Aww Mondays

Monday’s Music Moves Me

Once again we arrive at a “Your Choice” week on the 4M calendar. I haven’t really thought much about this post. While we are high and dry here in Northwest Arkansas, much of our state is underwater with historic all time record flooding. Northeast Oklahoma is experiencing much of the same thing as the Arkansas River basin is full, the ground is soaked and there is just no place for the water to go. People have lost their homes who never thought that they would ever be touched by flood waters and they have no flood insurance. It will take weeks for the waters to recede and the river to return to it’s banks. From Tulsa to Ft. Smith the Arkansas River is out of control.

River Spirit Casino – Tulsa, OK

Ft. Smith, AR

It will be a couple of weeks before people can return to their homes and clean-up can begin. While these are a strong willed, courageous, pioneer breed of people, the endless rain, flood and now the restoration process will wear on the body, mind and soul. Keep these fellow Americans in your thoughts and prayers throughout the coming days.

I have always found music to be satisfying to the soul and in this time of difficulty, I have always turned to the music that points me to the Creator. Regardless of my situation, my Creator is there to give me strength, courage, compassion, faith, and perseverance. Whenever we feel like we have been abandoned and forgotten by God, it is good to remember the words of Charles Spurgeon, “The one who hung the stars and knows each of them by name is in no danger of forgetting about one of His children.” So, what music encourages you during the tough times?

At first all may seem to be lost and our faith may be hanging by a thread, but even a little faith can get us through to the next day. Our God knows our situation and is ever present, even if all seems lost…keep the faith.

When disaster strikes and someone we love finds themselves in a state of shock and faced with rebuilding their life, it is difficult to find the right words of encouragement and comfort. Most of the time they don’t need the cliches and standard Bible quotes that will come their way. They need a hug, a shoulder to cry on, and an ear to listen to their story. They need some one to come along side them and walk with them. There is a time for all of the encouraging words, but not right now.

What really makes a difference in the lives of people during challenging times is love. The love of God expressed through His people to those in need by providing food, shelter, help in cleaning up and just being there for those who are suffering. The most uplifting thing in this life is love. Love lifted me.

When you’re in the middle of the storm it is hard to see that peaceful shore. The life you once called normal seems to far away and impossible to reconstruct. For the believer, faith tells us that our life may be different, but everything that comes into our life comes with the purpose of bringing us closer to our Creator, giving us a testimony of faith, and bringing honor to the God of all creation. No matter what my situation, it is well with my Soul. Have a blessed week.

Not Dory

Aww Mondays

“I’m not a morning puppy”

 

Monday’s Music Moves Me

The theme for this week is heaven or hell. I choose heaven and I am going to choose inspirational/gospel/contemporary Christian music to express thoughts on heaven. Like most genres of music, there are multiple options in the inspirational category. One can choose country, southern gospel, contemporary Christian, hymns of the church, rock, or praise and worship and I happen to like a little of each. Regardless of the situation that I find myself in, I know that I can count on one name to call on. Christ has told me that He is the only way to heaven and He has assured me that He will always hear my voice and meet my needs. Sometimes I don’t know what I need, but He does, so Jesus is the “Only Name” I Need.

There are times when all of us feel lost, unloved, disrespected, or forgotten. The evangelist Charles Spurgeon reminds us that “The God who hung the stars and knows each of them by name is in no danger of forgetting about one of His children.” We can praise Him when all is well, we can run to Him when all seems a mess. God desires the fellowship of His children, so much so that He sent His only Son to die on a cross for the sins of this world. What have I done to deserve a love like this? Absolutely nothing!

So where can I find this love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness? It is found at the cross.

Scripture tells us that our bodies are temples created by God and we are to present them as a living sacrifice to Him. In other words, it is God’s will that His creation accept the sacrifice of Christ, seek His forgiveness, and receive the gift of eternal life. It is in my best interest to make Christ the “King of My Heart”.
Have a blessed week.

There is a Reason They are called “Knock-out” Roses

 

Aww Mondays

I Need Somebody to Love Me

Monday’s Music Moves Me

The high school seniors have just graduated this week-end and the rest of the students are headed into their final week of school. That means that summer is about to kick into high gear with families planning vacations, kids going to some kind of camp, and everyone trying their best to unwind from their normal routines and enjoy something special. We have already taken a road trip into Texas Hill Country to see the Bluebonnets and visit some great small Texas towns. Later this summer there will be a gathering of some of the cousins at the lake for a few days. The theme for this week is “Your Choice” so I think I will choose summer. The first song is from the Broadway musical Porgy & Bess. The song just drips with the long, hot, dog days of summer. I don’t believe it was done any better than by these two jazz/blues greats Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald.

Eddie Cochran was a first generation rock ‘n roller of the fifties and early sixties. His biggest hit was Summertime Blues.

Along came the sixties, long hair, outrageous costumes and heavily amplified music. The Who took Summertime Blues to a whole new level.

One group originated in 1969 and stayed popular through the 70’s as Sha Na Na. They were part doo-wop throwback, part tribute, and part boy band parody. Sha Na Na, may not have been the best group of their era, but they were fun and entertaining.

Of course the ultimate graduation anthem of seniors everywhere is none other that Alice Cooper and School Is Out Forever!!!

Have a blessed week.

Building Detail – Boerne (Burnie), Texas

Aww Mondays

Monday’s Music Moves Me

Well the theme for this week is body parts. I did this theme once before and chose the mind. I know there are songs about arms, legs, ears, toes, hands, and feet, but I am going to return to internal organs. It seems that the heart is the seat of our emotions. It is the heart where we first feel something stirring inside of us that sends a message to the brain to do something and drive us into action. The heart is the symbol of love. The heart can be hot, cold, soft, hard, happy, sad and in love all at the same time, so here are a few of my favorite heart songs.

From the country music of the 90’s, one of my favorite artists was Hal Ketchum. Hal was a singer/songwriter and enjoyed fame as both during this period. Sadly Hal is now suffering from Alzhiemer’s/dementia. Here is a song that he wrote that most dads can relate to when their daughter blossoms out of childhood and into a beautiful young lady. You know that boys are gonna start hanging around and hearts are gonna roll.

At some point in our dating experience all of us have had that break-up event. Sometimes we can even see it coming and we try to prepare for it. Still, we know that there’s gonna be a heartache tonight…maybe two.

There are many causes for these heartaches of love, but the most common reason for a broken heart that turns into a lyric and then is set to music seems to be, your cheatin’ heart.

Certainly, it would seem that only love can break a heart and only love can mend it again. Have a blessed week.

Encore

Saturday my wife and I celebrated our 45th wedding anniversary, so in honor of that occasion I believe I will play a song from our wedding. It was probably the most popular song of the day for this special occasion. I give you Paul Stookey and The Wedding Song.

 

 

So, What’s The Secret – Written for our 35th anniversary May 11, 2009

So what’s the secret to being married for thirty-five years and looking forward to celebrating number fifty one day? All I can tell you is that our marriage is centered around our faith and that the message from God’s Word is critical to the happiness that each of us enjoys.

First of all, God loves us and everything He does for us is for our benefit. He created the institution of marriage to be enjoyed by a man and a woman and to bring each of them happiness. The Bible tells us that God loved us so much that He gave His Son to die on a cross for us so that we might, through faith, have eternal live. Christ tells the husband that he is to love his wife with the same love that Christ loves the church and gave himself for that church (Ephesians 5:25). If I love my wife with that kind of love, then everything I do, I do because I love her and I want her to be happy. I want her to be pleased with this relationship. I want my Lord to be pleased with me as a man who loves his wife and realizes that his wife is a gift from God created especially for me and for my happiness.
Secondly, marriage is a partnership. Like any relationship, it takes work to maintain that relationship in peak condition. A happy marriage doesn’t “just happen”. Both of us are committed to the relationship and to each other because we love one another and it is our desire that our partner be happy in this relationship. No major decision in this relationship is made without prayer and conversation. God is not the author of confusion, therefore He will not give my wife a different answer to an issue than the one that He gives me. Again, God created the institution of marriage for our benefit, not for our demise.
Finally, I married a woman far better than I deserve. I thank my Lord and Savior for her every day. My wife is the most thoughtful, caring and giving person that I know. Proverbs 31:10-12 says, “An excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far above jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life.” I have found that woman. Proverbs 31:25-30 further states, Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she smiles at the future. She opens her mouth in wisdom, and teaching of kindness is on her toungue. She looks well to the ways of her houselold, and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and bless her; her husband also, and he praises her, saying: Many daughters have done nobly, but you excel them all. Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.” I “married such a woman.
So, back to the original question, “What’s the Secret?” The answer is, you have to give yourself to the marriage. You have to give yourself to your spouse. Whatever you have within you, you have to “Give it Away.”

Patio Blooms

Aww Mondays…Cocker Soccer

Monday’s Music Moves Me

It’s free choice week at 4M so I am going to relive part of my 60’s experience. When I came home from Vietnam the Hippie Movement was in full swing here in the U.S. There was a genre of rock music that came to be known as psychedelic or acid rock. It was influenced by a drug known as LSD. Bands that came out of this time period were Steppenwolf, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, Emerson/Lake&Palmer, Cream, Grateful Dead, Blue Oyster Cult, and a host of others. I took a portion of the money that I had saved while in the service, actually almost all of it, and bought a component stereo system. A component stereo was a system in which each piece was purchased separately and could be from different manufacturers. I had a tuntable (for playing vinyls), an amplifier/tuner, a pair of speakers with tweeters, mid-range and 12″ air suspension bass, and last but far from least, a reel to reel tape deck. The sound from my system could rattle the walls and make the earth move. So what was I listening to? First up was Steppenwolf. Their most famous song, “Born to be Wild” was an anthem for the counter culture and was featured in the movie “Easy Rider”, starring Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and the guy wearing the gold football helmet is none other than Jack Nicholson. Easy Rider was his break-out role.

Nearly all of us listened to Led Zeppelin and their first major hit was “Whole Lotta Love”.

Another group that spawned a rock icon was the group Cream. Jack Bruce on bass guitar, Ginger Baker on drums and none other than Eric Clapton playing lead guitar and singing lead vocals. Their first and biggest hit was Sunshine of Your Love. Internal squabbles, drugs and alcohol, contributed to the demise of this group and they each went their separate ways to form their own careers.

The hardest rockin’ female of the day was Janis Joplin. She was the epitome of the “Hippie Chick”. Her life was cut short by bad decisions with drugs and alcohol, but her talent was undeniable.

Probably the second most famous female vocalist of the day was Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane. This group came out of San Francisco, which was ground zero for the whole hippie counter culture movement of the day.

One thing you will notice about these groups, nearly everyone of them made an appearance at the greatest rock concert of all time, Woodstock. Well, there you have it, the hippie side of my music tastes from the 60’s. Have a blessed week.

Texas Hill Country – Part II

Last week I shared photographs from a road trip my wife and I took into Texas Hill Country to see the wildflowers in bloom. The adventure took us into a number of smaller towns and cities in the central part of the state. A few of these municipalities were county seats, that is, the place of the county government. Besides wildflowers, these Texas towns are famous for their courthouses. Most are built out of Texas limestone and are beautiful pieces of architecture set in the rugged landscape.

Llano, TX

Marble Falls, TX

Johnson City, TX

 

Waco, TX

Of course, if there is a county courthouse, there must be one of the original Texas “bed & breakfast” places that is by invitation only…the county jail.

These structures were built with the same flair for design as their courthouse counterpart. All  of these structures were built between 1875 & 1899. It is not unusual for the daytime temperature in hill country to reach 100 degrees in the summer and there is no shade, so these little architectural jewels were not some place you would want to spend time for violation of the law. Have a blessed week.