Halloween Score!

Some days my job is merely to be the driver or to be the coach.  I get to be background personnel.  There are benefits but I don't do the hard work. That was Halloween this year.

My kids love to dress up in costumes and act like their character.  Budding thespians!  Side note: my little cherubs are natural at this.  Maybe all kids do this by instinct but I have not seen the drama exude from them so quickly and effortlessly.  Get a camera out or put them in a costume and they become a totally different person!  They must get this from their mother.  (This is not to bash her.  She was just in more musicals and drama presentations than I.)

Well, Carla was at work for the evening so I was designated as the adult to accompany our kids on this adventure.   The mission this year was clear: acquire as much candy from neighborhood homes as possible in 2 hours.  I didn't have to dress up or ring the doorbells.  I just needed to be there.  However, I did introduce myself to the neighbors whom we haven't met even after 10 months of living in our home.  That was fun.

The girls got cold after 45 minutes and requested a reprieve from their Halloween mission.  They stayed home while Brandon and I went out for more plunder.  We got to hear a live band play some hard core music and were very successful in finding the homes giving out the large candy bars.  Now, he has more candy than any boy should have and I fear for the health of his teeth!  Just his haul was 12 pounds after the "Daddy Tax".  Not bad!  Maybe we can get more next year!

Good Music!

I am sitting in my office listening to the praise band warm up and practice before the morning worship.  It is the calm before the storm.  They are so good and having such a good time practicing.  There is laughter and jokes and playfulness.  They are communicating with the sound booth to get the sound levels correct and adjust the monitors so that they can hear how they are playing.  The bass guy just shocked everyone when he kicked into a blues vocal riff that had everyone surprised because he rarely sings as the lead.  It is truly a joy to listen to them!

There is something special about good music.  It leads you to another place.  The music connects with your heart and your feelings pour out.  Sometimes we restrain our feelings but often times we are just moved and can only marvel at what is created.  I can't explain it any better than that.  Everyone is different when it comes to the music that connects with their heart: metal or emo or classical or even country. (I gasped when I typed that last catagory!)

Good music moves you and takes you somewhere else.  But I believe that music is just music.  It isn't necessarily Christian or secular.  It is just music.  I am in favor of music played well that connects with my heart and moves my emotions.  How much better when the music leads you into worship of our God!  Our great God loves great music like that.  Saying God or Jesus in the lyrics doesn't necessarily make it Christian.  God loves music that leads people into worship of him!  The band will be leading Christmas carols today in a style that they are rarely played.  They are going to lead us with high quality music with the goal of directing us to focus on our great God.  It is that focus that makes it great music!