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Archive for the ‘Music’ Category

Praying for the Chapman Family

Posted in Family, Growing Faith, Music, Prayer Requests, Promoting Friends, thinking things through on May 22, 2008| 7 Comments »

I’m interrupting my Promoting Friends Week for this special post. Keep entering to win the give aways. We’ll continue with the friends and give aways posts on Monday. I’m going to need a few days. Though I don’t know this family personally, my own pain is too recent and I am grieving with them right now.

Singer/Songwriter Steven Curtis Chapman’s youngest daughter Maria was killed last night. Her brother was backing out of the driveway and didn’t see her. I cannot imagine the horror of this situation and the pain they’re feeling right now. Please pray for their family. His music has been an encouragement to me and my family over the years. It has offered hope, challenge, comfort, wisdom, reminders to love those close to you, and so much more.

Before we were married, Benny and I knew we wanted to adopt someday and we had chosen China as our first adoptive country – before it became one of the biggest focuses of couple seeking international adoption. Several years ago Steven Curtis Chapman was at the Youth Specialties conference we were at and he sang his song When Love Takes You In and showed the video about adoption. It featured his daughter Shaohannah and it made both of us cry. We were so touched by it, and though it seemed to us at the time it was a sign to keep dreaming about our future Chinese daughter, I know now it was about a different kind of adoption.

I think we interpreted those messages and the overflowing compassion in a different way than God may have meant for us. I’m not sure if foreign adoption is still in our future, but I can tell you that we’ve already “adopted” hundreds of children, teens, and adults over our 15 years of marriage. God has placed so many brokenhearted people in our path and used us to show them that “love” and “home” and “family” can be real words in their vocabularies, and I am so grateful. We too have been adopted as sons and daughters into a family bigger than our own. Sometimes we need that reminder. I want to share the video he showed that night and the lyrics for the song. I hear it now and think of our friends on the streets.

I know you’ve heard the stories
But they all sound too good to be true
You’ve heard about a place called home
But there doesn’t seem to be one for you
So one more night you cry yourself to sleep
And drift off to a distant dream

Where love takes you in and everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart
When love takes you home and says you belong here
The loneliness ends and a new life begins
When love takes you in

And somewhere while you’re sleeping
Someone else is dreaming too
Counting down the days until
They hold you close and say I love you
And like the rain that falls into the sea
In a moment what has been is lost in what will be

When love takes you in everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart

And this love will never let you go
There is nothing that could ever
cause this love to lose its hold

When love takes you in everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart
When love takes you home and says you belong here
The loneliness ends and a new life begins
When love takes you in it takes you in for good
When love takes you in

I want to leave you with one more song. His latest hit single, Cinderella, was inspired by Maria and Stevie Joy, his two youngest daughters. I don’t know if God gave him this song for such a time as this, but I do know that God holds every tear we shed and He never abandons us. I cling to this truth for myself as well as the Chapmans and everyone who has grieved the loss of a child. Pray for comfort and joy for this family.

She spins and she sways to whatever song plays,
Without a care in the world.
And I’m sittin’ here wearin’ the weight of the world on my shoulders.
It’s been a long day and there’s still work to do,
She’s pulling at me saying “Dad I need you!
There’s a ball at the castle and I’ve been invited and I need to practice my dancin'”
“Oh please, daddy, please!”

So I will dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
‘Cause I know something the prince never knew
Oh I will dance with Cinderella
I don’t wanna miss even one song,
Cuz all to soon the clock will strike midnight
And she’ll be gone

She says he’s a nice guy and I’d be impressed
She wants to know if I’d approve of a dress
She says “Dad, the prom is just one week away,
And I need to practice my dancin'”
“Oh please, daddy, please!”

So I will dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
‘Cause I know something the prince never knew
Ohh-oh ohh-oh, I will dance with Cinderella
I don’t wanna miss even one song,
Cuz all to soon the clock will strike midnight
And she’ll be gone
She will be gone.

Well, she came home today
With a ring on her hand
Just glowin’ and tellin’ us all they had planned
She says “Dad, the wedding’s due six months away
And I need to practice my dancin'”
“Oh please, daddy please!”

So I will dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
‘Cause I know something the prince never knew
Ohh-oh ohh-oh, I will dance with Cinderella
I don’t wanna miss even one song,
(even one song)
Cuz all to soon the clock will strike midnight
And she’ll be gone

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Tom T. Hall – I Love

Posted in Humor, Just for fun, Music, Random on April 28, 2008| 2 Comments »

I thought I’d pass along something that made me smile. 🙂

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Cry Out To Jesus

Posted in Growing Faith, Music on April 9, 2008| 2 Comments »

From one of my very favorite bands…Third Day

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I loved August Rush

Posted in Growing Faith, Movies, Music on March 29, 2008| 18 Comments »

I LOVED this movie! Back in October I blogged about it and I never posted the follow up piece after my son Max and I went to see it together. We both loved it. I have to say it’s one of my top 5 movies of 2007. I liked the actors and the storyline, but I LOVED the music. Heather gave me the soundtrack for Christmas and it is still the most listened to CD at our house. The genius behind the guitar playing? An AMAZING woman! Here she is, Kaki King Playing with Pink Noise:

Why did I connect with this movie so much? All my life I’ve been getting into trouble for tapping my fingers, pencils, whatever on the desk, table, you name it. I don’t think Benny likes holding my hand because I can’t hold my fingers still for very long. I don’t think it’s OCD. 🙂 He has perfected “the look” to let me know my fidgeting is bugging him.  I practice piano scales, tap out random rhythms, and practice typing – o.k., that last one isn’t exactly musical unless you’re a writer. The clicking of the keyboard is musical in it’s own way. I hear music everywhere. When I saw the preview for this movie and saw how the boy was feeling the rhythm of the world around him, I could totally relate. Someone was finally able to show on film what I’d felt and been unable to express clearly. Music is my language. I was hooked.

The movie is a feel good story about holding out hope, pressing on against all odds, reaching for your dreams, and believing in love. My heart went out to Evan (later named August Rush) as he was targeted for bullying by some of the older boys at the Boy’s home he was living in. That really bothered my tenderhearted son as well. There were two scenes like this in the movie that Max was uncomfortable with, otherwise he really liked the movie. We were able to have some really good discussion regarding how people should be treated. Like me, my son lives musically. Within minutes of arriving home, he was strumming away on his guitar and putting on a mini concert for his siblings, copying some of the slap style playing from the movie. He’s a creative kid that moves through life adding music and color from his own bold palette. You’ll know what I mean in my next post. 🙂

If you have not seen this movie yet, go rent it this weekend. It suspends reality a bit, but it’s so sweet and I love the positive attitude this kid has. We could all use an attitude like that, right?

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Fool For You

Posted in Growing Faith, Music, Promoting Friends on August 26, 2007| 5 Comments »

I’m so thankful for all who have emailed me and left comments here about Pete’s healing. It continues to amaze me how God uses these things to point to His glory. I’ve had many challenging and uplifting discussions this week with friends who are struggling to understand the details of last week and what it all means. The awakening of desires for more of God is exhilarating and yet can be a scary thing and let me tell you, it’s been stretching me in ways I couldn’t have imagined. I am God’s woman and the whispers He has been sending my heart only strengthen me and give me courage to be bold for Him. Miracles are only miracles to us. To God it’s everyday stuff. I think He is waiting to reveal himself to believers who are willing to believe – even when it’s hard and it costs us something in return. Friends and family may think we’re crazy or exaggerating, but I want Him more than I want approval from men. There’s a deep longing in me to be used by God in mighty and powerful ways. I’m willing and waiting. And I’m listening.

Nichole Nordeman is one of the many people who inspire me. God has used her on many occasions to speak truth and healing into me through her music. She has a gift, and she IS a gift. Here are two of the songs that keep playing over and over again in my head. I’ve also included a link to her new video for the song Finally Free.

Help Me Believe

Take me back to the time
When I was maybe eight or nine
And I believed
When Jesus walked on waters blue
And if He helped me, I could too
If I believed

Before rationale, analysis and systematic thinking
Robbed me of a sweet simplicity
When wonders and when mysteries
Were far less often silly dreams
And childhood fantasies

*Chorus*
Help me believe
‘Cause I don’t want to miss any miracles
Maybe I’d see much better by closing my eyes
And I would shed this grownup skin I’m in
To touch an angel’s wing
And I would be free
Help me believe

When mustard seeds made mountains move
A burning bush that spoke for You was good enough
When manna fell from heavens high
Just because You told the sky to open up

Am I too wise to recognize that everything uncertain
Is certainly a possibility?
When logic fails my reasoning
And science crushes underneath
The weight of all that is unseen

*Chorus*

When someone Else’s education
Plays upon my reservations
I’m the first to cave, I’m the first to bleed

If I abandon all that seeks
To make my faith informed and chic
Could You, would You show Yourself to me?

(Help me believe ’cause I don’t want to miss any miracles)
Maybe I’d see much better by closing my eyes
And I would shed this grownup skin I’m in
To touch one of their wings
And I would be free
I would be free
I would be free
Help me believe
help me believe
Could You, would You show Yourself to me?
Could You, would You show Yourself to me?
Help me believe.

 

 

 

Fool For You

There are times when faith and common sense do not align.
When hard core evidence of you is hard to find.
I am silenced in the face of argumentative debate and
It’s a long hill, it’s a lonely climb

Cause they want proof
They want proof of all these mysteries I claim
Cause only fools would want to shout a dead man’s name.
Maybe it’s true, yeah, but

I’ll be a fool for you
Oh, because you asked me to
A simpleton whose seemingly naive, I do believe
You came and made yourself a fool for me.

I admit that in my darkest hour I’ve asked “What if?”
What if we created some kind of mimic thing like this
Out of good intentions or emotional inventions
But after life is through, there would be no you

Cause they want proof
They want proof of all these miracles I claim
Cause only fools believe that men can walk on waves
Maybe it’s true, yeah, but

*Chorus*

Unaware of popularity
Unconcerned with dignity, you made me free
That’s proof enough for me

I’ll be a fool for you
Oh, because you asked me to
A simpleton who’s seemingly naive, I do believe

I will speak Jesus’ name
If that makes me crazy, they can call me crazed
I’m happy to be seemingly naive
I do believe you came and made yourself a fool for me.

 

Here’s the link to the Finally Free video:

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=10740214

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