Bear with me for a moment.  I'm working my way up to two fabulous quotes at the end of this blog.  Really!  You'll see!

 

Several days ago I blogged about all the different kinds of music I enjoy and that are in my background.  But, realistically, there are only so many hours in a day.  So I find myself wondering what God has in store for me.  Part of this journey as a songwriter is figuring that out.  Or perhaps more accurately, most of this journey is learning to notice what God is up to and then cooperating.

 

I give you Exhibit A:  A professional songwriter acquaintance (who shall remained unnamed) listened to a rewrite I did on a song this past week and commented that it potentially has "a Broadway or theater type appeal".  I won't bore you with a list of how many times I've heard similar observations over the years, including at WAJ, but they exist more often than I would have ever expected.  Does that mean I'm "supposed" to be writing songs for Broadway?  I doubt it.  But this has happened often enough that I do pay attention.  For example, last spring my ASCAP rep had me send a song to a contact in New York who works with musicals.  Hmm.  This whole subject area is just one example, and may simply speak to rhyme scheme, or emotion, or who knows what.  And yet I know that God is working in the details of influences, options, and avenues.  As I've said, I believe our job as songwriters is to "cooperate" (for lack of a better word), learn what there is to learn, and then use the gifts He's given us wherever He leads us.

 

Okay.  One example is probably enough.  You've waited very patiently.  Exhibit B will simply be the quotes I promised:

 

From Julia Cameron's book, "Walking in This World" (follow-up to The Artist's Way):  "There is an infallibility to the law that as we each seek to express what we are longing to say, there is always someone or something that is longing to hear precisely what we have expressed."

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm stuck on a piece of dialogue from a book I'm reading (Old Testament fiction, King Hezekiah...facing potential violence)

 

     "I know.  But how do I prepare for something like that?"

 

 

Say what?  I had to re-read it a couple of times.  You see, I've never thought about that before.  How many times have I prayed, "Lord, please give me strength for...."  Or signed off a greeting card by writing, "May God give you strength for the future."  Give.

 

But this book takes that further.  God doesn't GIVE me strength as much as He IS my strength.  Maybe this is just semantics.  Maybe the author was just looking for something provocative to write.  And maybe you wouldn't consider this provocative or interesting in the least.  But it's affected me deeply enough that I woke up in the middle of the night and just kept repeating those lines over and over in my head, trying to get my mind and heart around them.

 

If your response to all this is "well, of course that's the way it is" or maybe even a big yawn, then I simply thank you for bearing with me. But if it has somehow challenged you, then thanks for being a kindred spirit on this windy Monday morning.

 

I wonder how long it will take me to come to terms with whatever God is teaching me.

 

Signed,

Stew Dent

 

 

 

 

I learned such a cool thing at church this morning about the word "sincere". 

 

sin = without

cere = wax

 

Years ago when people were selling artifacts, they would sometimes have a statue, for example, with chips and cracks.  So they would fill in those defects with wax to make the item look nicer and in better shape than it truly was.  You, as the buyer, would be disappointed to get home and discover that your purchase wasn't really in as good a shape as you thought it was.  Wax!!  (boo hiss)

 

So a "sincere" statue was one "without wax".  The real thing.  Honest.  ....  Aha!  ....  And then we heard more about relationships and small groups.  The real thing.  No hiding.  No pretending.  Being honest with each other. 

 

I love my church LifeGroup.  But I also love my songwriting life group, especially WAJ!  Yes, it's often a long-distance relationship, and more than one of us is a bit cracked.  But thank you for loving and accepting me when my "honesty" turns into "too much information", and for just smearing wax in my various chips and cracks when needed.  And it is.

 

Signed,

Sinn Sear Lee Yorz

 

 

 

The dreaded question:  What kind of music do you like?    I dread it because the answer "all kinds of music" is just not acceptable.  Taboo.  A total cop-out.  And what are you supposed to do when that question reminds you that you think you just might have an identity crisis?  The "real" answer is obviously just too long for polite conversation, but in a blog you can throw out all kinds of random thoughts and no one can stop you.  So consider these examples of my diagnosis:

 

1.  Last night we watched Elizabethtown and so many of the songs (Tom Petty, Elton John, U2) just made my heart swell up inside of me.  Not because of the plot line.  Just the songs.

 

2.  I love hymns, both old and new.

 

3.  My older brothers showered me with the Beatles, while I mixed in the Partridge Family, Bobby Sherman, Bread, the Carpenters, and Barry Manilow. 

 

3.  My bachelors degree in music included a major in organ.  I even went on a pipe organ study tour to The Netherlands.  Simply grand.

 

4.  As a teenager, I adored Amy Grant more than anything.  (She's still a class act in my book.)

 

5.  I can sit around with Scott's family and weep with the best of them as we watch Gaither homecoming videos.  (My college professors would cringe if they knew.)  Southern gospel simply has heart. 

 

6.  Scott gave me a CD of Alice Jordan organ music for Christmas...I've played almost all of those pieces in various churches over the years, and I could soak in the sound of those pipes for hours.

 

7.  I took piano lessons for years, but rarely practiced my lesson material.  Instead, I preferred the Top 40 book my mom bought me (favorite song--Goodbye Yellow Brick Road) and songs from the Sound of Music.  Okay, okay.  I applied myself too, up until I entered college and switched to organ.  But for some strange reason, "sight-reading" remains my specialty!

 

8.  Which reminds me, I'm a sucker for musicals.  I grew up in Orange City, Iowa where we put on a town musical every year as part of the annual Tulip Festival.  I went to every single one, and later on played clarinet in the orchestra when I was teaching music there.  (Yes, I taught music in the very school I grew up in.  How weird is that?)

 

9.  Decades ago I thought I liked all kinds of music except country.  But when I was in Arizona at graduate school, I decided the best way to lose an "enemy" is to make a "friend", so I started listening to it.  Yup.  I loved it.  To this day, it's practically my favorite.

 

10.  Oh yeah, graduate school.  I have a masters in choral music education, which obviously tells you I like choir music.  My college composition project was a piece for choir, organ and trumpet.  Not only did my college choir perform it on tour and include it on their record album (boy, did the words "record album" just date me or what?), but it also won "Iowa Young Composer of the Year" award.  I directed church choirs and praise team for 15 years or so.  (Not any more.)

 

11.  We're no longer at a church that has an organ or a choir.  Praise bands R Us.  I'm usually on the keys (which I love) or I'm the substitute worship leader (which makes me nervous, but oh well).

 

12.  I love jazz.  Played in jazz band in college.  Love to go out and listen to jazz (which rarely happens these days I'm afraid).  And I particularly like piano jazz settings of hymns.

 

13.  I still love listening to the radio, both Christian and secular.  In case you're interested, the melodies always grab me first.  Definitely.  Melody, melody, melody.  Sometimes I can even listen to a song for months before paying attention to certain lyrics (which my teenagers think is "just wrong").  But when I DO listen to lyrics, they had better be more than just fluff!  (I love Nicole Nordeman.) And yes, I even like my teenagers "rock band" music...co-wrote a song with my 14-year-old this past year.  (I actually learned a lot from him!)

 

14.  And then there's children's music.  My schizophrenia is complete.  Apart from teaching kids' music (in school and to my own kids), Scott and I arranged and recorded 50% of the music for a Sunday School curriculum put out several years ago by the Christian Reformed Church Board of Publications.  We crowded my daughter and her 4th grade friends into our studio to do the vocals...I still love the picture I have of them taking a break, all sitting on the floor with their headphones hanging around their necks, and enjoying the "cool" of being a recording star.

 

15.  And last, but not least, my very favorite genre of all time is contemporary Christian music.  It defines me more than anything else.  (I believe I've heard Joel define CCM as "therapy" music.  Well then, I guess that fits me!)

 

This got really long.  I apologize.  Now you can understand why no one in their right mind would stand around and listen politely to my "real" answer!  Social convention only goes so far.  But if you've stuck around long enough to read all this, either you're a really nice person or you have a mental disorder as well.  (No need to confess.  Or if you feel the need, I'll gladly listen.)

 

AND THE VERY BEST PART OF ALL is that when we get to heaven, I'm convinced there are going to be genres and meters and sounds and...well...just lots of musical STUFF that none of us have even imagined!  I'm guessing we'll love every single note of it.  And I'm even hoping to write some of it in my "spare time" up there....

 

So maybe the answer "all kinds of music" isn't a disorder after all.  I feel better already now that I've gotten that off my chest.  Besides, in the midst of my disorder, I'm simply preparing myself for eternity....

 

Signed,

Skit So

 

 

 

 

My official Bev-quote for 2005 was Emily Dickinson's "Dwell in possibility...."  That really moved me, so we moved in together, my quote and I.  However, I vowed to pick a new "favorite quote" each time a new year rolled around and trade in the old one.  So many quotes, so little time.

 

Enter January 2006.  Hmm.  I wasn't quite tired of my friend yet, so I decided to indulge myself and just keep Emily's inspiration around for an extra year.  Kind of like some jeans that are all worn in and comfy, and even more of a favorite than when they were brand new.  You just sort of "fit" one another, ya know? 

 

Enter January 2007.  Hmm.  I think my quote and I have been together for so long now that it's almost like...well...like a common law marriage.  We're stuck with each other for good.  Besides, my very first SongU.com newsletter for 2007 sported my adopted quote right at the top, fairly shouting out to me when I opened that email.  Stopped me in my tracks, that's for sure.

 

And then the final vote came from Sue S, who noticed that quote in January's SongU newsletter and thought of me.  (Thanks for the warm fuzzies, Sue!)  I guess if the paparazzi are starting to recognize us (my quote and I) as an "item", then who am I to stir the pot?  They say that when you live together for that long, you start to look like each other.  I'd like that.  I want to keep looking ahead for God's gifts of adventure and surprise.

 

So, 2007, here I come!  Dwelling in possibility, hopefully for a lifetime.

 

How about you?  Wanna move in with us?

 

Signed,

Thuh Pollz R Klozed

 

 

 

Here's a quote for the start of 2007:

 

So much to say.  So little time.

 

Signed,

Start Two Dei

 

P.S. Today I got a speeding ticket.  I'm mad.  So much for blank pages.

 

 

 

From Matthew West's column in CCM entitled "Smile, It's Raining":

 

Oh that you could have seen the relief on his face. To know that he hadn’t failed God, and God hadn’t failed him—this had made all the difference.  Seeing his sickness in the scope of God’s sovereign plan gave his condition a sense of dignity.  He accepted his cancer as an assignment from heaven:  a missionary to the cancer ward.”  Lucado continues, “A week later I saw him again.  ‘I reflected God,’ he said, smiling through a thin face, ‘to the nurses, the doctors, my friends.  Who knows who needed to see God, but I did my best to make Him seen.’”

Do you welcome the suffering in your life?  What if, when problems, setbacks, financial troubles, job loss, illness, invaded your days you chose to accept them as an “assignment from Heaven,” or a new song that someone around you may need to hear?  “For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake” (Philippians 1:29).  Your faith in the middle of suffering—your smile in the middle of the rain—could be the song that God will use to speak to many.  So put down the umbrella and smile, it’s raining.

I couldn't have said it better myself.  Thanks, MW.

Signed,

Inn thuh Reign

 

  

I've read that some people stay up until midnight to welcome the New Year.  Others stay up to make sure the old year leaves.  !!

 

Well, Scott and I certainly have plenty of reasons to celebrate the departure of 2006, as we see business failure, unemployment, and serious illness in the history books.  On the other hand, if I measure how much God has taught me in the past year, well then it would be best if I treasure every single memory and use it.  For something.  Somehow.

 

Yes, my entire family will be up at midnight...with dear friends who also have valid reasons to "make sure the old year leaves".  You know what?  I am blessed to know that in spite of everything that's happened, without a shadow of a doubt, they will join us in praising God for His faithfulness in 2006.  And in 2007.  And beyond.

 

There's just something fresh and promising about a new year, isn't there?  And today's SongU.com newsletter used my very favorite quote:  "Dwell in possibility."  Maybe it's a sign!! 

 

See you when the ball drops....

 

Signed,

Looh King Uhh Hehd

 

 

 

I read this yesterday:  "A few years back I watched The Rhythm of Life, a BBC documentary series presented by former Beatles producer Sir George Martin. In one episode he interviewed Bernie Krause, a musician who spends his life out in the wild, recording the sounds of nature.  Krause was amazed by the seemingly orchestrated musicality of the natural world and played Martin a fascinating recording--exploding cells in a tree, popping perfectly in time, with an incredibly sophisticated and pretty rhythm.  Krause explained:

 

 

In fact, one of the world's top percussion players played along with this beautiful rhythm recording.  Everyone in the room was quite clearly stunned by just how intricate and perfectly in time these exploding tree cells were."  (Facedown, by Matt Redman)

 

Is that cool or what?  "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the works of his hands...."  (Psalm 19)

 

Signed,

Uhh Mazed

 

 

 

Note to self:  Never ever buy your child a Christmas present from a store which does not allow you to return the gift.  Even if the store allows you to exchange it "for something of equal value", chances are you will not be able to find anything else you want.

 

Signed,

Sloe Lir Nir

 

 

 

I was in charge of music for Sunday morning, Dec. 24.  All week long I had been trying to decide which Christmas carols to sing, and how to tie them together in a fresh way.  I ruled out the ones we'd already sang this season as well as those being used for our official Christmas Eve services, and began to notice how almost every one that was left had lines in them about God coming to earth to be "among us", to be near us, to be with us.  He was real flesh and blood.  Built furniture and stairs.  Mary, did you know?  Okay...it's a plan. 

 

Then I finally remembered to dig out the notes the pastor had emailed me some time earlier.  (I know.  I should have done that first, but I'm a bit out of practice.  I'm part of the interim "stay afloat" plan.)  And here's where the first God-moment occurs. Check this out!  --  Duane is preaching on how God draws near to us.  [insert light bulb over my head]

 

Pretty cool.

 

So I find a quote from a missionary who died some years ago, I find a short poem, I think of things to say at strategic points in the service, and our pastor loves it all.  We're set to go.  I've been dwelling on these thoughts for over a week, I've been trying out "lines" in my head for days (because I get really, really nervous about all this...being in front of people, but also the responsibility that comes along with facilitating worship).  I totally "get" the theme.  Right?  God with us.  Immanuel.  Drawing near to us.

 

And then the second God-moment occurs.  Early Sunday morning as I'm having personal devotions and preparing my heart for the services about to happen, I read some words from the Gospel of John (version:  The Message) and they absolutely startle me.  I'm stopped in my tracks.  I read them over and over again.  "And the Word became flesh and blood...and moved into the neighborhood."  [insert another light bulb!!]   That just spoke to me so deeply!  (And yes, I wove those words into the morning services.)

 

How can a person focus on a concept for so long, and then still be surprised by the simple truth of the Scriptures?  It kinda made me wonder if I had been "missing it" all week long after all!  And it just shows you how the Holy Spirit is busily orchestrating moments like that for His people on a non-stop basis.  (And I'll wager I miss lots of them.)

 

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  I pray God draws near to each of you in new and startling ways this year!!

 

Signed,

G Zuz Nay Brr

 

 

 

I trudged through drifts of snow in the open space behind our house yesterday to take pictures of the kids sledding.  Good mommy.  They had designed not only a sled run but, predictably, had added a jump and even a "landing pad".  I tried the video camera first, but it was toast, with no money in the budget for a new one.  The camera however worked great, and I snapped a few pics.  Then Shelby suggested that I lay down on the ground (what?!!!) to get a better angle of them when they come over the jump "like we did yesterday with Austin's cell phone." 

 

Aha.  Cell phones just aren't what they used to be.

 

So down I went, and I got some great shots!  Blue skies behind them, bundled up sledders flying through the air and...well...it was just something totally different than what I had been shooting before.

 

A new angle.

 

This morning I found myself thinking about that, and reflected on how songwriters try to find a new angle on a song or song idea all the time.  And finding that new, fresh angle makes all the difference in the world, even if you have to wade through and then lie down in some pretty uncomfortable stuff to do it.  Whatever it takes!

 

Signed,

Whet Bah-dumm

 

 

 

Remember that snow I was waiting for?  Well it's arrived.  There's something like two feet out there, and it's supposed to continue to snow for another half day.  And since we've no place to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow....

 

Last night, when vehicles could still make it down the street, we even saw someone pulling a guy on snow skis past our house!  We do not live in the mountains.  We live in a suburb of Denver.  Just a nice flat neighborhood.  I will admit that there was plenty of powder for the snow ski aficionado...but I would give his form about a 3. 

 

Predictably, my teenager wanted me to pull him on his snow blades.

 

No.

 

Signed,

Par T. Pooh Prr

 

 

 

 

A Colorado blizzard is upon us.  The kids are missing their last half day of school (including a middle school trip to the theater to see "The Nativity").  But they don't seem to mind.  We're at home, snug and safe, watching the snow blow wildly outside our windows.  (Well, most of us are here.  The two in high school still headed in to take exams.  Drive safely!)

 

I can't help but think of the song I wrote just under a year ago called Waiting for Snow.  I was looking out this same window, at the same landscape, with snow in the forecast.  Suddenly time stands still.  (Many of you have heard Waiting for Snow and know, of course, that the song really has nothing to do with the snow.  The rest of you will just have to check it out.) 

 

I'm also struck this morning by the miraculous and unexplainable way songs minister to people.  A number of WAJ friends contacted me after our October workshop to see if they could get a copy of Waiting for Snow.  I sang it in Alumni Cafe and apparently it spoke to some of you.  How do you explain when that happens?  It's simply one of those "moments" that I humbly thank God for.  In fact, a friend in my LifeGroup emailed me this morning about the same song, saying that the weather is bringing that song back to mind for her today.

 

And then there's this.  Almost exactly two years ago, just before Christmas, a 16-year-old member of the school choir I accompanied was driving and had a one-car accident.  Her friend died.  The grief is still fresh.  At the time, I experienced a profound sense of helplessness.  What could I do?  Or say?  So I wrote her a song written from the point of view of God singing to her.  "I will breathe my breath of love, all your hopes renew."  I haven't really thought about that for a long, long time.  And then last week her mom emailed me out of the blue to tell me how much that song continues to mean to their family, how she cries every time she listens to it, how her daughter is still struggling with the memories and finding it hard to accept Christ's unconditional forgiveness.  The pain goes on, doesn't it?  And so does the healing thankfully, but in such small doses. 

 

I haven't thought about that song in many, many, many months.  And if I was to look at it today, I'd probably see things that "should" be rewritten.  And yet, it is what it is.  God continues to use it in people's lives, without me even realizing it.  Without even suspecting such a thing could be going on.  Humbling.

 

I'm reminded that God is working in all things.  The weather.  The seasons of the year.  The seasons of life.  And He uses these things long after we've moved on.  That creates a strange kind of longing in my heart as I look outside, watch the skies, and see snowflakes.... snowflakes that are covering everything with a pure white blanket.  Making everything beautiful.  Healing.  Hopeful. 

 

If you're waiting and longing for snow in your life today, I pray that a blizzard is on its way.

 

Signed,

Kuv Erd inn Wight

 

 

  

My "big brother" Dave died several years ago of pancreatic cancer.   Only 3 1/2 months from diagnosis to death.  Before that, an extremely healthy and fit 49-year-old.

 

My dear friend, Paul, is fighting a desperate battle with Stage IV lung cancer.  Never smoked.  No hints of this coming.

 

My other "big brother" Harv was diagnosed this past week with lymphoma.  It's aggressive, his case his advanced, and apparently the treatment for this strain is not overly successful.  Once again, Harv is a fit and healthy individual.  You would never expect him to get sick with anything.

 

Dave and Harv teased me mercilessly my entire life, and I loved it.  And I remember thinking that if I ever had a daughter, I wanted her to have 2 big brothers like I did, and she does.

 

I'm usually very conservative in my choice of "language", but in the words of a t-shirt faithfully worn by Paul's son...cancer sucks.

 

Signed

Knot Happ E.

 

 

 

I'm wishing I had known about this time-out technique a few years earlier.  Would it be wrong to try this on a teenager?

 

Signed,

2 Lait

 

 

 

One of our family Christmas traditions is to decorate Christmas cut-out cookies.  All six of us do it.  Yup, even the high school senior. You wouldn't believe how many different kinds of sprinkles we've accumulated over the years!! 

 

So the first cookie you decorate is a masterpiece, right?  Carefully thought-out color scheme, steady outlining, designer detail, well-chosen sprinkles placed just so.  Ta-da!!!!  "Hey, everyone!  Look at the cookie I just decorated!"  "Wow!  That's so cool!  Dad, did you see Jordan's cookie?!!" 

 

And then there's the last cookie you decorate.  You know, when you just wish the entire ordeal was over with.  You have no more unique ideas.  The sanding sugar is crunching under foot.  You're wondering just why you started this tradition in the first place.  And you're begging (forcing?) a couple of the kids to decorate "just one more." 

 

I'm thankful God isn't like that.  When he designed you and me, he was at the "very first cookie" stage of creation...every single time.  Oh, I know, it may look like some of us are of the "first cookie" quality and others are the "last cookie" drop-outs.  But's that not how it really is.  Instead, God put thorough thought and focused creative energy from his bountiful storehouses of ideas into every single one of us!  It's true!!  Whether we realize that about someone else or not.  Whether we realize that about ourself or not. 

 

So, my dear cookie, go forth today and strut yourself!  You were made by the Master Designer!  Each cookie design has been executed perfectly, including YOU.  And He never runs out of great ideas....

 

Signed,

D. Lish Iss

 

 

 

 

I always knew that I was learning things from Write About Jesus (annual songwriting workshop).  But I never realized how much my family was learning...about me. 

 

The other day my husband, Scott, said, "I can't wait to find out what Sue puts on her WAJ t-shirts next year."  Why?  "Well, I've already found out that you need structure, that when you're not listening you're actually writing a song in your head, and that you make stuff up.  So I'm ready to find out something new."  (For those of you who are totally confused right now, those are statements from my WAJ t-shirts of the last three years.  And I'm afraid they are right on target.  How embarrassing.)

 

(Sue.  If you're out there.  The pressure's on for 2007.)

 

So here's a question for you.  If you could design your very own t-shirt for December 2006, with a statement that revealed something about the real "you", what would it say?  Hmm?  .....  [insert music from Jeopardy]  ....  Or maybe it's too hard to choose that for yourself.  I'm certain I wouldn't have come up with the three slogans from WAJ, but it's amazing how true they are. 

 

Final question:  If I make stuff up, which I do all the time, can you really believe anything I write in these blogs? 

 

Signed,

Imm Pro Vizer

 

 

 

 

Are you familiar with William Booth?  You know...the Salvation Army guy whose favorite color was red?  Well I read this quote a couple of days ago in a book by Matt Redman:

 

"At the age of 83, just before he died, Booth gave his last public address at the Royal Albert Hall:  'While women weep as they do, I'll fight; while little children go hungry as they do now, I'll fight; while men go to prison, in and out, I'll fight; while there yet remains one dark soul without the light of God, I'll fight; I'll fight to the very end.'"

 

Wow!  Single-minded.  Big-picture, all-of-life worship at a price.  So that stuck with me, and after a bit I couldn't help but replace "fight" with "write".  (They rhyme after all.)

 

"While women weep as they do, I'll write; while little children go hungry as they do now, I'll write; while men go to prison, in and out, I'll write; while there yet remains one dark soul without the light of God, I'll write; I'll write to the very end." 

 

Talk about a tall order.  I'm not sure I've got that much heart in me, but I want to be like that.  I really do.

 

Signed,

Mar Ching Awn