My Mom is a retired music teacher. Technically though, music teachers don't retire, they just quit so they can get into more treble. That's really not funny unless you know my Mom who hasn't been in trouble since she was approximately two years old and you also know enough about music to know what the treble clef is. Also, my Mom has a shirt that reads "Here comes treble" with a picture of a trombone on it. It makes me laugh when I see her wearing it since it's been 73 years since she was last in trouble.
When I think back on my childhood, I have very few memories that don't have music tied to them somehow. I remember family gatherings that almost always had singing around the piano involved at some point. We were doing the Gaither Friend thing around the piano long before Gaithers were. At night, I fell asleep to the sounds of Mom practicing her trombone. I knew who Bill Pearce was before I knew there might be a Santa Claus for Pete's sake!
What on Earth does any of that have to do with Kumbaya?
I hated Kumbaya. I mean I really didn't like that song at all. Mom made us sing it anyway but I don't ever recall doing it at church. I think she might have noticed us rolling our eyes and making other faces at each other every time we had to sing it. If this was after the Reach Out to Jesus fiasco, then she had good reason not to ever have us try this one in public. That's a story for another post.
One day, I grew up. It was truly that fast. One night I was rolling my eyes at my sisters and the next day I said, "Do you guys know what Kumbaya really means?"
"No." They were kind of snarky about it too, I might add. Because I really think they thought it wasn't a real song. I believe they thought Mom might have made up the music after I invented the words. Their misgivings were not without some merit; I was known to make up words from time to time and Mom was pretty adept at writing music. It's a stretch of course, but I can see where they might have thought this was some test Mom and I were forcing them to take.
Alas, neither Mom nor myself can take credit for the song.
Kumbaya, is a Spiritual that was sung by the Gullah people who lived on the Sea Islands of South Carolina and Georgia (i.e. think Hilton Head). The Gullah language is actually Creole, plus English and a lot of words from the languages of west Africa mixed in. West Africa was the Gullahs' homeland.
Literally, kumbaya means "come by here".
Someone's laughing Lord, kumbaya.
Someone's crying Lord, kumbaya.
Someone's praying Lord, kumbaya.
Oh, Lord, kumbaya.
When I finally grew up, I figured out that this very simple song, is packed with a really powerful request of a Mighty, Heavenly Father. Simply put, it's a plea for God to come by, stop by, sit beside me for a spell and listen because I need you to hear something I have to say. I've gone from rolling my eyes at my Mother's back while singing it, to barely being able to get through it when we play it on the kid's CD.
That's because when God comes by here, lives are transformed, people are forgiven, He hears our prayers and sometimes we grow up and start to see things in a different light, a better light, His light.
Lord, come by here! Incline Your ear. Listen to my prayer. There's a lot of stuff going on down here. Someone is hurting. Someone else is laughing with joy at a blessing you have given them. Others are sick; physically and spiritually. People are dying in earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis. Our country seems to slip further and further away from You with each day that goes by and it seems like freedom is slipping away. But Lord, come by here, listen, because someone wants to praise You. Because You are the Creator who holds the Earth in balance, You can heal, You can comfort, true freedom is found only through You and You alone are worthy to be praised.
Kumbaya, Lord.
Come by here.
Psalm 17:6 I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, O God: incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech.
Psalm 88:2 Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry; 3 For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.
This video isn't the best and unfortunately the end of the song is cut off. However, the harmonies in this rendition of Kumbaya are outstanding. (Make sure you go down to the bottom of the page and turn off playlist before you start the video.)
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Happy Birthday Jacob
Today is Jacob's 16th birthday. I have known him for about half of that time and yet, it's hard to remember a time when he wasn't part of my life.
Jacob has endured and persevered through a lot of junk in 16 years: divorce, remarriage, trying to find his place in a family of eight kids, custody fights, just to name a few. It isn't to minimize these absolutely life-changing situations, but I truly believe he wouldn't be who he is, if he didn't at least try to put a positive spin on things. Because he did. I watched him do it.
There have been plenty of times in the past few months especially, that I have told Mike that Jacob is a much bigger and better person than I am because he is willing to risk getting hurt again, in order to step out and see whether or not a situation is worth walking into again. Sometimes in awe of him, his attitude and his level of maturity, I would think, "Are you kidding me? You are going to wade back into that mess after what happened before?" I'm not so sure I would have; too much risk, too much that has happened. And yet, God commands us to forgive 70x7 and there's Jacob reminding me of that fact with his willingness to try. Again. 70x7. Just like Jesus told us to do.
Of all of my kids, he is the one most like Mike in all of the good ways:
He has a heart for others.
He likes to help.
He is very giving.
When situations get tough, Jacob tries to figure out where the good parts are and clings to that as hope that things will improve.
Up until fairly recently, Jacob lived with us full time. It was really fun to have him around all of the time. Under the guise of trying to teach the boys how to manage things on their own, I started having Jacob and Richard cook with me. Sometimes it was just because I was tired of doing it myself, but for the most part it was because I wanted them to be able to fix something more than hot dogs and ramen noodles when they move to their own places.
The thing about cooking is the same phenomenon that allows a kid who doesn't talk much to reveal much about themselves while driving in the car. Cars and kitchens require some measure of concentration on the task at hand and by nature of what you doing, there can be little to no eye contact with your companion. With the pressure of that out of the way, kids ask and tell lots of stuff they wouldn't if you were sitting across the table from them.
I learned a lot and got asked a lot over the mixing of meatloaf, mashed potatoes and brownies and I'm not talking about recipes. Sometimes conversations were lighthearted and fun and other times, I know the weight of growing up, of trying to balance what we know to be true and how we sometimes act at odds to those truths, were heavily on his mind.
We have had conversations ranging from the possibility of doing a half marathon at Disney, to divorce, to STDs, to reminiscing about the family vacation at Disney, Tennessee and the boat trip.
Technically, Jacob isn't mine. If you do a DNA analysis on us, we won't match. However, if you do a blood analysis on us, we are both covered under the blood of Christ and that makes him mine and that makes me happy!
Jacob isn't here full time anymore and I miss having him here. The way he looks at life is inspiring. He definitely looks at the glass as half full, but maybe more importantly, he's just grateful for having the glass in the first place.
All kids are miracles, blessings, gifts from God. However, I also believe that every now and then one of them stands out because of their circumstances and shows us just how amazing God really is. When I look at Jacob, I KNOW God's hand will continue to be in it all. Pretty cool!
Happy 16th birthday, Jacob!
I love you!
Here's one of my favorite pictures of Jacob. It was taken while we were in Florida in 2009.
Jacob has endured and persevered through a lot of junk in 16 years: divorce, remarriage, trying to find his place in a family of eight kids, custody fights, just to name a few. It isn't to minimize these absolutely life-changing situations, but I truly believe he wouldn't be who he is, if he didn't at least try to put a positive spin on things. Because he did. I watched him do it.
There have been plenty of times in the past few months especially, that I have told Mike that Jacob is a much bigger and better person than I am because he is willing to risk getting hurt again, in order to step out and see whether or not a situation is worth walking into again. Sometimes in awe of him, his attitude and his level of maturity, I would think, "Are you kidding me? You are going to wade back into that mess after what happened before?" I'm not so sure I would have; too much risk, too much that has happened. And yet, God commands us to forgive 70x7 and there's Jacob reminding me of that fact with his willingness to try. Again. 70x7. Just like Jesus told us to do.
Of all of my kids, he is the one most like Mike in all of the good ways:
He has a heart for others.
He likes to help.
He is very giving.
When situations get tough, Jacob tries to figure out where the good parts are and clings to that as hope that things will improve.
Up until fairly recently, Jacob lived with us full time. It was really fun to have him around all of the time. Under the guise of trying to teach the boys how to manage things on their own, I started having Jacob and Richard cook with me. Sometimes it was just because I was tired of doing it myself, but for the most part it was because I wanted them to be able to fix something more than hot dogs and ramen noodles when they move to their own places.
The thing about cooking is the same phenomenon that allows a kid who doesn't talk much to reveal much about themselves while driving in the car. Cars and kitchens require some measure of concentration on the task at hand and by nature of what you doing, there can be little to no eye contact with your companion. With the pressure of that out of the way, kids ask and tell lots of stuff they wouldn't if you were sitting across the table from them.
I learned a lot and got asked a lot over the mixing of meatloaf, mashed potatoes and brownies and I'm not talking about recipes. Sometimes conversations were lighthearted and fun and other times, I know the weight of growing up, of trying to balance what we know to be true and how we sometimes act at odds to those truths, were heavily on his mind.
We have had conversations ranging from the possibility of doing a half marathon at Disney, to divorce, to STDs, to reminiscing about the family vacation at Disney, Tennessee and the boat trip.
Technically, Jacob isn't mine. If you do a DNA analysis on us, we won't match. However, if you do a blood analysis on us, we are both covered under the blood of Christ and that makes him mine and that makes me happy!
Jacob isn't here full time anymore and I miss having him here. The way he looks at life is inspiring. He definitely looks at the glass as half full, but maybe more importantly, he's just grateful for having the glass in the first place.
All kids are miracles, blessings, gifts from God. However, I also believe that every now and then one of them stands out because of their circumstances and shows us just how amazing God really is. When I look at Jacob, I KNOW God's hand will continue to be in it all. Pretty cool!
Happy 16th birthday, Jacob!
I love you!
Here's one of my favorite pictures of Jacob. It was taken while we were in Florida in 2009.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
My (non-existent) Book
Like the ocean tides, my dream of writing has ebbed and flowed throughout my life. But it's the consistency and the constancy of the dream that makes me think that now might be time. For as long as I can remember I have envisioned my book sitting in the New Releases section of the local bookstore. Copies of it would be in every library in the country and I would tour the local schools giving pep talks about how "yes, kids, no matter how long it takes, how many years, people who may discourage you, etc., you too can achieve your dream."
Like waves breaking on the beach, ideas for this non-exisitent book come and go and I can never fully decide which direction to take. Should I try and write a novel? I've heard they are hard to sell. What about non-fiction? This one I can usually quite easily dismiss with the thought, "What on Earth do I know that anyone would be even remotely interested in reading about?" In frustration, I shelve my dream and go read someone else's book.
About five years ago while having a conversation with a friend (hi, Elizabeth), she asked me if I had ever considered writing. When I confirmed that I had spent a lot of time in my life dreaming of doing just that, she told me she thought I should get started. Then she proceeded to tell me who the target audience should be and what type of book she thought I should write. I thought she was just being kind because I had sent her an outrageously long email she had to wade through and if I was distracted by writing a book, then I wouldn't have time to write epic-long emails. She also told me I should start a blog so if you are bored out of your mind while reading this, it's probably her fault. Just kidding....
About a year ago, I came up with a brilliant idea although truthfully, it is a blatant rip-off of Elizabeth's with a slight variation in regards to the audience. I was at the Christian bookstore looking for something. I had no specific title in mind, I just knew that when I saw it I would know that I had found what I wanted. I scoured the shelves and picked up two or three books that I thought might fit the bill. They looked promising, but they were not exactly what I envisioned. It was at this point that the whisper of the long-held dream drifted through my thoughts.
"What you are looking for doesn't exist. Write your own."
"Yeah, sure. I can do that."
"Yes, you can."
"What if no one reads it? What if no one wants to buy it?"
"So what? Write it for your family."
I left the bookstore and hurried home, got out my old notebook and pen and started brainstorming my book. I felt as if I needed at least 30 topics to start with and I came up with 21 pretty easily. I have considered the layout and design of this book, the target audience and most importantly, I have prayed about it.
Several days after the nonproductive trip to the bookstore, I pitched my idea to another friend (hi, Rachel) and she said she thought it was an excellent idea. She told me she would buy a book like I was suggesting. Of course, I told her I would give her an autographed copy because what kind of friend would I be if I made her buy it? I will also give Elizabeth an autographed copy and probably anyone else who is interested in it which is why it's going to take forever to write this book; we need some money so I can't quit my day job and clearly, the book is going to be a give-away.
When the incident in the bookstore happened and the conversations I had with Elizabeth flooded my memory, I just laughed. God is funny like that. I have had this desire since I was a kid. However, the time was never right, I didn't know what to write and doubted that I could even do it. Then, he placed Elizabeth in my life to encourage me and plant the seed. Again, the time wasn't right. By the time I found myself in the bookstore, I was frustrated by what I couldn't find and decided to do something about it.
I fully believe that God would not give me the desire to do this, if He did not intend to equip me to do it and I further believe that God is telling me the time is right.
I may not ever actually get my book into a bookstore, but I fully intend to dedicate time to work on it. I may not ever actually sell one copy of it, but I fully intend to do what I believe God has called me to do. The real goal is to have something of substance that I can put into the hands of my kids to read, study, to help them understand more about the One who loves them more than I do.
Walt Disney said, "If you can dream it, you can do it." and in Philippians 4:13, Paul said, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
I think the time is right.
Like waves breaking on the beach, ideas for this non-exisitent book come and go and I can never fully decide which direction to take. Should I try and write a novel? I've heard they are hard to sell. What about non-fiction? This one I can usually quite easily dismiss with the thought, "What on Earth do I know that anyone would be even remotely interested in reading about?" In frustration, I shelve my dream and go read someone else's book.
About five years ago while having a conversation with a friend (hi, Elizabeth), she asked me if I had ever considered writing. When I confirmed that I had spent a lot of time in my life dreaming of doing just that, she told me she thought I should get started. Then she proceeded to tell me who the target audience should be and what type of book she thought I should write. I thought she was just being kind because I had sent her an outrageously long email she had to wade through and if I was distracted by writing a book, then I wouldn't have time to write epic-long emails. She also told me I should start a blog so if you are bored out of your mind while reading this, it's probably her fault. Just kidding....
About a year ago, I came up with a brilliant idea although truthfully, it is a blatant rip-off of Elizabeth's with a slight variation in regards to the audience. I was at the Christian bookstore looking for something. I had no specific title in mind, I just knew that when I saw it I would know that I had found what I wanted. I scoured the shelves and picked up two or three books that I thought might fit the bill. They looked promising, but they were not exactly what I envisioned. It was at this point that the whisper of the long-held dream drifted through my thoughts.
"What you are looking for doesn't exist. Write your own."
"Yeah, sure. I can do that."
"Yes, you can."
"What if no one reads it? What if no one wants to buy it?"
"So what? Write it for your family."
I left the bookstore and hurried home, got out my old notebook and pen and started brainstorming my book. I felt as if I needed at least 30 topics to start with and I came up with 21 pretty easily. I have considered the layout and design of this book, the target audience and most importantly, I have prayed about it.
Several days after the nonproductive trip to the bookstore, I pitched my idea to another friend (hi, Rachel) and she said she thought it was an excellent idea. She told me she would buy a book like I was suggesting. Of course, I told her I would give her an autographed copy because what kind of friend would I be if I made her buy it? I will also give Elizabeth an autographed copy and probably anyone else who is interested in it which is why it's going to take forever to write this book; we need some money so I can't quit my day job and clearly, the book is going to be a give-away.
When the incident in the bookstore happened and the conversations I had with Elizabeth flooded my memory, I just laughed. God is funny like that. I have had this desire since I was a kid. However, the time was never right, I didn't know what to write and doubted that I could even do it. Then, he placed Elizabeth in my life to encourage me and plant the seed. Again, the time wasn't right. By the time I found myself in the bookstore, I was frustrated by what I couldn't find and decided to do something about it.
I fully believe that God would not give me the desire to do this, if He did not intend to equip me to do it and I further believe that God is telling me the time is right.
I may not ever actually get my book into a bookstore, but I fully intend to dedicate time to work on it. I may not ever actually sell one copy of it, but I fully intend to do what I believe God has called me to do. The real goal is to have something of substance that I can put into the hands of my kids to read, study, to help them understand more about the One who loves them more than I do.
Walt Disney said, "If you can dream it, you can do it." and in Philippians 4:13, Paul said, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
I think the time is right.
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