There are a few pieces of music that have lingered in the back of my mind since I was a little girl. Mostly they are Christian songs that my caring oldest sisters listened to or made up in the early 1990s. Some of the made up ones don't even have titles, but I can sing enthusiastically by heart. In fact, as preparation for my current nannying stint (and in addition to the outrageous children's garden storytime songs I learned at CBG) I performed a brief review of the rhymes I intend to socialize my little nephew with. Music Machine's "Be Patient", Psalty the Singing Songbook's "I Cast All my Cares Upon You", "Jacob Fooled His Father With His Craftiness" (definitely an unknown author on that one J), and Larissa Conley's very own "Surely Your Goodness and Love" have made the cut. What songs will I not teach to that precious boy? The song about squishing baby bumble bees - for sure (bees are more important to modern agriculture that the general population gives them credit for)! Also "Hush Little Baby"... materialism as a soothing strategy? Hmm.
I am super up for suggestions if you have favorites!
I sort of wonder if my young adult musical moods might get translated to my poor charge... today I caught myself trying to calm Caleb down with T-Swift's "Stay Beautiful". I'm also fairly certain that Michael Buble's "Put Your Head On My Shoulder", Mariah Carey's "You'll Always Be My Baby", and Switchfoot's "Dare You to Move" are going to get busted out a few times while I'm in the Middle East. (Get busted out... is that even the correct ghetto slang? Cleveland, maybe you can help me out!) I also developed quite a penchant for 2-minute Spice Girl study break dance parties in college... Ooh, and let's not talk about Glee.
Back to the songs that my sisters taught me:
I usually only remember a stanza or two from the oldest ones. In the absence of an Apple App., this has been quite satisfactory. I will always appreciate the countless after-school moments and evenings that my sisters sacrificed to 'mother' and shape the young person I was, unconscious to me at that time. This is what I am reminded of each time Alicia's clear, sweet voice echoes in my memory. However, it is a delightful gift from the Lord when I am re-introduced to each haunting tune. The chorus of Chris Rice's “Life Means So Much” is one of these songs (I've included the first verse below as well). My thanks go to Mike & Kristina Loomis who shared Rice's Short Term Memories album with me, and especially to Mike who played "Deep Enough to Dream" from the same album as a sweet acoustic summer backdrop during the time I lived as a guest at the Loomis' home.
Back to the songs that my sisters taught me:
I usually only remember a stanza or two from the oldest ones. In the absence of an Apple App., this has been quite satisfactory. I will always appreciate the countless after-school moments and evenings that my sisters sacrificed to 'mother' and shape the young person I was, unconscious to me at that time. This is what I am reminded of each time Alicia's clear, sweet voice echoes in my memory. However, it is a delightful gift from the Lord when I am re-introduced to each haunting tune. The chorus of Chris Rice's “Life Means So Much” is one of these songs (I've included the first verse below as well). My thanks go to Mike & Kristina Loomis who shared Rice's Short Term Memories album with me, and especially to Mike who played "Deep Enough to Dream" from the same album as a sweet acoustic summer backdrop during the time I lived as a guest at the Loomis' home.Every day is a journal page
Every man holds a quill and ink
And there's plenty of room for writing in
So will you compose a curse
Or will today bring the blessing
Fill the page with rhyming verse
Or some random sketching
Teach us to count the days
Teach us to make the days count
Lead us in better ways
Somehow our souls forgot
Life means so much
Life means so much
Life means so much
Setting foot on this ancient world has been my dream since December of 2008. Now I feel a mixed bag of emotions... like it’s the beginning of Sunday and the challenges & joys of Monday morning are around the corner, but I want to savor every breath of rest. Perhaps you can relate: butterflies, a heightened awareness of how quickly days can go by... or of how precious a moment is (which is what I feel when I give Caleb’s little baby head a kiss). In some sense, the Middle East has been my counted-down paradise vacation, and just being here makes me cautious that it might all be over too soon.
I’ve always been a girl to get ahead of herself. In my soul I hear Proverbs 19:21, followed by Ephesians 5:15-16.
Lord Jesus, teach me to count the days.
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