Spring Break, day 2

This is the kids' Spring Break week from school. This is what has happened so far:

- Daddy left for a week in Indiana for a Flame course... unfortunate timing :(
- Friday evening pizza with my friend Cheryl and her kids
- Played for worship at regular weekend services.
- Youth group
- I preached my first "official" sermon in Youth
- Youth Band meeting to plan for a new ministry opportunity this week
- Mack had a 7:40 am appointment with the orthodontist Monday morning
- I put up and repaired the net around the trampoline.
- Several hours a day of jumping on said trampoline.
- A lengthy bike and scooter ride on the bike path with 2 of the kids' friends
- Monday with 8 friends and a communal roast beef dinner, complete with brownies & ice cream and iced coffee
- More jumping
- I'm fighting a cold...hard!
- Catching up on 5 days' worth of Beth Moore homework
- Practice today for our Youth Band's opportunity at Job Corps tomorrow
- I got a bit of a sunburn!

It's only Tuesday. This week I also want to complete at least one more song, write a new one, finish a school assignment, take the kids to the park, go on more bike rides, rake the yard, get groceries, fight this cold to the death, spend a few hours in complete solitude and completely gut my dresser and closet.

Spring Break is very different as a grown-up than it used to be in school.

Talkin' the Talk

I'm in the early stages of a one-year Songwriting course through a Christian Music organization that does Artist and Songwriter Development programs. It's great for my technique and for increasing some of my intentionality when it comes to crafting lyrics. We study theory out of a popular secular lyric writing text, complete that book's assignments, and then have further assignments which are more specific to the writing of Christian music. Later, I will have 12 of my songs critiqued, and will have the opportunity to have some of my songs pitched to other artists.

It was in one of the latter assignments that I was asked to think about "Christianese", and how it affects the message of the music. ( I have very definite thoughts about using our culture's "Christian" lingo in music....AVOID IT AT ALL COSTS! However, I have to admit that it still has crept into a few of the worship and contemporary Christian songs I love very much.)

My take on Christianese, for clarification: "happy" is replaced with "joy", "talented" by "gifted", "excited" by "blessed", "effective" by "anointed" in some cases... etc. (By the way, I think the heart behind much of Christianese is good...to honor the Lord before man...but I think that it's church-speak, and not really applicable to the non-churched).

My theory: Some songs are written for the church-folk, and for them alone. I think of Southern Gospel, and some late 20th Century worship music. It is filled with the lingo (you know what I mean), and it resonates very strongly with much of the church-culture.

BUT: If a Christian songwriter is writing music with the hopes of it reaching the ears and ipods of a secular audience, the message of the hope of Christ should be apparent, but without any Christian-culture lingo. Songs that have the potential to influence the lost for Christ, I think, should present the reality of life's struggles, the reality of life's questions, and the reality of Truth, but without using any language that could be culturally unfamiliar or even "church-y".

Can you think of any great "Christian" songs which do that....whose lyrics could potentially impact the lost, but which very decidedly steer away from "Christianese"?

Thanks for helping me with my philosophical development as I improve my craft!

Shepherd

Last evening, I meditated on the 23rd Psalm with my oldest son. We talked about how the Lord is our Shepherd, and how that means that we are like little lambs. We talked about how his rod and his staff are for our protection, guidance, and ultimately our good. I told Mackenzie that the Lord has millions of sheep in his fold, but that each of His little lamb is precious to Him...He knows each one by name, and will rescue the little one that wanders away or gets hurt. I wanted Mackenzie to remember that his Shepherd will never leave him nor forsake him.

This morning, Mackenzie, age 9, went in for his very first surgery. He needed to have his adenoids removed and his nasal passages widened out. He was VERY nervous. But God showed Himself faithful to my son...He showed Mackenzie that He never leaves nor forsakes His lambs. He showed Mackenzie, first of all, that Mackenzie has a huge circle of people who not only love him, but who are faithful to intercede on his behalf....people who are persistent to pray God's will, and expect God to answer them. He showed Mackenzie that our strength is the Lord's, not our own. He showed Him that His protective hand can be trusted. Mackenzie knew that he had not been forsaken.

I thank the Lord that He has given us this delightful boy. I thank Him that He gave Mackenzie this opportunity to learn to trust God in the face of what seemed uncertain. I thank the Lord that He has blessed us with friends and family who come alongside in prayer. I thank Him that His almighty hand of protection covered my son today. I thank God that healing has already been done in Mackenzie's body, and that we will witness that play out. And I thank God that He has a unique path for my son, filled with opportunities to grow more intimate with the One who came to save his soul.

I thank Him for rescuing my little lamb today.

Update

Mr. AND Mrs. Malodorous have moved to another neighborhood! We were not sad to see them go.

Oh, these are the people in your neighborhood...

We have a new neighbor. Well, he's not completely new, he moved in last fall when our previous neighbor became, um....deceased. Our new neighbor is pretty quiet, really. Keeps pretty much to himself. On occasion we have observed a few of his little idiosyncracies. Some are more noticeable than others, I guess. Mostly he just goes about his day to day business.

But...we want him gone. OUT. We don't really enjoy having him in our neighborhood. He doesn't really fit in the mould here in our block...with the Pastor, the Pharmacist, the Lawyer and the Grocer. (Of course, I would NEVER say that to his face!)

So we've come up with a devious little plan. We've invited him for dinner. It will be pleasant enough...we're fixing what we think is his favorite dish. But we're going to spare the pleasantries...and (*smack*) just get down to business. I'll be brief on details here, because I really don't want the word to get out of our plan to run him out. It must go just right.

But you can be thinking of us. We'd really rather not have this neighbor much longer. He just doesn't fit with our crowd.

Oh...here's his picture, just in case you find him moving into your neighborhood. TRUST ME...your neighborhood is better off without him too!