here's why I'm freaked out.  Some of these meds (like the acne stuff, 30-day supply) cost $158 without insurance, but a mere $124 with insurance.  That's one of the middle-of-the-road ones.  Give me a break!!  I haven't even tried to fill some of the prescriptions that I suspect cost far more.

 

I'm sorry, but I am not a happy camper.  Money is tight these days.  I wanted to go to bed when I got home from the store, because I am so thoroughly exhausted.  But that little trip pumped a mega dose of adrenaline through my body, that's for sure. 

 

Unfortunately today's blog contains nothing to inspire you.  I'm merely venting.  Spewing even.  But maybe some of you are feeling thankful for your prescription coverage, or for the fact that you don't need any prescriptions in the first place.  If this inspired "thanksgiving" in any way, at least my night wouldn't be a total bust.

 

Signed,

Sawr E.

 

 

 

You know how you can hear a Bible verse dozens of times, and suddenly the Holy Spirit brings it to life for you in a new way?  Well, that happens for me with songs too, and it happened for me this morning while I was exercising.

 

I'll explain in a moment, but here's the chorus from Phillips, Craig & Dean's "My Praise".

 

    It’s like an ocean breeze blowing on your face
    Like a summer sun with its warm embrace
    Like a gentle rain plays a symphony
    That’s what I want my praise to be
    Like a fragrant rose in the early spring
    Like an eagle soars when it spreads its wings
    Whatever, Lord, You may need from me
    That’s what I want my praise to be
    To You

 

The line?  "Whatever, Lord, You may need from me.  That's what I want my praise to be to You."

 

It's kind of amazing of course to think of God needing something from me....like praise...and yet I was created for exactly that.  The Westminster Confession puts it this way:  "What is the chief end of man?  To glorify God and enjoy Him for ever."  Pretty succinct if you ask me.

 

But for today, the application was much more immediate.  I'm convinced that what "my praise" needed to be today...what my "life of worship" needed to be today...wasn't a new song, or a rewritten song, or a song idea, or networking.

 

Today I needed to take my four kids to the water park and enjoy their goofiness, laugh at their antics, tease them with my "endearing" sense of humor, remind them to reapply sunscreen, explain why we would be eating food from our cooler--thank you very much--instead of buying something from the overpriced vendors, marvel at the two oldest teenage boys who unquestionably tower over me (exactly when did that happen?), encourage my youngest to try a new ride, defend myself when I was too chicken to go on one myself, and put all other competing thoughts to rest for those precious few hours. 

 

Okay, okay.  I'll admit that's not quite as poetic as fragrant roses or soaring eagles, but hey....  It's where I'm at.  And I'm thankful for it.

 

Signed,

I. Need A. Shou Urr

 

 

 

A number of quotes from musicians and bands have been "jumping out" at me over the weekend:

 

    "I'm an artist who is a Christian.  I'm not a Christian artist."  (Johnny Cash)

 

    "You can sing about the Light, or you can sing about what you see because of the Light.  I prefer the latter."  (T-Bone Burnett)

 

    "We always use the analogy that if you're a Christian and you're a painter, you don't just paint pictures of Jesus."  (Eisley)

 

    "We don't call ourselves a Christian band.  Because when you get into marketing, 'Christian' means that you have everything together,

    and represents what we believe in."  (The Fray)  ...  These guys are from Denver by the way!  Woo-hoo!!

 

    "Someone was making a good analogy the other day that if a Christian paints an abstract picture of a tomato, is that a 'Christian

    painting'?  Obviously not.  It's an abstract painting done by a person who calls himself a Christian."  (Thrice)

 

I don't know why these grabbed my attention.  I don't know if they have anything to do with the journey I'm on or not.  Maybe each one is just a pop-quiz to keep me thinking.  I'm certainly convinced that you can "write about Jesus" in more ways than one!  If nothing else, maybe they'll help me continue to fine-tune what my place is in this world. 

 

And be sure to watch for the release of my next hit song --  Painting Tomatoes Blue.  (not)

 

Signed,

Witch Wae Nehkst

 

 

 

This morning I got ready for my day as fast as I could, because I was headed for the circus.  Not to see the actual circus, but to see the circus get set up.  My 13-year-old daughter and I meandered around the suddenly hectic field which had been empty and useless merely 24 hours earlier.  We wondered what the poor prairie dogs were thinking had happened to their home...observed hippo, zebra, llama, camel, billy goat, elephant...exclaimed over the newborn billy goat who was just "soooo cute" and admired all the cute babies period...watched wide-eyed toddlers take dusty elephant rides...tried to imagine what daily life was like for the workers...talked about the traveling amusement park that got set up in front of my dad's jewelry store every single May where I grew up...laughed at the sign on the semi which proudly declared this was the "71th" year.

 

But we spent most of our time inside the Big Top as it was being raised.  What a process!  The stakes were all different heights, and it was obvious that each one had to be placed in the proper position, in the proper order, and then moved again "according to plan" as the entire tent was gradually raised to its full height.  One elephant definitely earned his keep, while two little tractors scooted around doing the smaller stakes.  Everyone worked hard.  They were focused, and patient.  Each step important.  Each component crucial. 

 

And in the end ... ta da!! ... behold the Big Top--with four American flags flying proudly from the top.  Would you believe this crew goes through this entire routine almost every single day in a new location?...although they are going to stick around us for an extended engagement (woo-hoo!  3 whole days).  And let's not forget the goal and crowning moment of all this activity:  when an audience is finally gathered to enjoy the magic that's been so carefully prepared for them. 

 

You know what?  There are all kinds of magic in the world.  And this morning's outing reminded me an awful lot of what goes into songwriting.  And what can happen when it's done right.

 

Signed,

Go Maek Sum Maj Ick

 

P.S.  Now that I think of it, I've eaten enough chocolate today that I feel like an elephant.