This Guy is Everywhere!

The guy is John Mark McMillan, and lately he is popping up in magazines I've been reading, (Relevant, Worship Leader) itunes...it's been funny.

McMillan wrote the song "How He Loves", which has been made pretty popular by others like Kim Walker-Smith and David Crowder.   He wrote the song after one of his best friends had died in a car crash -- the night after this very friend told God he would give his life if it would draw more youth to Christ.  McMillan said,

He was my best friend.  I'd known him since we were children.  We were baptized together.  Really, what it came down to is I was angry with God.  I didn't quite know what to do with those feelings, but through that anger and resentment, I was able to see the heart of God in it all.  God was able to take something terrible and show me something through it.

One of the lyrics from "How He Loves" says "...Heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss," referencing the consummation of the Kingdom of Heaven that God promises his people.  When Crowder recorded the song, he asked McMillan's permission to change the lyrics to "an unforseen kiss" to avoid a misunderstanding with the metaphor.  Crowder took a lot of heat for the change, and McMillan took to his blog to discuss it.  He said, "I applaud David for changing the line to serve his people, and at the same time I boo the machinery that would cause him to have to do so."

"The machinery" -- any thoughts on what he means by that?  It makes me think of the machine that is contemporary Christian music -- the business of selling music to people who love Jesus.  It's got to come in this cleaned-up, vanilla language that doesn't confuse or offend anyone.  But I think there is definitely a need for more originality in Christian music lyrics, where lyrics are honest and fresh.  That's a discussion for another post, I suppose.  McMillan's new album, "Medicine" is on itunes for about $10 and comes with 3 videos -- one which is called "A Love Story" where he talks about writing "How He Loves" and then performs it live.  I have the whole album, but the videos are my favorite parts. :)

Most of this post has been straight out of the article on McMillan from Relevant magazine -- just making sure I put out that disclaimer. 

Poetry. And Blog Doubtings...

Before I share a favorite poem (I'm in one of those moods...) I have to confess I'm wondering if I should just write notes and posts on facebook instead of blogging. Any thoughts? Feeling like there are a lot of crickets chirping in my blogging world right now. Yes, this is a pathetic plea for comments.

Okay, so I'm putting together all these plans for teaching high school English again, and I'm remembering how much I truly do enjoy poetry. I read this book awhile back and it encouraged me so much to get back into writing poetry, experimenting with words again.


Poetry
by Nikki Giovanni

poetry is motion graceful
as a fawn
gentle as a teardrop
strong like the eye
finding peace in a crowded room

we poets tend to think
our words are golden
though emotion speaks too
loudly to be defined
by silence

sometimes after midnight or just before
the dawn
we sit typewriter in hand
pulling loneliness around us
forgetting our lovers or children
who are sleeping
ignoring the
weary wariness
of our own logic
to compose a poem
no one understands it
it never says"love me" for poets are
beyond love
it never says "accept me" for poems seek
not acceptance but controversy
it only says "i am" and therefore
i concede that you are too

a poem is pure energy
horizontally contained
between the mind
of the poet and the ear of the reader
if it does not sing discard the ear
for poetry is song
if it does not delight discard
the heart for poetry is joy
if it does not inform then close
off the brain for it is dead
if it cannot heed the insistent
message
that life is precious

Have You Ever Bought a Refrigerator?

We were introduced to Brian Regan by our friends, the McBrides. If you REALLY want a great night of face-aching laughter, go download "Epitome of Hyperbole" on itunes and watch it with your honey. It's worth $7, I promise.

Now there's somethin' you don't see everyday!

We were pulling the kids around on the tube on Green Lake yesterday, when I saw what looked like a bright blue sail across the lake. Uh, nope. That'd be a plane, ya'll! We hung around and gawked at it until the sheriff shooed us all away for take-off. (That's the sheriff's boat in the 2nd picture. He said the plane was from Eagan, MN.)

The take-off was awesome and the kids eyes were all buggin' out by the time it took to the sky. Talk about your small town excitement!

Aaaaaand then it was back to tubin'. Hope had her first ride ever!

A Bible for Boys

I found this great website which introduced me to this Bible for boys. If you have a little guy 6-12 years old, he'd love this. The website describes it in greater detail - check it out!

Life to the Fullest

As we were driving through the middle of this great country last week, I got caught up on some reading. I read this article about the effects of grief on worship with a quote from Steven Curtis Chapman that I read aloud to Aaron and has stuck with me ever since:

"Every time we lead worship standing in front of a group, there's a good chance that half of them are 'on the road marked with suffering' and there's going to be 'pain in their offering.' But, I believe that as followers of Jesus, the one who has overcome death, not only are we invited to grieve, but I think we grieve at a deeper level. I mean, Jesus said, 'I've come that you might have life and have it to the fullest.'

I've come to realize we might have interpreted that wrong. A lot of the times the Church in America takes this to mean, God has a wonderful plan for your life. He came to give you full life. He came to give you all the good stuff. Cram your bank account full and your garage and give you a nice home. But full life means both full joy and full pain, I believe. He came that we might have life. He came to take the blinders off, and we are going to experience it all: the suffering, the joy, the pain, the hope. That's what it means to be fully alive."

I've Been Down South, Ya'll

It's my first day back home after a road trip with the family to Oklahoma to visit the McBrides. We had a great time and you know I'll share pictures soon, but right now groceries and laundry are on my DO IT NOW!!! list.


I'm filled to the brim with good memories, talks, silly moments. The thing about Ashley and Patrick is that she is so much like me, and Patrick is so much like Aaron...so we totally get each other. They were friends to us in Houston when we felt adrift in a sea of unfamiliarity. They watched our boys; they were thr first to meet baby Jonny, and the only ones who really understand the "Texas Days."

Friendship comes and goes in seasons, but it's nice to have a tight bond over the years, no matter where God places us on our journeys.

I love this boy

Today my littlest "little" boy turned the big 5. I find myself sighing as he gets taller, older. He's really been a delight to our family. Make sure you catch the last couple of seconds of this video when he makes a fascinating discovery.

Thanks to Brad and his boy Josh for the good times with Jonny and Daddy tonight!